LOOP INDUSTRIES
First PET recycling plant in Europe with partner Suez / Invista polymerisation technology licenced
 Canadian PET recycling technology is coming to Europe (Photo: Pixabay/Hans) |
Canadian recycling technology company Loop Industries (Terrebonne, Quebec; www.loopindustries.com) and waste management group Suez (Paris / France; www.suez.com) have announced plans to build the first “Infinite Loop” PET recycling plant in Europe. Loop’s founder and CEO Daniel Solomita said Suez brings a complementary skillset to the project with a deep knowledge in resource management.
The facility will be the largest in the world, according to Loop, producing an equivalent of about 4.2 bn food-grade drink bottles made of 100% recycled PET each year. By leveraging the Canadian company’s proprietary depolymerisation technology, the plant will be able to save 180,000 t/y of CO2 – the equivalent of about 418,000 barrels of oil – compared with producing virgin PET from the traditional petrochemical-based route. Final site selection and engineering are expected to be finished by mid-2021 with plant commissioning scheduled for 2023.
Loop said the facility will respond to huge demand growth in Europe from global beverage and consumer brands committed to aggressive targets for high levels of recycled content in their products. Currently, Europe consumes about 5.5m t/y of PET every year, of which less than 7% is reused in bottles.
“The Infinite Loop technology creates the infrastructure that countries need to be able to eliminate plastics waste and increase recycling rates,” Solomita said. “Loop’s expansion is tailored to our customers’ needs, allowing them to meet and exceed their ambitious targets for recycled content in their packaging, but also to have the ability to recycle their packaging infinitely, without having to compromise quality.”
The facility will be the largest in the world, according to Loop, producing an equivalent of about 4.2 bn food-grade drink bottles made of 100% recycled PET each year. By leveraging the Canadian company’s proprietary depolymerisation technology, the plant will be able to save 180,000 t/y of CO2 – the equivalent of about 418,000 barrels of oil – compared with producing virgin PET from the traditional petrochemical-based route. Final site selection and engineering are expected to be finished by mid-2021 with plant commissioning scheduled for 2023.
Loop said the facility will respond to huge demand growth in Europe from global beverage and consumer brands committed to aggressive targets for high levels of recycled content in their products. Currently, Europe consumes about 5.5m t/y of PET every year, of which less than 7% is reused in bottles.
“The Infinite Loop technology creates the infrastructure that countries need to be able to eliminate plastics waste and increase recycling rates,” Solomita said. “Loop’s expansion is tailored to our customers’ needs, allowing them to meet and exceed their ambitious targets for recycled content in their packaging, but also to have the ability to recycle their packaging infinitely, without having to compromise quality.”
Licensing deal with Chemtex / Invista
In separate news, Loop said it had entered into an agreement with technology and engineering group Chemtex Global (Shanghai / China; www.chemtex.com) to license polymerisation know-how for PET feedstocks dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) and monoethylene glycol (MEG) from Invista Performance Technologies (IPT, Wilmington, North Carolina / USA; www.ipt.invista.com). Loop said the agreement will support its strategy to accelerate the deployment of Infinite Loop plants worldwide.
After breaking down PET waste and polyester fibre into its original components DMT and MEG, Loop plans to deploy Invista’s polymerisation know-how to rebuild the feedstocks into new resin or fibres. Chemtex is slatted to provide engineering and design support for Invista’s technology.
After breaking down PET waste and polyester fibre into its original components DMT and MEG, Loop plans to deploy Invista’s polymerisation know-how to rebuild the feedstocks into new resin or fibres. Chemtex is slatted to provide engineering and design support for Invista’s technology.
28.10.2020 Plasteurope.com [246227-0]
Published on 28.10.2020
German version of this article...