LyondellBasell has been awarded a €40 million grant from the EU Innovation Fund to support the construction of an advanced recycling demonstration plant in Wesseling, Germany. The plant will use the company's MoReTec technology to convert polyolefin waste into pyrolysis oil and gas, reducing CO2 emissions and increasing the circularity of plastic waste. The plant, expected to start operations in 2026, will have an annual processing capacity equivalent to the plastic packaging waste generated by over 1.2 million German citizens per year. The EU Innovation Fund aims to fund innovative clean-tech projects to support decarbonization.
Rotterdam, Netherlands – LyondellBasell (LYB) has been selected to receive a €40 million grant from the European Union (EU) Innovation Fund. The grant will support the fully-electrified, industrial-scale advanced recycling demonstration plant the company plans to build at its Wesseling, Germany site. The company’s MoReTec plant is one of the 41 projects selected in the EU Innovation Fund ‘Third Call for Large Scale Projects’. The EU is committing EUR 3.6 billion as part of its efforts to fund innovative clean-tech projects to support decarbonization.
“We are delighted with the EU Innovation Fund support for the development of our MoReTec technology,” said Jim Seward, EVP and Chief Innovation Officer. “Investing in our first industrial-scale advanced recycling demonstration plant will provide us with valuable operating experience and additional technological know-how needed to scale-up and fully commercialize our MoReTec technology.”
The company’s MoReTec technology demonstrates a high level of innovation in the recycling of polyolefin waste to produce pyrolysis oil and pyrolysis gas. Pyrolysis oil is a substitute for fossil-based materials used in polymer production. Typically, pyrolysis gas streams are consumed as a fuel, however, the MoReTec technology enables the pyrolysis gas to be recovered as well, contributing to the production of polymer and displacing fossil-based feedstocks, which reduces CO2 emissions.
The technology incorporates electrification of the core reaction process, making it possible for the unit to operate completely on renewable electricity. Scalable single train design along with low operating temperatures resulting from the use of catalysts and innovative heat transfer design are additional advantages of this differential technology.
These advantages enable the MoReTec technology to achieve high plastic to plastic conversion rates, helping increase the circularity of plastic waste.
The MoReTec demonstration plant in Germany will convert post-consumer plastic waste into feedstock for the production of new plastic materials to be offered under the company’s CirculenRevive brand. CirculenRevive products offer solutions for a wide range of applications, including medical and food packaging. The MoReTec plant in Wesseling will have an annual processing capacity equivalent to the amount of plastic packaging waste generated by over 1.2 million German citizens per year. The MoReTec plant is planned to be started-up in 2026.
The Innovation Fund is one of the world's largest funding programs for the demonstration and commercialization of innovative low-carbon technologies. It is one of the key tools of the European Green Deal Industrial Plan and is financed by revenues from the auctioning of allowances from the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS).