Dow collaborates with Innventure to develop waste-to-feedstock technologies

Dow and Innventure announced a collaboration to develop and commercialize new waste-to-value technologies through Innventure's new subsidiary Refinity, Dow said in a Dec. 18 statement.

"Dow is committed to transforming plastic waste into circular solutions that result in high-quality resins demanded by our customers while helping to accelerate a circular economy," said Dave Parrillo, vice president for Research & Development, Dow Packaging & Specialty Plastics and Hydrocarbons.

Refinity and Dow will work together to scale and commercialize technologies aimed at converting hard-to-recycle plastic waste into petrochemical feedstocks, using high-yield thermochemical processes, including gasification, to transform mixed plastic waste into light olefins.

Dow has been making efforts on their Transform the Waste target and their goal to commercialize 3 million metric tons of circular and renewable solutions by 2030.

Other efforts include their acquisition of the North American polyethylene recycler Circulus and Dow's joint development agreement with Procter & Gamble to create advanced recycling technology focused on transforming hard-to-recycle plastic waste.

Despite the increasing number of advancements, some mechanical recyclers remain skeptical on the efficacy and scalability of advanced recycling.

Advanced recycling, also known as chemical recycling, chemically breaks down polymers into their basic feedstock components. This process is designed to address hard-to-recycle plastic waste that mechanical recyclers cannot sort, typically consisting of a mix of post-consumer plastics.

While many mechanical recyclers acknowledge that successful implementation of chemical recycling would transform the recycling industry, a few remain cautious of the bold promises that have yet to scale meaningfully in practice.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, last assessed recycled HDPE Natural bales at 75 cents/lb FOB Chicago and post-consumer PET premium bales at 24 cents/lb FOB Los Angeles on Dec. 18.