Neste, Ravago to construct chemical recycling facility in the Netherlands

Neste Oyj, an oil refining and marketing company based in Espoo, Finland, and Ravago, a recycler and distributor of polymers based in Luxembourg, have established a joint venture to build a chemical recycling facility in North Sea Port in Vlissingen, the Netherlands.

The companies had initially announced their partnership to chemically recycle plastic scrap in 2019. That year, the companies set a joint target to reach the capacity to process more than 200,000 tons of mixed plastic scrap per year by 2030. Since then, the companies say they have evaluated technologies, the raw material market and built joint business cases to develop chemical recycling capacities. In 2020, Neste also conducted the first of several industrial trial runs with liquefied plastic scrap at its oil refinery in Finland.

The companies report that the Vlissingen facility is a starting point of joint global chemical recycling activities, built on the advancement of the thermochemical liquefaction technology of Alterra Energy, which is based in Akron, Ohio. Earlier this year, Ravago acquired an equity interest in Alterra Energy, and Ravago also plans to supply preprocessed plastic scrap to Alterra Energy’s Akron plant.

Neste and Ravago report that they want the new chemical recycling plant to demonstrate and advance the commercialization of chemical recycling. The strategic partnership combines Ravago’s expertise in the mechanical preparation of plastic scrap, Alterra Energy’s liquefaction technology and Neste’s expertise in the processing of hydrocarbons. According to Neste and Ravago, the Vlissingen facility will be their first industrial chemical recycling site, and the companies aim to achieve an annual processing capacity of about 55,000 tons of mixed plastic scrap.

According to a news release from Neste, the transaction is waiting for and subject to regulatory approval.

Neste says the long-term goal for the partnership is to increase processing capacity on a global scale and continuously develop the joint venture.

“Chemical recycling has been a promising technology to accelerate the creation of a circular economy for quite a while,” says Mercedes Alonso, executive vice president of Renewable Polymers and Chemicals at Neste. “Now, it is time to take it to the next level and turn the promise into an industrial solution. By combining the expertise of Ravago and Neste, we have the means to rapidly implement the technology to start production at commercial scale. With joint and dedicated efforts, we can bring together the know-how along the entire value chain to turn waste into valuable resources. Our ambition is clear: to be a global leader in renewable and circular solutions.” 

“We are truly excited about the progress of our joint project work. By fixing the investment location and scope, we are again one step closer to turning our dream into reality,” says Theo Roussis, CEO at Ravago. “Together with Neste, we have the necessary ingredients for a successful recipe to create scalable solutions, converting nonrecyclable waste streams into valuable end products.”