Neste successfully trials liquefied waste plastic processing amid rising recycled prices

Finnish refiner Neste has successfully finished the first series of trial runs processing liquefied waste plastic at its Porvoo refinery, amid a wider goal of processing over 1 million mt of plastic waste or around 2% of European demand, the company said Jan. 12.

Over the course of the trials, the company has upgraded waste plastic to drop-in solutions for plastic production and has developed industrial-scale capabilities to upgrade recycled plastics, the company said in a statement.

Globally, plastics recycling will continue to dominate the headlines as companies increase the recycled content of their consumer packaging to meet voluntary commitments, in many cases to get to 25% recycled content by 2025, according to S&P Global Platts Analytics. Prices for prime plastic waste have increased as demand exceeds supply with no end in sight, Platts Analytics said.

S&P Global Platts assessed recycled high density polyethylene natural pellets in Northwest Europe on an FD basis at Eur1,980/mt Jan. 11 ($2,262/mt), up 47% from Eur1,350/mt Dec. 9, when the assessment was launched.

Virgin grade has shown a less pronounced rise. Platts assessed HDPE blowmolding in Northwest Europe at Eur1,500/mt on Jan. 11, up a more moderate 2% from Eur1,465/mt on Dec. 9.

Neste is targeting to process over 1 million/year of plastic waste from 2030, amid total plastics demand of 51 million mt/year in Europe, a figure that is growing, the company said.

European plastics production was 61.8 million mt in 2018 and around 30% is currently recycled, according to EU figures.

"In total, we have processed about 800 mt of liquefied waste plastic at our refineries in Finland," Markku Korvenranta, executive vice-president of oil products at Neste said in the statement. "With the latest trial runs in Porvoo, we are laying the foundation for replacing crude oil based raw materials with liquefied waste plastic... Based on the successful trials, we can conclude that liquefied waste plastics is a viable alternative for fossil raw material" Korvenranta said.