Green materials: Sumitomo Chemical’s pilot recycling facility for auto sector; Sibur starts producing PET with recycled content

Japan’s Sumitomo Chemical says that it is constructing a pilot-scale mechanical waste processing facility to develop a material recycling business using waste plastics collected from end-of-life automobiles. The company will team up with Japanese integrated recycling firm Rever Holdings, which engages in a wide range of environmental businesses, with the aim of developing material recycling businesses, and will start providing samples of recycled plastic material to customers in 2023.

In Japan, approximately 3 million automobiles are dismantled annually for disposal and recycling. It is particularly difficult to separate plastic components such as bumpers and interior parts and remove foreign matter from them after dismantling, which poses a major challenge to material recycling. In Europe, recycling of plastic automotive components is accelerating as a number of automakers adopt parts using recycled materials for new models, setting target recycling rates. Similar movements are expected to spread in Japan.

Against this backdrop, Sumitomo Chemical has decided to establish a new process to manufacture PP compounds using waste plastics collected from end-of-life automobiles by utilising the plastic manufacturing technology it has cultivated over many years. As part of this effort, the company will introduce a pilot-scale mechanical waste processing facility that performs an integrated process of sorting and removal of foreign matter according to the type and characteristics of waste plastics, and will work to develop a commercial production process for high-quality recycled plastics for use in automobiles.

Since June 2021, Sumitomo Chemical has been studying a business alliance with Rever, which engages in a wide range of environmental businesses, with the aim of developing material recycling businesses. To date, the two companies have been working on optimisation of the integrated waste plastics sorting process and environmental impact assessments. In the process development effort, Sumitomo Chemical will use waste plastics provided by Rever. 

In other news, Russian chemical firm Sibur has launched production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) granules using recycled feedstock. The new product, Vivilen rPET granules, contains up to 25–30% recycled polymers and will now be manufactured at Polief, Russia’s only producer of terephthalic acid and in which Sibur has a stake. Production of PET granules using drop-in recyclate, will be produced at its plant in Bashkortostan, Russia, and are expected to total 144,000 tonnes/year at full capacity.

The volume of polymers that can be involved in reuse amount to up to 34,000 tonnes, which compares with 1.7 billion used plastic bottles. To make this project a reality, Sibur says it had to integrate the recycled feedstock supply line into the primary PET process in place at the facility in Bashkortostan. Polief’s total PET production capacity is expected at 252,000 tonnes/year.

The testing and homologation of the new equipment with the first potential customers have been successfully completed. The results of the tests confirm that Vivilen rPET is on a par with the primary polymer in terms of technical and operational qualities, it complies with the food safety standards and can be used in the production of packaging for food and beverages, says Sibur.

The Blagoveshchensk facility was Sibur’s first asset to start manufacturing products containing recycled waste. Once completed, the project offers a wealth of opportunities for packaging manufacturers, who previously shied away from using recycled polymers because of the need to invest in additional equipment. With Vivilen rPET, no additional investment is required.

Sibur adds it continues to develop new solutions and teams up with partners to explore the new ways of reusing other types of polymers, including widely popular PE and PP resins.

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