Neste invests in US chemical recycling technology firm

Finland's Neste has taken a minority stake in US-based chemical recycling technology supplier Alterra Energy and will help commercialise its technology. Alterra said that collaboration would support its plans to start construction of a facility in Europe in 2021 that would supply pyrolysis oil as a feedstock for chemicals and polymer production.

Alterra has a pilot plant in the US at Akron, Ohio, capable of processing 60 t/d of waste plastic in a continuous process. Its technology is intended to help deal with the variety of mixed plastic waste from post-consumer sources. Plastic waste is pre-treated in a reactor before being fed to a pyrolysis system.

Neste said the relationship, one of several it has formed in the chemical recycling sector, demonstrated its commitment to developing the industry by supporting and helping to commercialise promising technologies. It has a target to process more than one million tonnes of plastic waste from 2030 onwards.

By Alex Sands