Green tie-ups: Attero/Sabic supply waste bales for chemical recycling in Netherlands; Versalis/Crocco link up for chemically recycled feedstock in food packaging

European sorting/recycling firm Attero and petchem firm Sabic intend to develop a long-term cooperation to bring post-consumer plastic that today are being turned into energy, back into the value chain and help fast-moving consumer good (FMGC) companies with their ambition to apply recycled content in their applications and contribute to EU objectives on recycled materials content.

Attero operates the world’s largest post-separation plant that sorts plastic waste from municipal solid waste for recycling in Wijster, Netherlands. The used plastics are sorted in Attero’s Packaging Sorting Plant into up to ten different streams. It intends to expand its post-sorting capabilities to its location in Moerdijk, Netherlands. Plastics that would otherwise be processed in Attero’s energy-from-waste facility will instead be post-separated with smart technologies and prepared as feedstock for advanced recycling, closing the loop on used plastics.

Sabic says it is committed to accelerate the circular carbon economy with its ambition to process 1,000 kilotonnes/year of Trucircle solutions by 2030. Under this cooperation, Sabic will source used sorted plastic from Attero and convert it into pyrolysis oil using advanced recycling processes. The pyrolysis oil will then be processed in a newly built hydrotreater in Geleen, Netherlands, where it will be upgraded and used by Sabic as an alternative feedstock to naphtha to produce their flagship certified circular polymers.

Attero and Sabic say they will closely work together in this cooperation to jointly develop the business case for this optimised circular plastics supply chain.

In other news, flexible packaging firm Crocco SpA, together with Versalis, Eni’s chemical company, have launched a collaboration to produce food packaging film made from raw materials partly derived from the recycling of post-consumer plastics, targeting mass production for the large-scale retail market.

Production of the packaging, made from Balance, a product supplied by Versalis, makes it possible to create a recycled film for food contact, while maintaining the technical performance and health properties that are essential for packaging intended for food use.

The production of packaging containing material derived from chemical recycling also promotes more efficient resource management, contributing to a marked decrease in the use of virgin resources and aligns with Versalis’ circular economy and sustainability goals. Chemical recycling can be used to regenerate plastics back to a virgin state, ensuring compliance with the high purity and safety standards required by legislation for materials intended for food contact.

“Circularity is one of the pillars of our strategy and we are committed to developing complementary technologies in the area of mechanical and chemical polymer recycling,” commented Versalis CEO Adriano Alfani: “Diversification of raw materials allows us to offer the market low-carbon solutions, making sustainable use of resources a reality, partly thanks to supply chain collaborations such as this innovation with our business partner Crocco.”

“This new technology,” adds Renato Zelcher, CEO of Crocco, “for the production of safe and efficient recycled packaging opens up important new frontiers for the circular economy in the highly-regulated food industry. We are proud to have started this Made in Italy supply chain with Versalis.”

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