Antwerp is increasingly developing into a hotbed for the circular economy.

With Belgian waste management specialist Indaver (Mechelen; www.indaver.com) selecting the city as the site of a new chemical recycling plant set to start operations by 2024 (see Plasteurope.com of 18.10.2022), American recycling specialist PureCycle Technologies (Orlando, Florida; www.purecycletech.com) has followed suit with plans to next year erect its first European chemical reclaim plant for polypropylene in the municipality’s NextGen District.

PureCycle said the start-up target for the plant is 2024, with initial available output set at 59,000 t/y. That could be ramped up to 240,000 t/y as the 14-hectare property is suitable for four processing lines. By the middle of this year, the management wants to set a final schedule for the project.

Using a chemical process developed by consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble, PureCycle transforms post-consumer PP to near virgin quality. The company has worked with compatriot chemical producer Milliken (Spartanburg, South Carolina; www.milliken.com) and global food and drinks behemoth Nestle (Vevey, Switzerland; www.nestle.com) to advance the process to series maturity.

Related: US lower house committee criticises chemical recycling

PureCycle is currently building its first US plant in Ironton, Ohio for USD 120 mn (EUR 111 mn), which is scheduled to start production in the first quarter of this year. Capacity was cited at 50,000 t/y.

The plant was originally set for completion in 2020, (see Plasteurope.com of 09.08.2017) and more than two decades of the facility’s output has already been presold, the company noted, adding that it is installing three PP recycling lines with a combined capacity of 59,000 t/y in Augusta, Georgia (see Plasteurope.com of 06.08.2021).