The general objective of this project is to develop a scalable process for the chemical recycling of PolyAl into recycled naphtha. PolyAl is a stream of Low-Density Poly Ethylene (LDPE) and Aluminum that originated in the packaging world.
The developed process should 1) avoid the need for hydrogen treatment as a post-treatment technology, 2) deliver higher naphtha yields than currently possible with state-of-the-art technologies, and 3) save a minimum of 2.0 TC O2eq per T PolyAl compared to energy recovery.
In contrast to other projects that focus on the catalytic pyrolysis of plastic waste, this project faces the specific challenge of chemically recycling the PolyAl fraction of cardboard packaging. This raw material differs significantly from other polyolefinic materials due to, among other things, the large amounts of paper and aluminum that the fraction contains, which can have a negative effect on processes and product quality. The potential of different innovative cleaning steps well be explored.