Expansions: Ineos/Recuro tie-up for recycling facility in Norway; Syensqo expands aerospace composites at US site

Ineos and Norwegian recycling company Recuro have signed a MoU to develop a advanced recycling facility at Ineos’s Bamble polymer site in Norway. Once commissioned, the plant will process up to 33,000 tonnes/year of end-of-life plastic waste, supporting the availability of recycled feedstocks needed to meet the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) requirements.

The initiative, named ‘Full Circle’, is designed to combine environmental responsibility with economic viability by recycling waste using existing industrial infrastructure, land and services, an approach that reduces both the associated costs and overall environmental footprint.

Powered entirely by renewable Norwegian energy, the plant will be designed to operate with minimal emissions and utilise advanced pyrolysis technology, which maximises the recovery of embedded carbon from plastic waste by retaining both the oil and gas fractions produced during recycling for further use, rather than diverting them to energy generation, they add.

Carbon is essential for producing the materials used in everyday products, and keeping carbon-based materials such as plastics in circulation is key to reducing overall CO2 emissions.

Ineos says it will use the recycled product as feedstock to produce recycled ethylene at its Rafnes cracker, enabling the nearby Bamble plant to manufacture virgin-quality recycled PE that meets the EU’s stringent regulatory requirements for high-performance applications such as food and medical packaging, this will lead to higher overall recycling rates.

The project also represents a major milestone for Recuro as it advances its ambition to become a leading player in plastic recycling.

Liz Rittweger, CEO of Ineos Olefins & Polymers Europe, adds: “Advanced recycling plays a critical role in expanding the potential for plastics recycling and closing the loop for high-performance applications. This project reflects Ineos’s commitment to making a low-carbon circular economy a reality for our customers and wider society. Regulators can support this effort with clear, harmonised rules that recognise advanced recycling outputs, create legal certainty, and give investors the confidence to invest in new technologies at scale.”

In other news, Syensqo has broken ground on a manufacturing expansion at its Havre de Grace, Md., site, adding over 30% capacity through a multi-million-dollar investment in the company’s US manufacturing footprint. The expansion further strengthens Syensqo's global manufacturing network and its ability to support the growing aerospace market with advanced material solutions, it adds further.

The investment reinforces the company’s commitment to supplying high-performance structural adhesives and surfacing products for commercial aerospace, defence, propulsion, space, advanced air mobility and automotive customers.

Rodrigo Elizondo, President, Syensqo Composite Materials said the follows and complements the firm’s previous capacity increase in Wrexham UK.

As aerospace remains Syensqo's largest end market, this investment reinforces the company's long-term commitment to supporting customers as they scale production. The expansion will further reinforce the Havre de Grace site’s role locally and within Syensqo’s global manufacturing network and its ability to support customers with high-performance materials.

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