OMV has completed the expansion of its proprietary ReOil technology at its Schwechat refinery, where it plans to convert up to 16,000 metric tons of hard-to-recycled mixed plastic waste into chemical feedstocks annually.
ReOil converts post-consumer mixed plastic waste into pyrolysis oil, which can then be used as a raw material to produce base chemicals. In turn, the chemicals are converted into ‘virgin-quality’ food packaging, healthcare products, electric vehicle components, and other everyday applications.
Through this process, OMV aspires to keep valuable resources in the value chain and out of incineration or landfill. A life cycle assessment suggests that chemically recycling plastic waste in a ReOil plant instead of incinerating it could achieve a 34% reduction in CO2 emissions in 2030.
The initial ReOil pilot plant at OMV’s Schwechat refinery is thought to have reached almost 30,000 cracking hours, and processed over 2.1 million kilograms of plastic waste, since it began operations in 2018. This led OMV to build a larger, scaled-up facility, with both plants having received ISCC PLUS certification.
“The essential materials of the future need to become more sustainable and circular,” said Alfred Stern, chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of OMV. “OMV’s chemical recycling technology plays a pivotal role in driving growth in our Chemicals segment.
“The start-up of the new ReOil plant marks a significant milestone on our path towards achieving climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest. Complementing mechanical recycling, ReOil processes plastic waste that would otherwise remain unrecyclable, reintegrating it into the value chain.
“Through our Strategy 2030, we are advancing circularity as a cornerstone of our responsible transformation.”
After securing up to €81.6 million in EU funding for its industrial ReOil plant, the company plans to develop a ‘first-of-its-kind’ full-scale industrial plant for chemical recycling; the final investment decision for this plant is subject to internal approvals.
These developments come as Syensqo completes an initiative to recycle multilayer food packaging made of its Ixan PVDC into feedstock within a standard PE-based waste stream. In doing so, it hopes to unlock the ‘efficient, flexible and sustainable’ reuse of feedstock in injection moulded items such as flowerpots, pallets and benches.
VTT has also licensed Olefy, its mixed plastic recycling technology, to Refinity; it intends to use Olefy to commercialize a process to profitably recycle poor-quality plastic waste into high-quality products.
Back in 2023, OMV announced its plans to invest over €170 million into a fully automatic sorting plant developed by Interzero; this was set to produce feedstock for chemical recycling and expected to reach an annual capacity of up to 260,000 tonnes.
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