Dow, one of the largest chemical companies, and Swiss start-up Plastogaz, proprietor of an advanced recycling technology, have announced a strategic investment, which will help to simplify the process of converting plastic waste to feedstock. Both partners will collaborate to scale advanced recycling solutions to enable major brands to use recycled content in their products.
With its 104 manufacturing sites in 31 countries and sales of approximately $55 billion in 2021, Dow will bring global reach and materials science expertise to further develop technologies with smaller innovative companies, like Plastogaz, who are developing circular feedstock for plastics, which the global brands require in order to eliminate plastic waste from their value chains and address the plastic waste crisis. The investment in the EPFL-spin-off was structured and led by Dow Venture Capital which is focused on pursuing strategic investments in innovative start-up companies that enable and accelerate Dow’s business growth and value.
Plastogaz’s proprietary catalytic hydrocracking technology solution is unique in that it is more efficient, and less energy intensive than some other current forms of advanced recycling. Advanced recycling requires highly controlled steps before plastic waste is converted to high-quality hydrocarbons, sufficient to recreate virgin-like plastics, and this technology promises to further simplify the process from waste to circular feedstock and then circular polymers. Ultimately, this aims to both increase the carbon-yields of advanced recycling (efficiency) and to minimize the energy needs for advanced recycling, hence fostering a more circular economy at lower CO2 footprint. The joint aim is to accelerate the commercialization of this process.
Advanced recycling is a complementary process to conventional, mechanical recycling (the method currently most used to recycle plastics). However, the bonus for advanced recycling is that it can recycle traditionally hard to recycle plastics such as multi-layer, flexible plastics used in packaging, usually considered ‘unrecyclable’ and which are frequently incinerated or sent to landfill. Importantly, the recycled products will be suitable for use in food-contact packaging, unlike conventional recycling processes. With advanced recycling there is no limit to the number of times the same material can be recycled, meaning it has the potential to eliminate waste from single-use plastic, creating value not waste. In addition, advanced recycling processes are expected to save approximately 1.5 tons of CO2 per ton of plastic recycled, compared to incineration.
(Press release / SK)
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