This Dutch first helps solve global waste problem

EINDHOVEN, 08 juni 2021

Eindhoven companies BlueAlp and Petrogas have achieved what no other business has yet achieved: they have produced an installation that can, on a major scale, process plastic waste into pure ‘circular oil’ (oil produced on circular principles).

In recent months, bottlenecks and teething problems have been resolved and the recycling plant in Ostend, Belgium is now in full operation.
Making plastics circular eliminates our dependence on petroleum and results in a significant reduction in carbon emissions.

This validated technology shows that circular production works. Plastic waste, which is made from oil, becomes the feedstock for oil, from which new plastic, for example, can be made. This marks a milestone in solving the global plastic problem.

Results validated by an independent research agency

“We are now continuously processing 1400 kilograms of plastic waste per hour. The oil produced is so pure that it can be used immediately for industrial or manufacturing purposes, for example to make new plastic for the food industry. Where competitors worldwide are still struggling with volume and quality, for us this is already an accomplished fact.

We are the first to be able to produce on such a large scale that operations are immediately profitable,” says Chris van der Ree, CTO of BlueAlp.

The installation at the Renasci recycling plant in Ostend in Belgium was brought into operation last September.

The installation has since been in use for more than 2200 hours, processed more than one million kilograms of plastic, and achieved a consistent yield of more than 76 percent.
This means it has produced over 760,000 kilograms of liquid oil, or the equivalent of 975,000 liters (well over 6000 barrels).
Van der Ree: “We have always said that we will only offer the concept of our plastic-to-chemicals installation to interested parties once the process is working properly and has proven itself.
There has been a lot of interest in recent years, but we have held back. We have a reputation to uphold: once we sell the concept, we need to be able to endorse it 100 percent.
“The installation was officially handed over and accepted today and so released for production. This opens the way to all market parties who also want to build these installations.
We produce pyrolysis oil, and the market demand for this is enormous. Major oil and chemical giants are eager to use this circular oil as a feedstock or fuel in their production processes.
We expect many new orders in the coming years.”
The plastic-to-chemicals installation recently processed more than 1000 metric tons of plastic waste and was able to make 975m³ (more than 6000 barrels) of oil from this.
That is a 76% yield. “That’s higher than we ever expected. We are now also at the point where we can process 200,000 kilograms of plastic waste in a few days, an achievement unparalleled anywhere in the world.
And now this opens the way to further scale-up. This is a wonderful solution for reusing plastic waste that cannot be recycled via the normal route,” says Van der Ree.

“We have spent more than 10 years developing and refining this innovative process, so the handover and acceptance of this installation is an amazing milestone, not only for our companies and partners, but especially for the contribution this will make towards a sustainable world.”
About BlueAlp BlueAlp was founded in 2014 by the Eindhoven-based engineering firm Petrogas, part of technical service provider and innovation leader Mourik.
The aim of the company is to efficiently transform plastic waste, which cannot technically or economically be recycled or re-used, into valuable oil, which can then be used as a fuel or as a feedstock for chemical processes.
The BlueAlp Technology™ plastic-to-chemicals process has been developed to convert this waste stream into oil safely, effectively and reliably.
BlueAlp handles the sale and construction of plastic-to-chemical installations in Europe based on BlueAlp™ Technology.

BlueAlp’s shares are held by technical service provider Mourik, oil distributor Den Hartog, Rumali and recycling company Renasci.

For more information please contact:
Martin van Putten
Headline communications
+31 65 583 6936
headline.mvanputten@gmail.com