Sinopec, Borealis, Covestro, Dow, Trinseo, LyondellBasell, and INEOS: New Primary Circular Strategies for Plastics

Plastic pollution has drawn widespread attention, prompting governments and international organizations worldwide to actively advance negotiations toward a global treaty to end plastic pollution—potentially concluding by the end of 2024. Based on current negotiation progress, measures to control or reduce plastic production—and thereby lower the overall volume of plastic products—appear virtually certain. This will significantly impact petrochemical enterprises, the origin point of plastic production. Consequently, an increasing number of petrochemical companies are shifting their strategic focus toward building a circular economy for plastics to adapt to these imminent changes. Borealis Recently, Borealis announced plans to install a semi-commercial demonstration compounding line for recycled polyolefins (rPO) in Berlingen, Belgium. The project is scheduled for completion in 2024 and full operational launch in the first half of 2025. The new line will utilize Borealis’ proprietary Borcycle™ M technology to convert mechanically recycled post-consumer waste into high-quality rigid polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) materials. It will be capable of processing various recycled flakes derived from PP and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) waste streams, offering exceptional versatility and flexibility. This line will help Borealis scale up its Borcycle mechanical recycling technology. Previously, Borealis acquired Integra Plastics AD, a Bulgarian polyolefin mechanical recycler, and Rialti S.p.A., an Italian PP recycler. Covestro On June 3, Covestro announced it has invested several million euros in the plastic recycling company BioBTX, with plans to build the world’s first chemical recycling demonstration plant for plastics using BioBTX’s ICCP technology in the Netherlands. With an annual design capacity of 20,000 tons, the plant is scheduled to commence operations in early 2027. BioBTX’s ICCP technology enables recovery of renewable aromatic compounds—including benzene, toluene, and xylene—from diverse organic and mixed plastic waste streams for use in circular applications. Covestro aims to achieve carbon neutrality for Scope 1 & 2 emissions by 2035 and for Group-wide Scope 3 emissions by 2050. In April this year, Covestro joined forces with automotive value-chain partners to pioneer an experimental project on closed-loop recycling of automotive plastics, helping the auto industry tackle challenges in plastic waste management. Partners include NIO, Volkswagen, Chinese recycling company Green Eco-Manufacture (GEM), and third-party certification bodies such as TÜV Rheinland. Last year’s initiatives primarily involved physical recycling lines for polycarbonate (PC). In October 2023, Covestro announced the commissioning of its world-first physical recycling PC production line in Shanghai, with an annual output exceeding 25,000 tons. Building on this, Covestro is now actively developing chemical recycling processes for polycarbonate and has also invested in multiple recycling technologies, including enzymatic depolymerization and intelligent pyrolysis. Dow Dow’s supply agreement with Freepoint Eco-Systems will advance the development of a circular plastics economy in North America. Freepoint Eco-Systems’ advanced recycling facility under construction in Arizona is expected to begin operations in 2026, processing 90,000 tons of waste annually and producing 65,000 tons of pyrolysis oil.

BMW, Covestro, and Others Join Forces: Using AI Robots to Dismantle Car Headlights to Enable Closed-Loop Recycling of Polycarbonate

According to Polymer Circular Reuse, on or around August 10, Covestro announced its participation in Germany’s KOLLEKT research project, collaborating with BMW, automotive lighting supplier FORVIA HELLA, and multiple scientific research institutions to develop automotive lighting components that are repairable, reusable, remanufacturable, and recyclable. Led by FORVIA HELLA, the project runs from June 2026 to May 2029 and has received €4.371 million in funding from Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Science and Technology, and Aerospace. Beyond automotive lighting, the project will extend its findings to electromechanical and electronic components. Polycarbonate (PC) is widely used in automotive headlamp lenses due to its excellent properties—including transparency, light weight, and heat resistance. However, current lighting assemblies are primarily designed for assembly and service life; disassembly for repair remains highly challenging. Upon end-of-life, different materials within the assemblies prove difficult to separate and purify effectively, preventing high-performance engineering plastics like PC from re-entering high-value applications—often relegating them instead to downcycling or incineration. Meanwhile, the EU’s updated End-of-Life Vehicles (ELV) Directive has set mandatory targets for recycled plastic content in new vehicles: 15% and 25%, respectively—with part of that requirement stipulating that the recycled material must originate from closed-loop recycling within the vehicle sector itself. How to reintroduce polycarbonate and other materials recovered from end-of-life vehicles back into new vehicles has thus become a shared technical and supply-chain challenge confronting OEMs, component suppliers, and materials manufacturers alike.

Covestro, Partners Target Aromatics from End-of-Life Vehicle Waste in Germany

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Covestro and partners launched the CARBEX project to recover benzene and toluene from automotive waste using patented Pyromat technology. The initiative aims to validate recycling processes for these aromatics to support MDI and TDI production by 2029.

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Covestro, Partners Target Aromatics from End-of-Life Vehicle Waste in Germany

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