che_november-2024 - 18

Cover Story
Chemical Recycling is Essential
for Plastics Circularity, but Faces
Challenges
Environmental imperatives drive the development of technologies for the chemical recycling
of plastic waste, but significant hurdles - including economic viability, collection logistics and
feedstock complexity - need to be addressed for chemical recycling to have a larger impact
P
is
lastic waste continues to be
a major global environmental
issue. While mechanical recycling,
where plastic waste
is ground up and remelted, remains
the most prominent form of plastics
recycling, its limitations (material degradation,
contamination and performance)
prevent it from enabling real
plastics circularity. The field of chemical
recycling of plastics, which aims
to break down polymers into starting
materials that are chemically equivalent
to petroleum-derived feedstock,
is a fast-evolving area that is critical
for achieving true plastics circularity.
It
generally
envisioned
that
chemical recycling will not replace
mechanical recycling, but rather, will
complement it (Figure 1). In cases
where mechanical recycling can be
effective, it will be used preferentially,
since its costs are lower. However,
because mechanical recycling cannot
be used indefinitely, and is only effective
with uncontaminated, singlecomponent
waste streams, chemical
recycling technologies will continue
to have wide-ranging opportunities.
" We anticipate strong growth in the
chemical recycling industry over the
next decade, despite a host of challenges
that have led to slower-thanenvisioned
progress on plant development
and some project failures, "
says James Kennedy, an analyst
with market research firm IDTechEx
(Cambridge,
U.K.; www.idtechex.
com). " It's definitely a mixed picture
within chemical recycling, with a va18
riety
of ups and downs, and different
stories playing out among the different
technologies, " he comments.
Economic viability
The field of chemical recycling can
be divided into four general technology
categories: pyrolysis, solvolysis,
thermochemical processing and dissolution.
Because of three factors -
the size and complexity of the plastic
waste issue, the diversity of polymer
types and formulations, and the
growing demand for recycled plastics
- it is likely that most or all chemical
recycling approaches will have opportunities
in certain situations. And
chemical recycling will exist as part
of a mosaic of potential solutions for
addressing plastic waste, including
other external efforts, such as reducing
plastic usage, designing for recyclability
and incorporating alternative
bio-based materials.
Within each chemical recycling
technology category, there are significant
efforts to reach technoeconomic
viability. " The main concern
right now overall is the cost of the
technology, " says Marcian Lee, an
analyst with Lux Research (Boston,
Mass.; www.luxresearch.com). " It
has to make good financial sense for
companies to invest in [chemical recycling]
technologies, " he says.
" Consumers will often say they
would pay a 'green premium' for
purchasing products made from recycled
materials, but at the time of
actual purchases, the follow-through
Shutterstock
FIGURE 1. Mechanical and chemical recycling approaches
are expected to be used complementarily
for waste plastics
action often fails to back up the sentiment, "
Lee says.
Current price premiums for chemically
recycled polyethylene terephthalate
(PET) are estimated at
two to three times the costs for
petroleum-derived virgin plastics,
Lee says. " For mechanically recycled
plastics, I commonly hear a 30%
premium is the ballpark maximum
that most companies will pay for. "
" If left strictly to a free market,
achieving plastics circularity through
recycling is an extremely daunting
prospect right now, " Lee says. " Regulatory
mandates for utilizing recycled
material are likely needed to spur the
industry forward. " Chemical manufacturers
are looking for government
regulatory agencies to take a clear
legislative stance and provide regulatory
guidance. The details of these
policies will have a large impact on
how the chemical recycling industry
will develop, Lee explains. (For more,
see box, p. 20).
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
NOVEMBER 2024

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che_november-2024

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