Axens, IFPEN and JEPLAN announce start-up of chemical recycling unit
Published by Poppy Clements,
Assistant Editor
Hydrocarbon Engineering,
Axens, IFPEN and JEPLAN entered into a partnership in 2020 to develop and license an innovative recycling process, called Rewind® PET, that can be used to recycle all types of waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET), especially those difficult to recycle mechanically. With the support of the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME), this collaboration has resulted in the construction, commissioning and recent start-up of their Rewind PET semi-industrial unit, which modifies and expands JEPLAN’s existing Kitakyushu Hibikinada Pilot (KHP) demonstration plant, in Kitakyushu-city, Japan. The production capacity of the Rewind PET semi-industrial unit keeps the same capacity of the KHP demonstration plant before modifications, at 1000 tpy.
The aim of this unit is to show future industrial customers how the innovative PET recycling process, developed by the three partners, can be integrated into their own production and recycling facilities. This is a key step for the three partners in view of the commercialisation (licensing) by Axens, which is intended to start by the end of 2023 once the process has been fully validated. The Rewind PET process will produce a high-quality, virgin-like, recycled PET, suitable for all PET applications including food contact packaging or textiles.
The innovative Rewind PET process involves a continuous depolymerisation of PET by glycolysis, followed by a deep purification of the obtained monomer, BHET (Bis(2-Hydroxyethyl) terephthalate). Its major advantage for manufacturers lies in its ability to separate all additives and colorants to restore a pure BHET monomer, which can easily be polymerised again in existing (or new) polymerization plants. It can be used to process all types of waste PET, including coloured and opaque bottles, multilayer trays, packaging film and polyester textiles. This innovation is the result of more than 10 years of development at Axens, IFPEN and JEPLAN, and of the synergy established by the three partners for over three years now. It will greatly help the PET industry meet its targets for the integration of recycled materials, complementing mechanical recycling. This will also contribute to reaching Europe’s target of 30% recycled content in PET-made packaging by 2030.
The Rewind PET process is part of Axens and IFPEN's global strategy in the field of the plastics circular economy, with the development of several chemical and physical recycling processes designed to complement mechanical recycling in order to achieve the ambitious targets for the incorporation of recycled material in many industrial sectors, starting with packaging and textiles. It is a powerful response to the challenges of ecological transition faced by manufacturers and brand owners looking for reliable, long-term solutions to adapt their industrial facilities.
Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/petrochemicals/27102023/axens-ifpen-and-jeplan-announce-start-up-of-rewind-pet-semi-industrial-unit/
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