Plastic-to-oil barons tackle the recycling trilemma
A new breed of plastics recyclers have risen from the ashes of the failed REDcycle program, proposing new facilities to turn soft plastics waste into oil. But a lack of government policy is hampering progress.
Melbourne-based recycling technology company Licella is in a holding pattern. For the past year, it has been waiting for its plastics-to-oil technology to come to life in a commercial-size facility in Teesside in the north of England.
When it fires up, the plant will be capable of converting 20,000 tonnes of previously unrecyclable plastics into oil that can be reprocessed back into a food-grade resin which can then be used to make new food packaging.
However, the plant — in which US chemicals giant Dow has invested $US100 million — is running nearly a year behind schedule. It is now due to open by the middle of this year.
A knock-on effect of the delay is that it has dented investor confidence in Licella’s forthcoming Australian project — a chemical recycling facility in Altona, Melbourne, which is within easy reach of several plastics manufacturers as well as Viva Energy. The ASX-listed oil company last May committed to purchase 25,000 litres of oil made from recycled plastics once it becomes available.
