Eesti Energia´s (Enefit) idea for plastic recycling
active 8 months agoThere is a significant amount of plastic waste generated in the whole Baltic Sea region. Currently only about 30% of plastic waste is recycled using available mature methods (mechanical recycling). The sorting leftovers and rest of plastic waste is disposing waste in landfills or used for energy recovery, which should be the last resort of waste management according to the EU Waste Framework Directive. Instead of landfilling or burning waste plastic, it is possible to chemically recycle them into pyrolysis oil by using pyrolysis technology. This oil can then be utilised by international chemical industry companies to produce new plastics, thus reducing the demand for fossil fuel based primary energy feedstock and promoting the circularity of plastics. If the project is successful, then it can solve the waste plastics issue in the whole region. Enefit already has 3 industrial pyrolysis plants in operation and a new one currently under construction. It is estimated that each plant can process at least 250 000 t of plastic waste annually. Through further availability of plastic feedstock the amount of plastic waste into the process can be gradually increased.
