TotalEnergies, Saudi Aramco and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) converted oil derived from plastic waste into circular polymers for the first time in the Middle East and North Africa, the companies announced in separate statements on Monday.
Certified by the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC+), the project aims to pave the way for the creation of a domestic value chain for the advanced recycling of plastics into circular polymers in Saudi Arabia.
The process also allows for the use of non-sorted plastics, which can be difficult to recycle mechanically, thus contributing to solving the challenge of end-of-life plastics.
The plastic pyrolysis oil, also called plastic waste-derived oil, was processed at the Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Refinery, jointly owned by Aramco and TotalEnergies, in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. It was then used as a feedstock to produce certified circular polymers.
'Several other circular economy projects are being studied, leveraging the partners' technical expertise and experience to further contribute to plastics recycling,' Bernard Pinatel, TotalEnergies head of Refining and Chemicals, was quoted as saying in the statement.
The project is a major pathway towards TotalEnergies' target to produce 30% of recycled plastics by 2030 and its strategy to build a multi-energy company with the ambition to get to net zero by 2050, Pinatel added.
By Duygu Alhan
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr