Chemical recycling is the process of recycling waste plastics by changing their chemical structure and converting them back into substances that can be used as raw materials for the re-manufacture of plastics or other products in the chemical industry. Chemical recycling technologies include solvolysis (purification of polymers using solvents) or depolymerisation (decomposition of polymers into monomers) or pyrolysis (thermal decomposition into a mixture of hydrocarbons). The products from these technologies can then be further processed by conventional processes into certified circular plastic products that can be used for more demanding applications such as automotive products, or cosmetic or food packaging.

Within the ORLEN Unipetrol Group, our R&D activities include both research on pyrolysis and research on solvent-based processes. In pyrolysis, a pre-treated feedstock (sorted plastic waste) is fed into a plant where, at high temperatures and without oxygen, it is decomposed into hydrocarbons that can be further used as part of the injection for petrochemical production. Solvent processes take advantage of the different solubility of specific plastics in order to break them down into monomers, or to remove those impurities and contaminants that prevent their reuse in demanding applications.