June 17, 2025 14:52

Versalis is set to inaugurate its new pilot and demonstration plant for the chemical recycling of plastic waste in northern Italy, using proprietary Hoop technology. Construction of the facility was completed in February.

The official opening ceremony will take place on Thursday, June 19, 2025, at the petrochemical hub in Mantua. Hosting the event will be Giuseppe Ricci, chief operating officer for industrial transformation at ENI; Adriano Alfani, CEO of Versalis; and Marcello Poidomani, chairman of Versalis. Also attending will be Guido Guidesi, regional minister for economic development of Lombardy, and Mattia Palazzi, mayor of Mantua.

Construction began in October two years ago. Once fully operational, the plant will be capable of processing 6,000 tons of plastic waste annually—about one-tenth of the capacity expected from a future industrial-scale facility—yielding approximately 5,000 metric tons per year of recycled naphtha (r-naphtha).

At the end of the pyrolysis process, an oil is obtained which, once purified, can be fed into steam crackers in place of fossil-based feedstocks to produce new plastics of virgin-like quality, suitable for sensitive contact applications, including medical use.

The process is intended as a complement—not a replacement—for mechanical recycling, targeting materials like screen residues, mixed plastics or other waste streams that are difficult to treat using conventional methods.

The SC-Hoop project underpinning the new plant has been recognized as strategic to meeting EU recycling targets and was awarded the 2023 EU Innovation Fund, a European Commission initiative supporting the development of innovative low-carbon technologies.

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