Shell Chemical LP, the Houston-based U.S. subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, is using a process known as pyrolysis that takes liquid plastic waste feedstock and creates raw materials for new products using high temperatures to separate the materials in St.Charles Parish. It’s a strategy to deal with “hard to recycle” plastic products and meet customer demand for “high quality and sustainable products,” according to the company.
“We want to take waste plastics that are tough to recycle by traditional methods and turn them back into chemicals, creating a circle,” Thomas Casparie, executive vice president of Shell’s global chemicals business, said in a news release.
Shell plans to use the process for at least 1 million tons of plastic each year by 2025. By contrast, Shell Chemical produces about 10 million tons of chemicals each year across its plant footprint, which includes petrochemical facilities in Geismar and Deer Park, Texas. Atlanta-based Nexus Fuels was contracted for the feedstock for the Norco pilot project, which processed a “small amount,” Shell said.
Nexus Fuels has the capacity to produce 50 tons of liquid plastic waste each day at its facility and sold 75,000 gallons, or about 2,300 tons, of pyrolysis to global customers so far. Shell expects to ramp up production over the next year in Louisiana. “Our plan is to build up volumes of pyrolysis liquid used in the Norco cracker over the next year,” said Ray Fisher, spokesman for Shell.