Honeywell announced the commercialization of a revolutionary process that expands the types of plastics that can be recycled and can produce feedstock used for making recycled plastics with a lower carbon footprint.

Honeywell's UpCycle Process Technology utilizes industry-leading molecular conversion, pyrolysis, and contaminants management technology to convert waste plastic back to Honeywell Recycled Polymer Feedstock, which is then used to create new plastics. It expands the types of plastics that can be recycled to include waste plastic that would otherwise go unrecycled, including colored, flexible, multilayered packaging and polystyrene.

When used in conjunction with other chemical and mechanical recycling processes – along with improvements to collection and sorting – Honeywell's UpCycle Process Technology has the potential to increase the amount of global plastic waste that can be recycled to 90%.

According to a study published by AMI International in September 2020, waste plastics processed through advanced recycling technologies, such as UpCycle Process Technology, could amount to between 5 and 15 million tons of additional plastic waste being recycled per year by 2030.

Honeywell's UpCycle Process Technology expands the types of plastics that can be recycled.

Recycled plastics produced via UpCycle Process Technology can result in a 57% reduction of CO2-equivalent (CO2e) emissions compared with the production of the same amount of virgin plastic from fossil feeds. The process also reduces CO2e emissions by 77% compared with conventional modes of handling waste plastic, such as incineration and landfilling. These CO2e reductions are some of the largest improvements among all pyrolysis technology offerings.

"By broadening the types of plastic that can be recycled, UpCycle will revolutionize the plastics economy and play a critical role in improving the sustainability of many of the products we use on a daily basis," introduced Vimal Kapur, president and chief executive officer of Honeywell Performance Materials and Technologies.

Sacyr, a Spain-based global engineering and services company, will be the first to deploy Honeywell's proprietary UpCycle Process Technology. Honeywell and Sacyr will form a joint venture where the two companies will co-own and operate a facility in Andalucía, in Southern Spain, with a capacity to transform 30,000 metric tons per year of mixed waste plastics into Honeywell Recycled Polymer Feedstock. Production is expected to begin in 2023.

"Our partnership with Honeywell will enable Sacyr to bring sustainable, circular solutions to market," said Domingo Jiménez, Manager of Sacyr Circular. "The speed with which we can start up plants and the global viability of this solution has the potential to greatly accelerate the impact we can have on the communities we serve, the environment, and society as a whole."

Honeywell has been working on sustainability-related innovation, including Solstice, a new generation of low-global-warming-potential hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) refrigerants, aerosols, solvents and blowing agents that can reduce the greenhouse gas emissions impact of current offerings on the market by more than 99%.

The company also pioneered Ecofining, a process that converts non-edible natural oils, animal fats and other waste feedstocks to Honeywell Green Diesel, which is chemically identical to petroleum-based diesel.

Honeywell announced the commercialization of a revolutionary process that expands the types of plastics that can be recycled and can produce feedstock used for making recycled plastics with a lower carbon footprint.

Honeywell's UpCycle Process Technology utilizes industry-leading molecular conversion, pyrolysis, and contaminants management technology to convert waste plastic back to Honeywell Recycled Polymer Feedstock, which is then used to create new plastics. It expands the types of plastics that can be recycled to include waste plastic that would otherwise go unrecycled, including colored, flexible, multilayered packaging and polystyrene.

When used in conjunction with other chemical and mechanical recycling processes – along with improvements to collection and sorting – Honeywell's UpCycle Process Technology has the potential to increase the amount of global plastic waste that can be recycled to 90%.

According to a study published by AMI International in September 2020, waste plastics processed through advanced recycling technologies, such as UpCycle Process Technology, could amount to between 5 and 15 million tons of additional plastic waste being recycled per year by 2030.

Honeywell's UpCycle Process Technology expands the types of plastics that can be recycled.

Recycled plastics produced via UpCycle Process Technology can result in a 57% reduction of CO2-equivalent (CO2e) emissions compared with the production of the same amount of virgin plastic from fossil feeds. The process also reduces CO2e emissions by 77% compared with conventional modes of handling waste plastic, such as incineration and landfilling. These CO2e reductions are some of the largest improvements among all pyrolysis technology offerings.

"By broadening the types of plastic that can be recycled, UpCycle will revolutionize the plastics economy and play a critical role in improving the sustainability of many of the products we use on a daily basis," introduced Vimal Kapur, president and chief executive officer of Honeywell Performance Materials and Technologies.

Sacyr, a Spain-based global engineering and services company, will be the first to deploy Honeywell's proprietary UpCycle Process Technology. Honeywell and Sacyr will form a joint venture where the two companies will co-own and operate a facility in Andalucía, in Southern Spain, with a capacity to transform 30,000 metric tons per year of mixed waste plastics into Honeywell Recycled Polymer Feedstock. Production is expected to begin in 2023.

"Our partnership with Honeywell will enable Sacyr to bring sustainable, circular solutions to market," said Domingo Jiménez, Manager of Sacyr Circular. "The speed with which we can start up plants and the global viability of this solution has the potential to greatly accelerate the impact we can have on the communities we serve, the environment, and society as a whole."

Honeywell has been working on sustainability-related innovation, including Solstice, a new generation of low-global-warming-potential hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) refrigerants, aerosols, solvents and blowing agents that can reduce the greenhouse gas emissions impact of current offerings on the market by more than 99%.

The company also pioneered Ecofining, a process that converts non-edible natural oils, animal fats and other waste feedstocks to Honeywell Green Diesel, which is chemically identical to petroleum-based diesel.