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Frequently asked questions about BASF’s ChemCyclingTM project

About ChemCycling™ in general

1. What is ChemCycling™?

2. Why is BASF developing chemical recycling?

3. What is the difference between chemical recycling and mechanical recycling?

4. What technologies are summarized under the term chemical recycling? 

5. Why are you focusing on the pyrolysis technology in the ChemCycling project? What about alternative processes?

6. Is chemical recycling really “recycling” or rather “plastic-to-x”?

7. Large volumes of single-stream waste can easily be mechanically recycled with a smaller carbon footprint than if they would be chemically recycled. So, wouldn’t the best solution be to produce more of the same plastics that can be mechanically recycled and re-design packaging and products?

8. Which plastics are suitable for chemical recycling and which aren’t?

9. What are the current hurdles for the new process?

10. The European Union will tax non-recycled plastic packaging waste through national contributions from January 1, 2021 onwards. Is plastic waste that is to be chemically recycled exempt from this tax?

11. There are voices that assume 10-20 years until chemical recycling technologies are ready for market. Is this true?

12. In the 1990’s some companies have already worked on chemical recycling. Why wasn’t it successful back then and why do you believe that it can be successful now? What is different?

About the eco-efficiency of ChemCycling™

1. Is ChemCycling™ environmentally benign?

2. How was the LCA for ChemCycling™ conducted?

3. In addition to CO2 emissions, were other environmental effects examined as part of the LCA analysis?

4. What is the total energy demand for the production of one ton of chemically recycled polyamide (PA) or polyethylene (PE), including energy demand for pre-treatment, pyrolysis, transport, purification of products/residues and complete polymerization?

5. The data used in the LCA refer to a future scenario for 2030. What assumptions were made for this scenario and what are the differences to the current project status?

About the pyrolysis technology

1. What is pyrolysis?

2. Who is carrying out the pyrolysis process? Does BASF own a pyrolysis plant?

3. What waste is currently used in the pyrolysis plant of the Norwegian start-up Quantafuel to obtain pyrolysis oil for the ChemCycling™ project?

4. How must the plastic waste be treated before pyrolysis and what treatment residues are produced?

5. What factors influence the quality of the pyrolysis oil and do these factors have an effect on the scale-up of the technology?

6. How efficient is the pyrolysis process?

7. How much plastic waste is necessary to produce 1 metric ton of new plastic?

8. What products will Quantafuel's plant in Skive, Denmark produce?

9. What waste streams do result from pyrolysis in general and what happens with them?

10. Are harmful substances emitted by the pyrolysis process?

11. How was the Quantafuel plant in Skive, Denmark approved?

12. Is it possible that any unwanted substances (e.g. POPs (Persistent Organic Pollutants) like dioxin) end-up in the final product?

About products and markets

1. Which markets and customers would BASF like to reach?

2. How will you ensure that exactly this feedstock ends up in the product ordered by the customer?

3. Which products have already been produced based on recycled raw material?

4. Will the products that are generated by pyrolysis also be used as fuel?