BASF SE invested 16 million euros in Pyrum Innovations AG, a company specializing in waste tire pyrolysis technology, headquartered in Dillingen/Saarland, Germany. With this investment, BASF will support the expansion of Pyrum’s pyrolysis plant in Dillingen and the further promotion of the technology.
Pyrum is currently operating a pyrolysis plant for scrap tires, which can process up to 10,000 tons of tires per year. By the end of 2022, two production lines will be added to the existing factory.
BASF will absorb most of the pyrolysis oil and use it as part of the mass balance method as part of its chemical recycling project to process it into new chemical products. The final product will be mainly for customers in the plastics industry who are looking for high-quality and functional plastics based on recycled materials.
In addition, Pyrum plans to build other tire pyrolysis plants with interested partners. The collaborative setting will speed up the path to using Pyrum’s unique technology in mass production. Future investors of this technology can be sure that the pyrolysis oil produced will be absorbed by BASF and used to produce high-performance chemical products. Therefore, cooperation will help close the cycle of post-consumer plastic waste. According to DIN EN ISO 14021: 2016-07, waste tires are defined as post-consumer plastic waste.
BASF and Pyrum expect that, together with other partners, they can build up to 100,000 tons of pyrolysis oil production capacity from waste tires in the next few years.
BASF is committed to leading the transition of the plastics industry to a circular economy. At the beginning of the chemical value chain, replacing fossil raw materials with renewable raw materials is the main method in this regard. With this investment, we have taken an important step by establishing a broad supply base for pyrolysis oil and providing customers with commercial-scale products based on chemically recycled plastic waste.
BASF will use the pyrolysis oil of scrap tires as a supplementary raw material for mixed plastic waste oil, which is the long-term focus of the chemical recycling project.
Products made from pyrolysis oil using the mass balance method have exactly the same characteristics as products made using major fossil resources. In addition, they have a lower carbon footprint compared to traditional products. This is the conclusion of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analysis conducted by consulting firm Sphera on behalf of BASF.
LCA analysis in particular can prove that this situation can be used to produce polyamide 6 (PA6), which is a plastic polymer, for example, for the production of high-performance parts in the automotive industry. Compared with one ton of PA6 produced using fossil raw materials, one ton of PA6 produced using Pyrum tire pyrolysis oil through the mass balance method reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 1.3 tons. The lower emissions stem from avoiding the incineration of scrap tires.
Published on October 5, 2020 in Life Cycle Analysis, Market Background, Plastics, Recycling, Tires | Permalink | Comments (0)