A 20,000-tonne-per-year demonstration plant on Teesside will use superheated water to break waste plastic back into the chemical building blocks for new plastic. Today’s mechanical recycling can only handle certain plastics, degrades quality each time, and cannot process multi-layered materials. Much of the remaining plastic waste ends up incinerated or in landfill. This plant uses supercritical water and a catalyst to split plastic polymers into short hydrocarbon molecules—waxes, oils, and naphtha—that can feed directly into new plastic production, including food-grade material. The water itself supplies hydrogen to complete the broken chemical bonds, cutting cost and complexity. If the plant proves reliable at commercial scale, it would complement mechanical recycling by diverting hard-to-recycle plastics away from disposal. The technology could be deployed worldwide by the engineering contractor, Wood Group, while Warwick Manufacturing Group assesses environmental performance through life-cycle analysis. Success would mean that the carbon locked in waste plastic stays in use, reducing demand for virgin fossil feedstocks and shrinking the plastic waste stream that currently burdens waste management systems.
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The project comprises building and optimising a first-of-its kind 20,000 tpa hydrothermal upgrading demonstration plant (Cat-HTR) at the Wilton International site, Teesside, that will convert end of life plastic in to hydrocarbon feedstock (waxes, oils, naphtha) to be used for the production of new plastic and other chemicals, recycling the chemical molecules contained within plastic. Chemical recycling of plastic waste promises to create the next generation of reprocessing plants. Traditional mechanical recycling of plastic is limited in respect of the types of plastic that can be recycled, number of times it can be recycled (discolouration), the allowable uses of mechanical recycled plastic, the dislike of multi layered plastics, etc. Chemical recycling methodologies tolerate a wider range of non-homogeneity of plastics, relative to traditional re-processors. Hydrothermal upgrading therefore complements mechanical recycling by processing these other end of life plastics that might otherwise be incinerated or landfilled, making the chemical available for the production of new plastic, including to food grade, and other finished goods. The process employs supercritical water to heat, and in the presence of a catalyst, to break the plastic polymer into shorter chain molecules. The water plays an important part in providing hydrogen to complete the broken chemical bonds, reducing complexity and cost. The purpose of this first of a type project, owned and operated by **Renew ELP Ltd**, is to demonstrate the reliable operation of a commercial-scale facility for the CAT-HTR technology platform, establish the optimum reactor conditions for different feedstocks, and confirm product quality and establish markets for the products. **Wood Group** based in Darlington is the engineering contractor selected to deliver this first project. Wood's international capabilities means that it is well placed to delivery this technology worldwide following successful completion of the demonstration project. **Warwick Manufacturing Group** (University of Warwick - Part of High Value Manufacturing Catapult) is engaged on the project to assist in optimising the plant through the technical analysis of inputs and outputs, alongside environmental analysis and interpretation of results and through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).
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