BioBTX: Plant for Aromatics from Plastic Waste Planned

The Chemipark in Delfzijl, the Netherlands, where the new plant is also planned to be built - (Photo: BioBTX).

BioBTX plans to build its first commercial-scale plant based on the Integrated Catalytic Cracking Process (ICCP) at the Delfzijl chemical park in the Netherlands. The facility is expected to process around 20,000 tonnes of mixed plastic waste per year and create 35 new jobs.

Using catalytic pyrolysis, the waste will be converted into approximately 10,000 tonnes of an oil containing benzene, toluene and xylenes (BTX), along with around 8,000 tonnes of by-products. The aromatics can be used, among other applications, as feedstocks for coatings, pharmaceuticals and engineering materials, as well as for isocyanate production.

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According to BioBTX, the process is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70 to 80 percent compared with conventional fossil-based BTX production. The technology has been developed since 2012, progressing from laboratory scale through pilot and demonstration stages, and is also intended to process other feedstocks such as biomass in the future.

Covestro has been a shareholder and strategic partner of BioBTX since 2024 and has invested an amount in the mid-single-digit million-euro range.

More information: biobtx.com, www.covestro.com

BioBTX, Groningen, Netherlands