PETpla.net Insider 01+02 / 2021

MATERIALS / RECYCLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 01+02/21 www.petpla.net 12 “Chemical recycling is a reality in the PET industry” by Stephen A. Short, President at Petcore Europe Petcore Europe is a Trade Association registered in Brussels, Belgium, and supports the value chain of the PET resin sector. Petcore is an active participant in the Circular Plastics Alliance sponsored by the European Commission to increase the recycling of plastic and create a circular business model by increasing the recycle content of plastics entering the market. To achieve this both aspects of mechanical and chemical recycling are evaluated to ensure end of waste criteria recognise the value of collected waste as a supply chain for reprocessed products. This article is related to PET resin as Petcore’s business focus, whilst recognising there is a wider picture for the total plastic sector. This article focuses on the chemical recycling of PET, a process known as depolymeri- sation. Mechanical recycling of PET has been commercially available for more than 25 years and continues to be a developing sector. Today chemi- cal recycling is attracting attention by groups interested in the scientific and public area (NGO) seeking to under- stand the prospects and impact the process has on both the environment and overall sustainability of polymers. Petcore has a specialist working group established to work on common issues and inform the political, regula- tory, and public interest whilst gain- ing an understanding of the chemical recycling of PET. Chemical recycling – Depolymerisation of PET to monomers - Basics To meet requirements both from political directives and public demand, both chemical and mechanical recy- cling of PET must grow. With a regula- tory target of 30% recycled content for beverage bottles by 2030, the ability of the PET industry to achieve this requires significant innovation and investment. Chemical recycling is required along with mechanical, to displace non-sustainable fossil feed- stock monomers in the virgin sector of the business and bringing rejuvena- tion to the resin. Mechanical recy- cling cannot be the only supply as the performance of the higher percent- age mechanically recycled product decreases over time. A synergistic balance of both processes brings the total performance. The chemical industry is highly regulated to ensure that occupational health, environmental impact, input and output product safety and other targets are met to provide a “licence to operate”. There are several processes of chemical recycling which are in devel- opment today. To depolymerise PET back to its components, the standards for operating a chemical plant must be met. We support the request by NGO’s for the legislators to scruti- nise these developments to ensure they meet the required standards. The industry wishes to comply with reaching the targets, safely and with reduced impact on the environment. This is true of not only in the product but also the whole value chain. However, the balance between negative reinforcement such as plastic tax and/or total ban on plastic prod- ucts and the ability to have investment in the right innovation, plant and pro- duction must be considered to ensure that chemical recycling develops into a sustainable industry meeting the need for the circular economy. This is related to waste management devel- opment given that the apparent direc- tive is a reduction in waste, rather than focusing on turning the waste industry into a feedstock sector. If the “end of waste “objective is common for both public and industry turning waste into a valued feedstock the cir- cular economy will blossom and grow. Chemical recycling – Depolymerisation of PET to monomers – Path forward The observations and critique by the NGO’s and scientific studies that raised concern over the suitability and overstated claims by industry refer- encing chemical recycling is worthy of consideration. It is a common fact that the main objectives of chemical recycling require proven facts. Only by driving innovation can we test these objectives, develop the facts, and prove the concept. It is during the ini- tial phase that most innovative ideas die a death as investment is required without guarantee of pay back. As the value chain for PET, the sector clearly understands there are unknowns which can only be removed by laboratory testing, through a pilot plant, then scale-up to demonstration. Typically, it takes years to go through this process during which failures can and do occur. Chemical recycling is a reality in the PET industry. Today, mechanically recycled flake that has EFSA opinion for safe use as food contact material, is injected into the primary reactor of the virgin PET plant. Using excess glycol (monomer) the melted flake is mixed with the traditional virgin pre- polymer starting materials. The flake breaks down to lower molecular weight oligomers and then re-combines with the starting materials to give a homo- geneous low polymer that goes further through the process to produce the final PET resin. The process is limited to the percentage of recycled flake can be mixed with virgin feedstock.