November 15, 2024 13:20

LyondellBasell is considering building a second chemical recycling plant using its proprietary MoReTec technology at its refinery in Houston, Texas.
The project is part of a broader plan to convert the site into a biorefinery, a move first announced last year.

The potential MoReTec facility was unveiled by CEO Peter Vanacker during the company’s third-quarter 2024 financial results presentation.

If approved, with a final investment decision expected in 2026, LyondellBasell could triple its chemical recycling capacity for plastic waste.
The expansion follows the successful operation of its pilot plant in Ferrara, Italy, active since 2020, and the planned start-up in 2026 of its first industrial-scale MoReTec-1 plant in Wesseling, Germany. The German plant will produce approximately 50,000 tons per year of purified pyrolysis oil, with construction already underway since September.

The proposed Houston facility, MoReTec-2, would double this capacity, reaching an estimated 100,000 tons per year. The purified pyrolysis oil produced by the plant would be supplied to regional cracking and polymerization facilities, supporting the production of CirculenRevive polyolefins.

The Houston refinery transformation also includes retrofitting existing units to process biobased feedstocks sourced from third parties. These feedstocks would replace fossil-based raw materials in the company’s olefin crackers. The resulting polymers, marketed under the CirculenRenew brand, would offer the same properties and performance as conventional materials but with a significantly lower carbon footprint.

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