News Releases 2021
Nov. 04, 2021
Developing Chemical Recycling using Pyrolysis Process
JGC Holdings Corporation announced that it has started developing license process of chemical recycling, utilizing pyrolysis technology for plastic waste based on a proven track record in commercial operation by the former Sapporo Plastic Recycling Co. Ltd (SPR).
1. Background
Recently, recycling of waste plastic waste has emerged as a global challenge, and establishing effective recycle system is a pressing issue.
Chemical recycling is expected to be a technology that will bring significant improvement to the recycling rate as it can convert plastic waste containing different materials and impurities into various chemical products.
There are several methods for chemical recycling that contain impurities, such as gasification and pyrolysis. In comparison with other methods, pyrolysis expects high recycling rate to plastic and has the advantage of minimizing initial capital investment by maximizing the use of existing facilities in refineries and petrochemical plants.
2. About Pyrolysis technology
The pyrolysis technology that had been applied by SPR can treat not only polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS) but also polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in plastic waste without sorting at pretreatment unit and perform safe and stable continuous production of pyrolysis oil by properly discharging the residue.
This technology has a track record of being operated commercially by SPR for a 10-year period from 2000, with an annual processing capacity of 15,000 tons. The JGC Group considers this technology as the most reliable of all pyrolysis technologies.
3. Future Policy
With the foundation in its technological superiority and track record, the JGC Group will strive to further improve the economic efficiency of pyrolysis technology by increasing capacity of equipment and optimizing overall process system and the Group plans to begin licensing in 2022.
For chemical recycling with pyrolysis process, it is important how effectively the pyrolysis oil can be supplied to existing facilities in refineries and chemical plants and then converted to plastic products.
The Group will make proposals that will contribute to enhancing the added value of client's plant by utilizing its outstanding engineering skills and sophisticated project management capabilities that it has accumulated in petrochemical refining and petrochemical projects up to now.
The Group has positioned chemical recycling as a priority area in its medium-term management plan, "Building a Sustainable Planetary Infrastructure 2025," and will promote chemical recycling and contribute to realization of circular economy through a wide range of process technologies, including gasification (EUP gasification chemical recycling), pyrolysis and monomerization (waste fiber recycling).