Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2022 - 24

inside at... Agilyx
Rising to
the mixed
waste plastic
challenge
Faced with the ever-mounting problem of plastic waste,
consumers, organisations and governments around the world
have called for industry solutions. While recycling can off er an
answer, not all plastics can simply be recycled. And in fact, only
around 10% of waste plastics are recycled today worldwide.
Chemical recycling company Agilyx is working to change
that. " We're trying to do something about a waste problem, "
said the company's chief commercial offi cer, Carsten Larsen.
" To enable a circular model that allows plastic to be used and
recycled, again and again. "
F
24
ounded almost two decades
ago, Agilyx can
rightly be viewed as
one of the pioneers of
what today is known as chemical
- or alternatively as advanced,
feedstock or even molecular -
recycling. Chemical recycling
makes it possible to convert even
hard-to-recycle mixed waste
plastics into low-carbon feedstock
that can be used to make
new raw materials that can be
turned into plastics.
While the premise is extremely
promising, in practice there
are still hurdles to be overcome.
May/June 2022
The technology developed by
Agilyx involves a process called
pyrolysis and is not entirely
uncontroversial. Environmental
groups have denounced it,
calling it polluting, energy-intensive
and even just a fancy
way of saying that these waste
streams are simply being incinerated.
Proponents, on the other
hand, point to the advantages it
off ers, particularly the ability to
increase the recycling of plastics
unable to be recycled with
traditional recycling processes.
" We've conducted one [life
cycle] assessment via SCS in
the past and it came out very
favourably, " said Carsten Larsen.
" We're about to initiate a
larger study as well that will
show some of the benefits of
our technology. "
But as he pointed out: " It's an
emerging industry. So, let me
make a general comment to the
industry: we are still learning.
We want to stop putting plastic
in landfill and instead try to turn
this into a circular resource. We
also want to stop digging up or
exploiting any more fossil fuel.
I like to compare it to the wind
industry: 20 years ago, people
Carsten Larsen
were building the first wind
turbines, while others were
calling them crazy. And now in
Denmark, 21% of our energy is
provided by cost-competitive
wind power because the industry
scaled up. It was subsidised
in the beginning, then off shore
wind turbines appeared and
today, wind energy is cost-competitive
with fossil fuel energy. I
see the same sort of thing applying
to chemical recycling. "
He added: " So let's not be
defensive but recognise where
we are. We're trying to do something
about a waste problem.
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2022

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