Honeywell's plastic chemical recycling

Honeywell has partnered with a number of energy companies and plastic recycling companies to establish recycling plants that use the UpCycle process technology to convert waste plastics into recycled polymer raw materials.

Chemical recycling is a process in which waste plastics undergo a series of chemical transformations to regenerate new plastics of the same quality as petroleum-based plastics, also known as "advanced cycle" and "molecular cycle", which are complementary to physical recycling. Of the nearly 370 million tons of plastic produced globally each year, less than 10% can be recycled. In recent years, due to the world's multinational policies and the international mainstream petrochemical, brand and packaging giant enterprises to invest heavily and other factors, the chemical recycling of waste plastics has become a hot topic of global concern.

1. On November 3, 2021, Honeywell announced the successful commercialization of a disruptive plastic recycling process. Honeywell's UpCycle process technology uses industry-leading molecular transformation, pyrolysis and contaminant management technologies to convert waste plastics into recycled polymer feedstock that can then be used to make new plastics. The UpCycle process technology significantly broadens the range of plastics that can be recycled, including waste plastics that would otherwise not be recycled, coloured, flexible, multilayer packaging or polystyrene. When combined with other chemical and mechanical recycling processes and improvements in collection and sorting, UpCycle technology is expected to increase the proportion of plastic waste that can be recycled globally to 90 percent.

2. In November 2021, Honeywell and Sacyr announced a joint venture in Andalusia, Spain, to build and operate a plant capable of processing 30,000 metric tons of mixed waste plastics per year, with production expected to begin in 2023. The plant will use Honeywell's chemical recycling UpCycle process technology to convert waste into recycled polymer feedstock, or RPF. Honeywell has already entered into strategic agreements with Total Energy and French chemical company TotalEnergies. Honeywell will provide RPF for Total Energy, TotalEnergies, which will source the feedstock and convert it into high-quality polymers suitable for high-specification applications such as food-grade packaging.

3. On February 17, 2022, Honeywell announced that it will form a joint venture with Avangard Innovative, the largest plastics recycling industry leader in the United States, to build an advanced recycling plant in Texas, USA. The new plant, which will use UpCycle process technology, is expected to be operational in 2023 and will convert 30,000 metric tons of mixed waste plastic per year into Honeywell recycled polymer feedstock.