UK-based ReNew ELP is building a 20,000 tonne per year plastics recycling facility in Wilton, north-east England. ReNew said the plant, which is due for completion in late 2019, will use "breakthrough" Catalytic Hydrothermal Reactor technology, which turns end-of-life plastics into valuable oils and chemicals. The technology, which was originally developed by Australia-based Licella, uses water at high pressure and high temperatures to chemically alter a wide range of feedstocks, such as waste plastics and discarded tyres. "The technology has been around since the early 1980s but it took until now to get this scale up on an industrial scale," says Dr David Jones, director of research at ReNew.
UK-based ReNew ELP is building a 20,000 tonne per year plastics recycling facility in Wilton, north-east England. ReNew said the plant, which is due for completion in late 2019, will use "breakthrough" Catalytic Hydrothermal Reactor technology, which turns end-of-life plastics into valuable oils and chemicals. The technology, which was originally developed by Australia-based Licella, uses water at high pressure and high temperatures to chemically alter a wide range of feedstocks, such as waste plastics and discarded tyres. The new unit's processing capacity will eventually be scaled up to 80,000 tonnes per year, ReNew said.