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Digital Exclusive (sponsored): NXRe™: A novel recycling technology to support the plastics industry in creating efficient and effective circular value chains

Antonio Batistini, Enrico De Dominicis, Massimo Di Amato, Barbara Morico, Emma Palo and Paola Sclafani

Plastic is a fundamental part of everyday life. According to the OECD’s Global Plastics Outlook, the production of various plastics has increased nearly 230-fold, from 2 MMt in 1950 to 460 MMt in 2019, with a further projected increase to approximately 1,231 MMt in 2060.1

The success of plastic is also becoming its greatest weakness. According to OECD’s Global Plastics Outlook Policy Scenarios to 2060, 353 MMt of various plastics waste were produced in 2019 alone, a number expected to reach more than 1,000 MMt by 2060; moreover, the plastics waste management system is severely ineffective, with only 33 MMtpy being currently recycled and with about 153 MMtpy being completely mismanaged.2

To tackle what is becoming a major global environmental crisis, in March 2022, the United Nations (UN) Environment Assembly adopted a resolution aimed at developing international legally binding rules to stop plastics pollution.

To cope with this growing environmental problem, the plastics industry must rapidly increase the effectiveness and efficiency of plastics waste recycling systems, establishing real and consequential plastics circular value chains.  

NextChem’s circular approach to plastics recycling. With the aim of supporting the plastics industry in developing truly circular value chains, MAIRE Group, through its subsidiary NextChem, has developed a Green Circular District Model (FIG. 1), an integrated platform of green chemistry technologies, ranging from mechanical upcycling to chemical recycling.

FIG. 1. Maire group’s green circular district model.

In this framework, MyRemono, a new MAIRE company, incorporated in partnership with Biorenova, an innovative Italian Small Medium Enterprise (SME), plays a central role in the development of chemical recycling processes for polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polystyrene and, in perspective, of polyolefins. MyRemono is a technological start-up focused on developing and licensing NXReTM, a novel, patented and highly efficient continuous depolymerization technology, offering a valuable solution to enhance plastics recycling, reduce the consumption of fossil-based materials and address some of the main issues affecting mechanical recycling processes.

MyRemono’s approach to chemical recycling. MyRemono’s NXReTM is a continuous process based on a molten metal flow maintained at a temperature ranging from 300°C–500°C. The proper mixing of the polymeric waste and materials introduced into the depolymerization reactor with the continuous molten metal flow reduces the time required by the depolymerization reaction, as well as improves the quality of the polymers’ molecular bonds breakdown and of the molecules’ recombination to obtain the desired monomers.

The main product generated by the reaction between the polymers and the molten metal flow is a monomer-rich depolymerization gas which, after emerging from the molten metal, is conveyed into a condensation or a cooling system, depending on the type of polymer treated.

The non-condensable or not useful fraction of the depolymerization gas can be used as an energy source to partially fuel the depolymerization process, while the solid waste generated during the breakdown of the polymers’ molecules is removed from the process without requiring any stop.

NXRe’s TM first industrial deployment. MyRemono’s NXReTM has been tested through both lab-scale and semi-industrial scale prototypes (FIG. 2) using different polymers; however, the most extensive tests have been performed using PMMA waste and materials (FIG. 3), which were demonstrated to be consistently depolymerized to a high-quality recycled methyl methacrylate (rMMA) (FIG. 4).

FIG. 2. MyRemono semi-industrial prototype under construction.

 

FIG. 3. Regrind PMMA.

FIG. 4. MyRemono purified rMMA sample (left), and rPMMA sheet 100% rMMA-made (right).

Building on the results obtained during the PMMA testing campaigns, MyRemono will implement its first-of-its-kind industrial-scale reference plant, based on NXReTM PMMA, MyRemono’s NXRe technology focused on recycling PMMA.

The plant, which is currently under development in Italy with the support of the EU Innovation Fund, will process 5,000 tpy of PMMA by 2026, reducing the carbon footprint of PMMA production by over 90%.

In managing the plant, MyRemono will partner with Röhm GmbH, one of the world's leading manufacturers of methacrylate chemistry, Pekutherm GmbH and Polyvantis GmbH to create a Europe-wide circularity system for the recycling of PMMA.

The newly established network will supply MyRemono the PMMA scrap material to be processed via NXRe™ PMMA technology and chemically transformed into ultra-pure monomers with virgin-like quality. Pekutherm will manage the logistics and sorting of PMMA materials, while Röhm and Polyvantis will handle the mechanical recycling. Röhm will also act as offtaker of the rMMA, which can be reused in manufacturing new PMMA products, supporting circular economy principles (FIG. 5).

FIG. 5. The alliance partnership (left to right): Hans-Peter Hauck (COO, Röhm), Lukas Dössel (Director Circular Economy, Röhm), Daniela Pfister (Commercial Director, Pekutherm), Heiko Pfister (Managing Director, Pekutherm), Giovanni Sale (Corporate and Business Strategy Senior Vice President, Maire) and Massimo Di Amato (Circular Solutions Senior Vice President, NextChem, and Managing Director, MyRemono).

This partnership is a powerful demonstration of NextChem’s circular solutions value proposition for its clients and partners and sets the ground for licensing of the NXRe™ PMMA technology, which will be a key milestone for the future development of chemical depolymerization of other thermoplastic materials such as polystyrene and polyolefins.

NXRe™ ongoing developments. Preliminary tests performed on styrene-based and olefin-based polymers, have already indicated that NXRe™ will be a suitable tool to also efficiently recycle these types of plastics waste and materials.

For instance, first tests performed on polystyrene highlighted an interesting crude rStyrene quality (FIG. 6), as well as a promising recovery level; moreover, preliminary trials with polyolefin suggested that NXRe™ could work as a “polyolefin steam cracker”, returning these plastics into an ethylene and propylene-rich gas, which could potentially be directly fed into a steam cracker’s backend without requiring any further cracking process (FIG. 7).

                        

FIG. 6. Polystyrene shreds (left) and MyRemono's rStyrene (right).

 

FIG. 7. MyRemono’s route to polyolefin chemical recycling.

During 2025, further tests and studies will be performed by MyRemono to demonstrate the full applicability of the NXRe™ technology to these different types of polymers, paving the way to the construction of further industrial-scale reference plants.

Takeaway. Boosting the scope of plastics waste recycling systems and establishing highly valuable plastics circular value chains are of paramount importance for the plastics and chemical sectors to thrive. To achieve these objectives, the massive deployment of a combination of consolidated technologies and new recycling solutions is vital.

In this framework, MyRemono’s NXRe™—combining many advantages like a continuous process, high energy-mass transfer ratio, short residence times and a high flexibility in treating different types of plastics waste within compact plants—is an important tool in winning the fight against plastics pollution, contributing to the decarbonization of the plastics industry, and strengthening the health of the plastics and chemical sectors.

LITERATURE CITED

1 OECD, Global Plastics Outlook, Economic Drivers, Environmental Impacts and Policy Options, OECD Publishing, Paris, France, February 2022, online: https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/global-plastics-outlook_de747aef-en.html

2 OECD, Global Plastics Outlook: Policy Scenarios to 2060, OECD Publishing, Paris, France, June 2022, online: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/environment/global-plastics-outlook_aa1edf33-en

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