Waste Plastic- A Future Raw Material for Fossil Refining
- Published | 12 September 2018
Neste targets that by 2030, they will recycle more than one million tons of waste plastic annually.
Europe: Neste, the eminent producer of renewable diesel globally, has come up with different ways to make liquefied waste plastic as a future raw material for fossil refining. This will have a positive impact on the chemical industry in the near future.
Neste targets that by 2030, they will recycle more than one million tons of waste plastic annually. Neste being ranked as the world’s second most sustainable company and world’s largest producer of renewable diesel from waste and residues has come up with a target to be a leader in low-carbon refining and support circular economy by developing innovative solutions based on waste plastic. This can further help in providing solutions to support plastic waste reduction globally. Usage of plastic waste in the form of raw material increases the efficiency of the material by reducing the dependency on crude oil and carbon footprint of products based on such raw material. Tons and tons of plastic waste are generated annually after post-consumer usage. The one third of this waste currently is being recycled.
Chemical recycling refers to usage waste plastics as raw material for the refining and petrochemical industries to change them into final products such as chemicals, fuels and new plastics. Chemical recycling can make new verticals for plastic waste by enabling the qualities of final high end product, and will be complementing the traditional mechanical recycling procedure. To accelerate development, chemical recycling should be implemented rapidly using waste management and upgrading technologies.
Neste is helping the plastics industry and various plastics-consuming companies to reduce their crude oil dependency and climate emissions by producing durable and recyclable renewable plastics from bio-based raw materials, such as waste fats and oils. For the first time, Neste and IKEA announced that, together they will produce polypropylene (PP) plastic from fossil-free, bio-based raw materials. This will create a world history that bio-based PP is produced at a commercial scale.
Plastic pollution is high end biologically derived material which owing to our misunderstanding of as a fossil fuel byproduct has rightly become to be seen as toxic waste. When the primary understanding of our existence and environs is politico- economic, and we fail to understand the full implications of our surroundings we completely miss the point. Within the constraints imposed by reality and objectivity it is good to see this somewhat esoteric understanding able to be expressed in the physical and economic paradigm. It's an observation that over the decades since the debate around fossil fuels sustainability has been articulated we have come so close, even accomplished in synthesizing these compounds but is still in denial of nature's creativity.
According to BlueWeave Consulting, the recycling of plastic waste into future raw material will have a great impact on the chemical industry. It has a huge potential to grow as a substitute for other fossil fuel. Waste Management is the procedure for treating solid wastes and provides plenty of solutions for recycling of items that do not belong to trash. It transforms garbage into a valuable resource. The companies can utilize the market as they can make products using this recycled plastic as raw material. It will pave the way for the future of chemical industry. Hence this can be an instrumental factor to drive the chemical industry and will have a positive impact on the growth.
According to an upcoming report by BlueWeave Consulting, on “Global Automotive Plastic Market 2025”, the market for Polypropylene (PP) is increasing significantly over a CAGR of 14% and is expected to bloom in the anticipated period with revenue around USD 19,311 million by 2025. Polypropylene is one the most widely and majorly used engineered plastics in the automotive industry. Around 32% of polypropylene is used in the making of various products and applications. It is quite similar to polyethylene but is slightly harder, has more heat resistant power and is highly chemical resistant. As the automotive market is flourishing, the demand and usage of polypropylene is also increasing owing to its vast properties. It has the lowest density when compared to other plastics which means the moulding parts made of these are of lesser weight. Thus, products made using polypropylene are light weighted. It can also be manufactured into a living hinge i.e. can be made into extremely thin plastic sheets or pieces which can easily be bent without any breakage.