The Rotterdam Port Authority announced that it has leased a site at Rijndwarsweg in Europoort to Xycle to commence construction of a plant that will convert 20,000 tons of non-mechanically recyclable plastic into high-quality sustainable raw material annually.
The construction of the plant is scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of 2022. This will provide the chemical industry with a responsible alternative raw material for the production of new plastics.
Allard Castelein, CEO Rotterdam Port Authority explained that this initiative fits with the port’s strategy to help existing companies become more sustainable and to attract these kinds of new, circular companies.
Currently, less than a quarter of all plastic waste worldwide can be recycled. The rest ends up in landfills, is incinerated or dumped into the environment.
Xycle has developed a technology to process plastic, which is difficult to mechanically recycle, in a sustainable way.
The Xycle plant is self-supporting and runs on the fuel produced by the machine itself. Recycling plastic in this way not only requires fewer new raw materials, but CO2 emissions are also significantly lower than when mixed plastic waste is incinerated, as is now often the case.
