Toby Heppenstall

The Advanced Recycling Conference 2023 was hosted very capably in Cologne last week by nova-Institut GmbH . Having gathered thoughts after the event, I share some key points that speak to the materials value chains at large, including all of us as consumers. Other points that speak more to the chemical industry will form the basis of a future post.

· Decarbonisation is the right goal for Energy pathways but Materials cannot decarbonize !

Defossilisation instead is the aim of the game. Given the lasting and increasing need for carbon in our ‘stuff’ - advanced recycling technologies are ideally positioned to help society source Carbon in future from above the ground instead of below the ground.

· To Recap the tech of this area; unlike Mechanical Recycling which grinds up pre-sorted, used plastic waste to re-mould it directly into new things, ‘Advanced Chemical’ Recycling transforms that plastic waste to more fundamental precursor products which are also purer. This gives more degrees of freedom for reprocessing but the trade-off is that multiple energy-intensive steps are required. Mechanical Recycling is therefore always preferred wherever it can be deployed – but it has constraints (polymer type and quality of the waste feedstock).

· Manufacturers of consumable, durable & industrial goods now all have targets for Carbon footprint reduction. Even companies who don't buy 'chemical' products as such very likely depend on semi-finished and finished materials that at some stage of the value chain incorporate chemicals, plastics, textiles, adhesives, coatings, and many other products which issue from the chemical industry. In other words, an awareness of this sector is relevant for anyone in industry seeking more sustainable product solutions.

· Europe, for now, is leading the world. This status is becoming so rare in the industrial landscape that it should surely be treasured. As arguably the most environmentally conscious region, with the most advanced and comprehensive Carbon legislation, (and -pessimists might say - frankly because we have the most challenged chemical industry..) this is an area in which we have to succeed.

· Several of these technologies have come of age in the last few years with an upsurge of consumer pull, and an impressive ferment of innovation and investment interest such that more than 300 companies in Europe alone are now active doing Pyrolysis, Gasification, Solvolysis and Dissolution – the four main chemical recycling processes. These companies – each with their own distinctive approach – are values-driven and I believe, have an authentic concern to make plastics and materials more sustainable. They deserve continued backing by investors (as funding inevitably tightens), fair treatment by their Big Chemicals / Big Oil customers, recognition by EU regulators (especially of recycled product status for the important packaging waste regulations) and the belief and support of the press and public.

· And finally, a takeaway for us all: Quality Control now begins in the kitchen! Municipal waste is becoming an ever-more important raw material for circular manufacturing, with all of us as ‘upstream suppliers’. However advanced the tech; the cleaner and more scrupulously we sort the increasing number of waste plastic (and other) materials which can go into our variously-coloured bins, the more we help to facilitate cost-effective solutions at industrial scale from which – as guardians of the climate and the earth’s resources - we all benefit.

More information can be found from https://advanced-recycling.eu/

Toby Heppenstall

London, England, United Kingdom 987 followers 500+ connections

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About

Experience

Chemindustrial Consulting

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Education

University of Bath

Languages

French

Native or bilingual proficiency

German

Limited working proficiency

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