Borealis has announced a strategic collaboration with BlueAlp, a chemical recycling technology company located in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
Source: PlasticsToday
As part of this agreement, Borealis, a global leader in advanced and sustainable polyolefins solutions, will transfer its majority stake in Renasci, a chemical recycling firm based in Ostend, Belgium, to BlueAlp. In exchange, Borealis will acquire a 10% share in BlueAlp to support its growth and scaling initiatives.
The financial specifics of this transaction remain undisclosed.
Renasci's Role in Chemical Recycling
Renasci has been a pioneer in chemical recycling within Europe, having licensed BlueAlp's technology to establish a 20-kiloton-per-annum (kt p.a.) scale-up facility. BlueAlp has engineered, constructed, and provided operational support for this plant in recent years.
With this new partnership, BlueAlp will shift from merely supporting operations to directly managing the asset, which is expected to accelerate technological innovation, improve the production of high-quality circular feedstock, and enhance BlueAlp's licensing capabilities.
Advancing Chemical Recycling to Meet EU Regulations
This collaboration coincides with the European Union's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), which is set to be implemented in 2030 and is anticipated to increase the demand for recycled materials suitable for contact-sensitive applications, such as food and cosmetics packaging. The partners highlight that chemically recycled feedstock will be essential in fulfilling these stringent requirements.
According to the companies, Borealis has played a key role in transforming Renasci into one of the few operational chemical recycling plants in Europe. With BlueAlp now steering the next phase of Renasci's evolution, Borealis will concentrate on creating customer solutions utilizing chemically recycled feedstock.
Strengthening the Circular Economy
By merging Borealis' market expertise with BlueAlp's technological advancements, the companies aim to convert more plastic waste into high-quality circular feedstock, thereby fostering a shift towards a more sustainable and circular economy.
Additionally, Borealis announced its partnership with Project Electro this week, an EU-funded initiative designed to propel Europe towards a climate-neutral, circular plastics system.
This project brings together leading universities, including the University of Ghent, research institutes, and industry stakeholders to develop electrified, high-efficiency recycling technologies capable of transforming low-quality waste into premium raw materials.
As a consortium partner, Borealis contributes to the work package focused on enabling circular feedstocks for efficient steam cracking. Their efforts are centered on evaluating full-range pyrolysis oil and its individual fractions, optimizing circular hydrocarbon mixtures for large-scale cracking operations, and creating tailored cracking strategies to handle the varying qualities of pyrolysis oil. Borealis also employs methods such as prefractionation, advanced filtration, and comprehensive quality assessments to enhance overall process performance and efficiency.
Innovative Recycling Techniques
Project Electro introduces electrified thermochemical methods to process mixed and challenging waste materials, including multilayer packaging and contaminated plastics that are typically difficult to recycle. This initiative aims to convert these materials into high-purity olefins, such as ethylene and propylene, using renewable electricity as a clean energy source. By replacing fossil-based energy with sustainable alternatives, Project Electro seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90%, aligning with the European Union's objectives for circularity and decarbonization.
Manjunath Patil, Senior Engineer for Innovation and Technology at Borealis, commended the collaboration.
