Reliance turns plastic waste into high-quality materials for new plastic

PTI, Dec 30, 2023, 9:40 AM IST

New Delhi: Reliance Industries Ltd, the operator of the world’s largest integrated oil refining and petrochemical complex, on Friday said it has become the first Indian company to chemically recycle plastic waste into high-quality materials for new plastics.

In its attempt to reduce plastic waste and support the circular economy in India, Reliance becomes the first in India to chemically recycle plastic waste-based pyrolysis oil into International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC)-Plus certified circular polymers.

“Chemical recycling has many benefits, including turning plastic waste into high-quality materials for new plastic. These materials can be used for packaging that comes into contact with food,” the firm said in a statement.

Reliance has developed a technology that turns different types of plastic waste, including single-use and multi-layered plastics, into pyrolysis oil. The company is working with trusted partners to increase the production of this oil and turn the yield into circular polymers.

Its Jamnagar refinery in Gujarat is now processing chemically recycled pyrolysis oil to produce ISCC-Plus certified circular polymers, CircuRepol (Polypropylene) and CircuRelene (Polyethylene).

Chemical recycling is a new development where the waste plastic, mechanically not recyclable, is converted to pyrolysis oil by suitable cracking of a long polymer chain. Currently, most of the pyrolysis processes are based on the thermal route, which leads to lower yield and inferior quality of pyrolysis oil. Reliance has developed a continuous catalytic pyrolysis technology, which provides high yields of good quality pyrolysis oil from plastic waste. The process has been successfully demonstrated at a demo scale.

Its unit has the capacity to process up to 600 tonnes per month of chemically recycled pyrolysis oil from waste plastic.

Reliance is developing existing pyrolysis producers into reliable vendors to ensure quality oil as per its specifications.

The company adopts a multi-pronged approach, including PET recycling, recycles 5 billion post-consumer PET bottles annually, and recycles end-of-life plastics to make roads as well as circular polymers.

Reliance aims to reach an overall capacity of 1 million tonnes through all its sustainability initiatives by 2030.

It shipped its first batch of ISCC-Plus-certified circular polymers, named CircuRepol (polypropylene) and CircuRelene (polyethylene).

This ‘paves the way in India by using new technology to recycle plastic by converting plastic waste into special Circular Polymers, thereby, making a positive impact on the environment,’ it said.

Reliance said its commitment to sustainability is demonstrated through its innovative methods like chemical recycling, which help create a circular economy. The company firmly believes in finding smart solutions to reduce plastic waste and inspire others to join in this journey towards a greener future.

CircuRepol and CircuRelene have been designed to lead the way in circular economy practices. RIL’s Jamnagar refinery became the first refinery to get the important ISCC-Plus certification, proving that it can produce circular polymers through chemical recycling.

The ISCC-Plus certification guarantees that traceability and rules are followed in making circular polymers.