BASF, Quantafuel and REMONDIS to Collaborate on Chemical Recycling of Plastic Waste

BASF, Quantafuel and REMONDIS have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly evaluate a collaboration in chemical recycling, including a joint investment in a pyrolysis facility for plastic waste. The facility is intended to have REMONDIS, one of the world's leading waste and water management companies, supply suitable plastic waste, and BASF use pyrolysis oil resulting from Verbund production as raw material as part of its ChemCyclingTM project. Quantafuel plans to provide the technology and operate the facility. The company is expert in the pyrolysis of mixed plastic waste and purification of the resulting pyrolysis oil; the technology was jointly developed with BASF and has proven successful. The location of the pyrolysis facility will be evaluated jointly. In Europe, approximately 20 million metric tons of plastic waste are not recycled annually. By establishing chemical recycling as a complementary solution to mechanical recycling, it is possible to return more plastic waste to the cycle that would otherwise be incinerated. Pyrolysis technology can be used to process plastic waste streams that are not mechanically recycled, for example for technological or economic reasons. "BASF has set a target to process 250,000 metric tons of recycled raw materials annually from 2025 onwards. In this context, the use of raw materials obtained from plastic waste that would otherwise not be recycled is important. Partnerships with companies from the waste management and recycling sector and innovative technology providers form an ideal team for creating a sustainable circular economy model for plastic waste that was previously not recycled. However, solving the plastic waste problem will only be possible in an appropriate regulatory environment," said Dr. Lars Kissau, Senior Vice President of Global Strategic Business Development, BASF Petrochemicals Division.