Neste processes liquefied plastic waste in Finland

Neste has successfully processed 400 tons of liquefied plastic waste at its refinery in Finland. During the run, packaging and mixed waste plastics were upgraded into high-quality recycled feedstock for petrochemical industry uses, including new plastics.

Neste processes liquefied plastic waste in Finland

The processing run marks a significant milestone regarding Neste’s strategic aims of driving a circular economy and replacing crude oil use at its refineries. The company has a target to process annually over 1 million tons of waste plastic from 2030 onwards by using liquefied plastic waste as a raw material at its fossil oil refinery to upgrade it into high-quality drop-in feedstock for the production of new plastics.

Neste aims to gradually increase liquefied waste plastic processing to continue learning and developing the value chains and processing technologies. Subsequent processing runs at Neste’s fossil oil refinery in Porvoo are already being prepared for 2021. 

‘We are very excited to have successfully completed our very first industrial-scale processing run with liquefied waste plastic. While there is still a lot of work to be done, this is a huge step for our industry towards turning hard-to-recycle plastics from waste to a valuable resource, making circularity a reality,’ said Mercedes Alonso, executive vice president of Renewable Polymers and Chemicals division at Neste. ‘Together with the renewable feedstock that we have already been providing for the production of high-quality, high-performance polymers and chemicals with reduced carbon footprint, these new volumes produced through chemical recycling of plastic waste will significantly contribute to accelerating the necessary shift towards the circular bioeconomy for plastics.’

Before the trial, Neste carried out extensive research and laboratory tests and conducted comprehensive analyses with regards to production assets and processes to ensure the feasibility and safety of processing this new recycled raw material. 

‘The trial run is a result of great cooperation throughout the Neste organization. We have technically advanced refineries and the required expertise in refining low-quality waste and residue raw materials into high-quality end products. These factors will enable us to reach our goal to develop Porvoo refinery towards co-processing renewable and circular raw materials,’ added Marko Pekkola, executive vice president of oil products at Neste.

In the sourcing of liquefied waste plastic for the first processing run, Neste was supported by its partner Ravago. Together with Ravago and several other plastics value chain partners, Neste is developing chemical recycling technologies and capacity to enable the recycling of plastic waste streams that are considered unsuitable for mechanical recycling and are currently destined for incineration or landfills.