In its 2023 sustainability report, published in March, Shell is stating that:
“In 2023 we concluded that the scale of our ambition to turn 1m tonnes of plastic waste a year into pyrolysis oil by 2025 is unfeasible.”
The report justifies this step back from the previous commitment due to changing market conditions:
“While Shell sees customer demand for circular chemicals, the pace of growth globally is less than expected due to lack of available feedstock, slow technology development and regulatory uncertainty.”
On its website, Shell advocates for chemical recycling (photo) with the following statement:
“Chemical recycling through pyrolysis, where hard-to-recycle plastic waste like snack bags, ready meals, or plastic film, that are not suitable for mechanical recycling, are turned into pyrolysis oil, a liquid that replaces hydrocarbons to produce circular chemicals.”
Shell has started its strategy to build up chemical recycling capaciities by signing a strategic supply agreement with Nexus Fuels (now Nexus Circular) back in 2019. Nexus operates a 'pilot' Nexus Pyrolysis plant with a rated capacity of 50 tonnes per day at its production site in Atlanta .
Since that date, Shell has successively invested in Dutch company BlueAlp, signed pyrolysis oil supply agreements with Pryme, another Dutch company, and with Finnish company Lamor in Europe, with Environmental Solutions Asia in Singapore , and with Freepoint Eco-Systems in the U.S.A. , invested in two pyrolysis oil upgraders at its Mordijk site in The Netherlands and signed a LOU with Dialog Group Berhad in Malaysia and a MOU with the European branch of Agilyx in Norway for the development of chemical recycling plants.
This step back from the pledge to develop chemical recycling follows on the previous announcement that Shell is pulling out of planned e-SAF project in Sweden.
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