BASF has signed an uptake supply agreement with New Energy, a technology company specialised in the pyrolysis of used tyres, based in Budapest, Hungary.
The business deal means New Energy will supply BASF with up to 4000 tonnes of pyrolysis oil per year derived from scrap tyres. In a pilot phase, first volumes of the pyrolysis oil have already been utilised successfully in BASF’s integrated chemical production site in Ludwigshafen, Germany.
The agreement is part of BASF’s ChemCycling project which was started in 2018 and focusses on chemically reprocessing post-consumer plastic waste on an industrial scale. Since 2020, first commercial products ready for the market.
‘So far, there was no technology that allowed the recycling of pyrolysis oil from tires into high value applications. By further broadening our raw material base to waste tires, we can create a new circular value stream,’ comments Dr. Christian Lach, Project Leader ChemCycling at BASF. ‘Moreover, we establish a second recycled feedstock in our ChemCycling project with which we can manufacture high-performance products for our customers’ demanding applications,’ he adds.
Viktor Varadi, ceo of New Energy, comments: ‘We spent almost a decade to develop and optimise our technology and are now successfully operating an industrial-scale plant which turns waste tyres into secondary raw materials. This puts us at the forefront when it comes to establishing a circular economy for tyres.’
BASF and New Energy are both committed to work on solutions for the global plastic waste problem. The two parties have therefore additionally signed an agreement for a feasibility study that targets the adaption of New Energy’s proprietary pyrolysis technology to the conversion of other plastic waste streams.
Fuente: Recycling International