Finnish lab claims mixed plastics breakthrough

The Espoo, Finland-based VTT Technical Research Centre says, after four decades of thermal conversion technology development, it is ready to commercialize a process it says “can affordably convert most of the world’s waste plastics back to usable virgin grade materials an infinite number of times.”

VTT says it will begin introducing its Olefy technology in October and that it has submitted eight patent applications for the process.

Its plans include the creation of a new company called Olefy Technologies that will put into place the new technology VTT says “can extract over 70 percent virgin grade plastics and chemical raw materials components from plastic waste.”

VTT says, “The new process can be done in a single step, majorly reducing the cost of plastic recycling and making recycling a preferred option for massive amounts of landfill-bound plastic waste that current methods are unable to process.”

The research center cites limitations of mechanical recycling, including that some recycled plastic “cannot be used in food packaging and pharma applications.”

VTT continues, “The opportunity to get virgin quality plastic from previously unusable plastic waste means that with Olefy it is economically viable to recycle most of the world’s plastics with minimal sorting by consumers and businesses.”

VTT CEO Antti Vasara says,“Olefy is a quantum leap in recycling that will change the way the world views plastic by making it truly circular and guiding us towards carbon neutrality even faster.”

A VTT researcher says an advantage of the Olefy process is that it enables plastic to be recycled an infinite number of times.

“One of the problems with current recycling methods is that the quality degrades every time plastic is recycled,” says Matti Nieminen, head of technology at Olefy. “After several rounds of mechanical recycling, the quality becomes too poor, and the plastic is no longer usable and goes to a landfill. With the Olefy recycling process, the quality of the plastic is equal to virgin grade, so it can be recycled indefinitely, and materials no longer need to end up in landfills. In essence, Olefy will make it possible for plastic to be a true part of the circular economy.”

Olefy’s new technology also reduces the need for naphtha feedstock and can produce its own energy to carry out the recycling process.

“The economic benefits of having virgin grade components from recycled materials can completely change the dynamic of global oil consumption,” Nieminen says. “Olefy will significantly reduce the need to use new oil for making plastic and maybe even create a new economic incentive to clean up plastic from land and water as it becomes a valued commodity.”

Noting that “demand for sustainable and recycled plastics is higher than ever,” VTT says that “essentially, with the Olefy process, it takes the same amount of ethylene or propylene-based waste plastic as higher-cost naphtha feedstock to produce a ton of virgin grade plastic material.”

At the same time, the process itself lowers the cost of production of recycled plastic so significantly that it can lower the bar for global companies to use it as a higher percentage of recycled material in their products and packaging, contend the researchers.

“Demand for recycled plastics is growing much faster than the supply,” says Timo Sokka, head of business at Olefy. “All major brand owners are committed to fighting climate change, and they are responding to consumers’ growing concerns on waste accumulation by utilizing recycled materials in their products. Olefy responds perfectly to these challenges by making plastics recycling truly feasible on an industrial scale.” 

About 500 industrial steam cracker operations are located around the world. A steam cracker is a petrochemical plant that breaks down light hydrocarbons, such as ethane, propane, and light naphtha, to produce ethylene. Olefy’s new technologies economically open up a new world and value for plastic scrap for these facilities, say the researchers.

“This technology enables direct parallel integration of the Olefy modules into existing steam cracker sites around the world to effectively produce virgin grade olefins, which are converted back to virgin grade plastics, significantly lower capital expenditure requirements, accelerating market demand, and price premiums make these investments also very attractive for the steam cracker operators,” Sokka says.

A working Olefy pilot is running at the VTT Bioruukki Pilot Centre in Espoo, Finland. The newly established Olefy Technologies company is currently discussing partnerships and negotiating with investors for scaling, business development and licensing of the technology. The first industrial demonstration operation is expected to be operational by 2026, VTT says.

The Olefy process is based on gasification, and the process is tolerant to contaminants in the feed. “This means easier pretreatment of the feed before the Olefy processing,” according to VTT.