BASF’s ChemCycling project proved successful in auto, packaging and E&E applications
With the ChemCycling project, BASF for the first time processed pyrolysis oil derived from plastic waste that currently cannot be recycled, such as mixed or contaminated plastics.
More and more plastics processing factories at BASF have been working on enhancing the plastics recyclability to achieve a circular economy. Four partners of BASF have already produced the first batch of prototypes in the pilot phase of the project.
These products include automotive plastic parts, insulated packaging for temperature-sensitive medicines, sealed packaging for mozzarella cheese and circuit breakers, involving four major application areas of automotive, medical packaging, food packaging and electronic appliances. The products are made of chemically recycled raw materials, and their quality and performance are similar to those of products made from raw materials.
To bring the project from pilot to market promotion, various problems need to be solved. Technologies for reducing and converting plastics into recycled raw materials must be advanced and suitable for industrial scale, ensuring the pyrolysis oil used is of high quality.
BASF is currently having research on different solutions to develop commercial-scale pyrolysis oil supply for its Verbund sites in long run.
