Partnership formed in PET chemical recycling in Nordic region
Norner, one of the Europe’s leading experts in the polymer industry, Plast Nordic, with expertise in industrial preparation for chemical recycling facilities in the Nordics, and Dr Marianna Sarkissova, with a strong profile in planning and executing international industrial projects, formed strategic partnership in chemical recycling of PET.
Rune Byremo (left), Project Manager of Plast Nordic, and Dr Kjetil Larsen, CEO of Norner.
Plast Nordic will employ a technology known as alkaline hydrolysis. This conventional process is enhanced with patented microwave technology from Switzerland, providing the process with unique characteristics:
Resilience to waste impurities: up to 30% impurities without affecting quality
Chemical-free, utilizing microwaves instead
Fast: the process takes under 10 minutes, setting it apart from others
24/7 operation: the reactor runs continuously, not in batches
Able to handle both plastic and polyester textiles
In the Nordic region, there are over 400,000 tons of PET waste. With this new industrial solution, approximately 97% of this can be chemically recycled back into the same raw materials it was made from.
The end product for Plast Nordic will be chemically recycled PET resin for the plastic and textile industries, equivalent in quality to newly produced oil-based PET.
Currently, there is a demonstration plant of this type in Italy, and the first full-scale factory is scheduled to open in Spain in 2027. Plast Nordic hopes to open its first factory in the Nordic region by 2028.
Plast Nordic is currently in the process of qualifying locations for its first factory. The company has closely examined several relevant sites in both Norway and Denmark. Locations for a Plast Nordic factory must have adequate access to renewable energy, scalability for growth, access to surplus heat for thermal energy, and good logistical capacities.
