Technip Energies, Alterra and Neste launch Nerea modular solution for chemical recycling
- Nerea is a standardized, modular plant that converts heterogeneous, hard-to-recycle plastic waste into high-quality feedstock for the petrochemical industry.
- The solution packages Alterra’s thermochemical liquefaction, Neste’s chemical recycling expertise and Technip Energies’ engineering, project delivery and modularization.
- Alterra’s liquefaction technology has demonstrated more than five years of continuous commercial operation processing real-world plastic waste streams.
- The three firms signed a collaboration agreement in November 2024 and say Nerea lowers pre-investment, reduces project complexity and increases cost and schedule predictability for rapid deployment.
Market context
Global plastics production reached approximately 431 million tonnes in 2024 while circularity rates lag, leaving large volumes of waste headed to incineration, landfill or the environment. Regulatory developments in Europe and elsewhere are increasing demand for recycled and circular feedstocks.
What Nerea is
Nerea is a commercial, standardized modular offering intended to accelerate deployment of chemical recycling projects for plastic waste. The plant is designed to convert heterogeneous and hard-to-recycle plastic waste into high-quality feedstock for the petrochemical industry, while minimising pre-investment and reducing project complexity to provide greater cost and schedule certainty.
Technology and partners
The offering builds on a collaboration agreement signed in November 2024 and integrates Alterra’s thermochemical liquefaction technology, Neste’s chemical recycling expertise and Technip Energies’ engineering, project delivery and modularization capabilities. Alterra’s technology has logged more than five years of continuous commercial operation processing real-world plastic waste. Neste notes its recently started upgrading unit in Porvoo, Finland is the world’s largest by capacity.
Commercial positioning
The partners position Nerea for waste operators, project developers, refiners and petrochemical players seeking a more predictable and scalable route to circular plastic feedstocks, and state the standardized model is ready for rapid industrial deployment.
Source: Technip
