Solutions to plastic pollution with strong partners

Plastics Europe has pointed out that altogether 29 million tons of post-consumer plastic waste were collected in 2018 for treatment in Europe. Of this, only 9.4 million tons or 32% was directed to recycling while some 3 to 4 million tons were actually recycled (Deloitte, 2017). The rest, over 40% was directed to energy recovery and nearly 25% to landfill.

We wish to contribute to changing these figures and develop new means to ensure this valuable material remains in circulation. We are collaborating with some of the forerunners in the area of chemical recycling with the aim to develop chemical recycling technology and capacity to turn plastic waste into high-quality products. 

We aim to become a significant solution provider for chemical recycling and have set a target to process annually over 1 million tons of waste plastic. We plan to use liquefied plastic waste as a raw material at our fossil oil refineries and refine it into high-quality drop-in feedstock for the production of new plastics.

Strategic partnerships speed up development

Neste has established strategic partnerships and is orchestrating collaborations with sustainability-oriented industry forerunners. These close collaborations and initiatives across the plastics value chain are crucial to achieving large-scale circularity transformation within the plastics sector. 

Developing chemical recycling capacity can significantly contribute to reaching ambitious plastics recycling targets set in Europe and elsewhere. Chemical recycling complements mechanical recycling as it enables efficient recycling of also colored, multi-layer, multi-material packaging and films back into high-quality raw material for new plastic. 

Developing ecosystems to chemically recycle plastic waste supports the global efforts to reduce plastic waste, while it also provides additional means to reduce crude oil dependency in the production of new plastics. By providing plastic waste a high-value outlet, a new life cycle, Neste and its partners help keep plastics in circulation and reduce the need to direct these material streams to landfills and incineration, while also helping to prevent littering of the environment. 

Read more about our work in this area: