Pyrolysis: Someone Has to Start
Let's assume you have 100 million dollars in your coffers. You want to use it to buy something that doesn't exist yet. From a company that has never existed before. That's crazy, isn't it? This is the story of an entrepreneur on the other side of the world who was (almost) that crazy.
First pyrolysis plant
Until recently, we only had one plant in Australia. A pyrolysis plant that produces 1 tonne of oil from mixed plastic. Per day. Soon this plant will be joined by its bigger sister. With a throughput of 5 tonnes per day.
Our first pyrolysis plants will be installed in Melbourne at the private waste disposal company APR – Australian Paper Recovery by the end of 2024 to start test operations. The company, which was founded in 2002, has earned a reputation as a market leader and has handled around 1 million tonnes of recyclable products to date, particularly paper, plastic and cardboard.
If we had shown great 3D models and presented some theoretical stuff, a project like this would never have materialised.
The owner, Darren Thorpe , is passionate about the circular economy, especially the circular economy of plastics. But Darren Thorpe wasn't quite crazy enough to spend his money on a grandiose promise or a few great 3D models and some theoretical calculations.
The whole job
Making oil from plastic is only half the job if you want to earn money with it.
At the waste disposal company APR in Melbourne, Darren Thorpe knows this too, of course. He has been in the recycling industry for 40 years and is therefore an "old hand" in the field. He was looking for a company to do the "whole job" because he wants to bring mixed plastic waste back into the cycle in the future. He was therefore looking for someone who could supply a plant that would produce a circular product that he could sell on without any problems. We were the only ones he could find.
I believe we are the only ones at the moment whose decentralised system delivers this quality.
Index value for naphtha
Among other things, our plant produces a drop-in product which is further processed into a raw material for petrochemical processes. This gives us a so-called commodity product, which has an index value and can therefore be traded on various platforms. The special thing about naphtha is that it can be used as a basic chemical for plastic production, thus closing the plastic cycle.
Jump start
As specialists in the circular economy, we also ensure that the oil finds local buyers. We establish the connection to the subsequent partner in the circular chain. In Melbourne, this is the refinery in Dandenong, which analysed our samples during the test run. The refinery will continue to process the products of APR - Australian Paper Recovery in the future. We are thus ensuring that plastic waste is actually turned back into plastic. A service that, so far, only we offer.
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The road to a circular economy for plastics is a long one. However, we are not travelling this path alone, but together with you. Celebrate with us when we come one step closer to our goal.
Subscribe to newsletter
The road to a circular economy for plastics is a long one. However, we are not travelling this path alone, but together with you. Celebrate with us when we come one step closer to our goal.
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The road to a circular economy for plastics is a long one. However, we are not travelling this path alone, but together with you. Celebrate with us when we come one step closer to our goal.