BASF launches PuriCycle product line

Ludwigshafen, Germany-based BASF has launched PuriCycle, a new line of products for the purification of most complex scrap plastics pyrolysis oils. The PuriCycle portfolio includes novel catalysts and adsorbents developed to selectively remove or convert a wide range of impurities in pyrolysis oils and enable downstream processing of circular plastics streams, BASF says. PuriCycle can help customers meet industry compositional compliance standards, benefit from high-efficiency purification and upgrading solutions and increase flexibility in the chemical recycling process. 

PuriCycle purifies pyrolysis oils, a secondary raw material obtained from the chemical recycling of plastic scrap that is fed into the production process for new plastics at the beginning of the value chain. Purification of pyrolysis oils obtained from end-of-life plastics is among the most demanding technical tasks in chemical plastics recycling, BASF says. Impurities, such as halogen, nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur compounds as well as higher levels of reactive components, such as dienes, complicate downstream use and impose strict limitations on further processing such streams in the production of new materials. 

“With our PuriCycle portfolio, we are in a very strong position to make a difference in chemical plastics recycling and to enable plastics circularity,” says Detlef Ruff, senior vice president, process catalysts, at BASF. “The ability of the PuriCycle products to purify the most challenging pyrolysis oil streams is a major contribution to help closing the plastics loop, minimizing waste and ultimately opening up new feedstocks for the chemical industry.”