LyondellBasell would go a step further by opening a new closed-loop recycling facility in Lich, Germany. This is supposed to be a world-class facility for the production of high-quality feedstock from plastic wastes, furthering the company’s mission of supporting a circular economy and meeting industry sustainability targets.
Advanced Recycling for a Sustainable Future
The state-of-the-art new Lich recycling center forms part of LYB’s long-term strategy to reduce dependency on virgin material resources and slash its carbon footprint. Equipped with the latest sorting and recycling technologies, the facility will process end-of-life automotive and appliance plastics, including even car parts like bumpers and trims, along with white goods such as washing machines and refrigerators.
Materials processed at the facility will be converted into high-end recycled feedstock for use in a variety of durable goods and will offer manufacturers a sustainable alternative to virgin plastics. The feedstock is part of LYB’s line of products under the brand name CirculenRecover, which is designed for demanding end-uses in the automotive and white goods industries.
Focus on Mechanical Recycling
The Lich facility uses a mechanical recycling method for achieving high-grade output of recyclates. Mechanical recycling is one type of process that granulates waste plastics into smaller fragments, removing paint, metal, and other additives. This is highly applicable to durable goods such as automotive and appliance parts, where the plastic used has to be quality-matched to the standard.
With the spotlight on mechanical recycling, LYB has been supplying manufacturers with material that could meet the demanding requirements of car structural and interior components, including those of household appliances. This way, the present product line will be able to achieve high-performance product fabrication at a lower level of carbon footprint compared to their virgin feedstock material versions.
Part of LYB’s Hub Strategy
The Lich recycling center will be the centerpiece of LYB’s overall hub strategy, linking the company’s assets with state-of-the-art recycling technologies. This model will allow LYB to increase recycling capacity, lower its costs, and unlock even more value from plastic waste.
Where the hub strategy by LYB invests in the availability of recycled feedstock, it meets the demanding needs linked with sustainable material requirements. This, in turn, will also enable LYB to lessen its environmental footprint while supporting manufacturers in fulfilling their respective sustainability goals.
Industry Collaboration
The Lich facility represents collaboration among LYB and key partners, including a service provider and a university specialized in process and analytics. That makes sure the recycling center is benefiting from wealth-wide expertise and innovation that help develop the technologies of LYB in recycling.
The center is expected to start operations during the fourth quarter of 2024 and represents the single largest milestone in LYB’s ambition to produce and sell 2 million metric tonnes of recycled and renewable-based polymers in 2030. So ambitious a target testifies to the core commitment of the company to the Circular Economy and its reduction in virgin plastics dependency.
Sustainability Targets
The recyclates manufactured at the Lich plant will be used in order to support manufacturers of automobiles and white goods in reaching their sustainability goals. With every passing day, there is pressure on industries to contribute less to carbon emission and involve more sustainable materials in their products. In that respect, LYB’s recycled polymers offer a solution that meets such goals.
The CirculenRecover product line is rounded off by adding this Lich facility-produced feedstock, which leads to a sustainable alternative for virgin-based feedstock, meeting the demanding requirements of high-quality applications-manufacturers both in car structural and interior parts and appliance components for refrigerators, washing machines, and dryers.
This is where LYB positions itself: it is investing in recycling technologies to aid its capability expansion, placing the company at the heart of the current global drive to reduce plastic waste and advance the circular economy.
Outlook
Opening the Lich recycling center is considered to be a very important step in the LYB roadmap towards achieving its sustainability goals. Everything, as it currently stands, going according to plan, by the end of 2024, the facility should be up and running-meaning the company is on course to meet ambitious recycling targets.
The key role of the Lich center is to process durable goods waste into high-quality feedstock for the production of new materials. It is the case that LYB committed itself to minimizing its environmental footprint, by helping manufacturers meet their set targets in regard to sustainability. In other words, the demand for sustainable materials keeps on growing, and LYB is just there to play a leading role by providing the needed recycled polymers.
As LYB continues to develop its recycling capabilities, along with new technologies, it will be very well placed to make a lasting impression on the plastics industry and a greater drive toward sustainability.
Source:
LyondellBasell (LYB)