Norway-headed Geminor AS, one of northern Europe’s largest suppliers of waste-derived fuels will in the coming weeks deliver the first 500 tonnes of LDPE plastic to waste plastics-to-fuel and chemical technology developers Quantafuel AS facility in Skive, Denmark. The load represents the beginning of the chemical circular economy of waste plastics in Europe.
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In March 2019, Norway-headed Quantafuel and Geminor signed an agreement to secure steady shipments of waste plastic feedstock for Quantafuel Skive’s chemical recycling plant in Skive, Denmark.
As of this week, the first 500 tonnes of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) is ready for delivery. This is a type of plastic often used to produce plastic bags, cling film, and similar plastic consumer goods. At the Danish plant the waste plastic will become chemical feedstock for the production of new and recycled plastic products.
The first plastic waste deliveries come from two local suppliers, Danish “Dansk Avfallsminimering” in Randers and “RenoNord” in Aalborg. The plastic we receive is high-quality residual plastic waste that cannot be mechanically recycled and is clean enough for chemical recycling. During the start-up phase, Quantafuel needs low-moisture fractions to optimize the operation, explained Kasper Thomsen, Country Manager at Geminor.
Thomsen added that chemical recycling of plastics will significantly increase the overall recycling rate, but also reduce the proportion of waste plastic that goes to incineration.
Danish plastic waste is important in this respect, but we will also need to find more custom plastic among European suppliers who can ensure the right quality. The growing interest in the chemical recycling of waste plastic is probably linked to stricter regulations for material recycling, but also due to the growing focus on circular economies. Chemical recycling is in a very exciting phase, and we believe that this process can be important in order to reach the EU’s Green Deal ambitions in the coming decade, said Kasper Thomsen.
First-of-its-kind for Quantafuel
The Skive plant is the first of its kind for Quantafuel and will receive around 20 000 tonnes of plastic waste per year. The capacity is expected to increase considerably in Denmark over the next few years.
The chemical recycling of waste plastic is getting attention both in Denmark and in the international waste industry. The production is fully in line with the EU’s environmental ambitions and objectives. Together with Geminor we will now find more industry players in Denmark and Europe who share our vision of solving the plastic problem, remarked Thomas Steenbuch Tharaldsen, Chief Strategy Officer at Quantafuel.
