Repsol continues pioneering work in plastics chemical recycling

Repsol has devoted many of its resources to lead the search for new solutions to boost the circular economy and promote the idea that a large amount of plastic waste, which currently goes to landfill, be transformed into new raw material for its petrochemical processes.

The Zero project is an initiative that Repsol has implemented to take advantage of the synthetics oils, obtained from the chemical recycling of plastic waste streams at the end of their life cycle, that cannot be otherwise recycled in a traditional mechanical way.

Therefore, Repsol has been working together with various companies with these new technologies and products, and in 2015 accomplished to experimentally feed these products on an industrial scale in its Puertollano complex.

Through this technology, plastic polymers are transformed into hydrocarbons or pyrolysis oils that can be reintroduced in the petrochemical industry.

This presents a transversal opportunity to support the circular economy, allowing Repsol’s Refining and Chemical businesses to deliver potential benefits to society.

The plastics’ chemical recycling alternatives, which are beginning their industrial scale-up, complement existing ones, such as mechanical recycling, where Repsol has focused its efforts through its Reciclex product range, which incorporates a percentage of plastic recycled in its formulation.