INSIGHT: INEOS O&P Europe investments tackling plastics circularity

LONDON (ICIS)–Demonstrating confidence in the technology and a desire to move at scale, INEOS Olefins & Polymers signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Plastics Energy last month for a 100,000 tonne/year pyrolysis oil plant in Cologne, Germany.

The agreement supersedes an earlier project for a smaller-scale Tacoil pyrolysis oil facility that would use Plastics Energy technology to convert difficult to recycle plastics into a reusable feedstock.

It would be the largest use of the technology. It is a step change, says INEOS O&P Europe CEO Rob Ingram, in providing a feedstock from waste plastic as an alternative for the company’s steam crackers and signals progress along the road to greater circularity.

The Tacoil becomes the basis of a feedstock that INEOS will process in Cologne. It has already been successfully converted into virgin-quality polymers and used by certain customers and brands, INEOS says.

“Advanced [chemical] recycling is an essential part of the solution for turning plastic waste into materials that can be used for demanding applications. Our position is that advanced recycling has to be done at scale in order to make the process environmentally and commercially viable,” Ingram said when the expanded project was announced.

A mass-balance approach can be used to track the carbon footprint of the recycled material and plastic product certification would be planned through independent bodies, such as International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC), or the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB).

It allows co-processing of circular and fossil fuel feedstocks which, INEOS says, is a key step in the transition to a circular economy.

Plastic Energy uses a patented process called Thermal Anaerobic Conversion (TAC), which converts plastic waste into an oil that can then be processed into a steam cracker feedstock.

Such steps are vitally important to help progress greater circularity, INEOS believes. And it suggests that through individual projects like this, although relatively small currently, the ground will be laid for something much bigger.

Ingram sees projects at different points in the value chain of processing, supply and recycling making key contributions to the whole.

Mechanical recycling clearly comes first, he suggested in an interview with ICIS, but he sees chemical recycling helping sweep up difficult to recycle waste plastics and helping to avoid plastic waste going to incineration or landfill.

The company has a Recycl-IN range which compounds mechanically recycled materials with engineered polymers for products with a recycled content that can meet high performance specifications. This range would be targeted at non-food contact uses while chemical recycling helps produce materials for food contact and medical applications.

The Tacoil project with Plastics Energy is part of set of activities that INEOS is pursing to reduce its emissions, Ingram stressed.

Making progress with tangible sustainability projects is vitally important Ingrams says. INEOS, its businesses and production sites have mid- and longer-term climate action targets but more immediate goals will bring about change, he suggests.

Complimentary to the Tacoil project, which could be on-line in 2026, and the Recycl-IN range are recent investment plans for plants at Lillo in Belgium and also work that is being done with customers to improve the recyclability of the plastic products they make and sell.

The latter is all about changing certain packaging and brands to be more easily recyclable without losing performance. The former is a €30m investment to enable existing capacity to produce either monomodal or bimodal grades of high density polyethylene (HDPE). The investment will help INEOS meet demand for durable, high-end applications for HDPE such as cable ducts and pipes.

The focus is on products to transport green energy – i.e. hydrogen – and renewable electricity, whilst following market trends towards a reduction in single use packaging.

The durable applications are seen as vitally important in the transition to a lower carbon, new energy economy. And Ingram sees the whole plastics chain continuing to evolve to meet the challenge of greater circularity.

Insight by Nigel Davis