A consortium of companies comprising Air Liquide, AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals, Enerkem and the Port of Rotterdam Authority signed a development agreement for the initial investments in a waste-to-chemistry plant in Rotterdam.
This will be the first plant of this type in Europe to offer a sustainable alternative for waste incineration, by converting plastic and mixed waste into new raw materials for industry. The investments amount to some € 9 million. The consortium is aiming for the project’s final investment decision, estimated at € 200 million, to be taken later this year.
The plant will be able to process 360,000 tonnes of waste into 220,000 tonnes or 270 million litres of ‘green’ methanol. This is more than the total annual waste from 700,000 households and reduces CO2 emissions by approximately 300,000 tonnes.
[smlsubform prepend=”GET THE SAFETY4SEA IN YOUR INBOX!” showname=false emailtxt=”” emailholder=”Enter your email address” showsubmit=true submittxt=”Submit” jsthanks=false thankyou=”Thank you for subscribing to our mailing list”]
Marco Waas, Director of RD&I at AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals, and Chairperson of the consortium, stated:
“This is an important milestone for the project and a huge step on the road to a sustainable and circular chemical industry. This agreement comes at an extremely appropriate time considering the current challenges regarding recycling and plastics in Europe. We can process non-recyclable waste into methanol, an essential raw material for a large number of everyday products, such as sustainable fuel for transport. On the one hand, methanol can be used in existing supply chains as replacement for fossil fuels. On the other, it offers the advantage of there being no CO2 emissions during the incineration of waste.”
The plant will be located in Port of Rotterdam’s Botlek area. Non-recyclable mixed waste, including plastic, will first be processed into synthetic gas and then into clean methanol for the chemical industry and the transport sector. The plant will be equipped with two production lines. This is double the capacity of the large-scale Enerkem plant in Edmonton, Canada.
Allard Castelein, Port of Rotterdam Authority CEO, mentioned:
“This waste-to-chemistry project is an important step on the road to a more sustainable Rotterdam industry. Waste becomes a raw material for the chemical industry. This is a great step forward that fits well in our circular economy ambition.”
