Plastic Energy

Plastic Energy Limited is the world’s leading pioneer in the chemical recycling of end-of-life plastic waste into synthetic hydrocarbon oils used as a feedstock to make new plastics. Its technology headquarters is in London, and the industrial plants in Almeria and Seville-Spain.

The company has a viable and proven solution to the global problem of plastic waste pollution by transforming waste destined for landfills or the ocean into recycled oil or TACOIL, replacing fossil naphtha in petrochemical crackers and producing virgin-quality recycled plastics through chemical recycling.

Plastic Energy recycles plastics that are mixed, contaminated, multi-layered, as well as plastics that can no longer be mechanically recycled. This is the case especially for food-grade plastic packaging, especially films, wrappers, packets, tubs, and pots that represent complex packaging made of various polyolefins, and sometimes other layers such as metals or paper.

Unlike many competitors, who are either in the laboratory or pilot plant stage, Plastic Energy’s UK based team of technology specialists have 10 years’ experience developing the unique, TAC recycling process. Instead of using catalysts, Plastic Energy’s TAC Plants are uniquely controlled using thermal degradation, agitation and carbon chain length selectivity to produce a variety of outputs. TAC is a low-pressure thermal depolymerisation process patented in Europe and the US. The process heats waste plastic in the absence of oxygen to generate hydrocarbon oils.

Plastic Energy has an agreement with SABIC, which processes TACOIL into virgin-quality polymer granulates, certified by the ISCC, and then be supplied to key customers such as Unilever, Tupperware, Vinventions, or Walki Group to develop high quality, food-grade, packaging for food, beverage, personal and homecare products. With the full value-chain, Plastic Energy has validated the circularity of end-of-life plastics by using post-consumer waste plastic and converting it into TACOIL and then Certified Circular Polymers used and commercialised by Unilever in food grade packaging such as Magnum or Knorr.

Plastic Energy has also signed agreements to develop new plants with Ineos, Petronas, Viridor, and in August 2020 announced an investment and strategic partnership with Sealed Air.

In addition of the two operational plants in Spain running 330 days a year, Plastic Energy has announced plans to build in the Netherlands, France, UK, Malaysia and Indonesia. They expect to build the capacities for ten plants in Europe and ten in Asia before 2025.