WPU: Vitol subsidiary plans new chemical recycling plant for end-of-life plastics in Rotterdam

WPU, Vitol’s plastics recycling business, is planning to build a new chemical recycling plant for end-of-life plastic waste in the Port of Rotterdam. The site is to be located next to Vitol’s VPR refinery. The planned facility is designed for a processing capacity of 80,000 tonnes of post-consumer plastics per year. This would increase WPU’s total recycling capacity to 100,000 tonnes annually.

According to the company, the Rotterdam plant could rank among the largest chemical recycling facilities for waste plastics in Europe. The plant is expected to use WPU’s proprietary batch pyrolysis technology, which converts plastic waste into pyrolysis oil. This oil serves as a circular feedstock for the production of chemicals, intermediates and new plastics. The project is being positioned against a backdrop of rising demand for circular feedstocks as well as European regulatory requirements promoting higher recycled content and the decarbonization of petrochemical value chains.

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WPU also points to experience gained at its existing plant in Farevejle, Denmark. There, the technology is already in commercial operation. The facility has a recycling capacity of 20,000 tonnes per year and, according to the company, is currently operating close to full capacity. This makes WPU one of the early players to have implemented plastics pyrolysis for waste plastics on an industrial scale.

For the Rotterdam site, the company also plans to use modern furnace technology designed to reduce emissions and lower energy consumption. According to WPU, comparable technology has already been installed at the adjacent VPR refinery, where it has resulted in a 50 percent reduction in NOx emissions, an 80 percent reduction in SO2 emissions, and a 40 percent reduction in energy consumption.

The project remains subject to the necessary regulatory approvals. As part of the further approval process, a comprehensive consultation with relevant stakeholders is also planned.

More information: www.vitol.com, wpu-dk.com

Vitol, Rotterdam, Netherlands

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