Norway-headed plastic-to-liquids technology developer Quantafuel ASA and compatriot biomass and waste-derived fuel aggregators and suppliers Geminor AS have jointly announced the launch of Polynate, a new jointly-owned company that aims to take a leading position in the value chain for plastic waste recycling in the Nordics and the UK.
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Called Polynate – Circular Plastic Solutions, the new venture will be led by Ralf Schöpwinkel, who comes from Geminor.
While remaining a shareholder in Geminor, Schöpwinkel leaves the position of CSO at Geminor, the resource management company he helped establish in nine European countries bringing with him over 25 years of industry experience within the recycling and international waste markets.
I am very motivated to take on the new role. With Polynate, we will take a leading position in the value chain for plastics in the Nordics and the UK, said Ralf Schöpwinkel.
Sustainable handling of waste plastic
Polynate will focus on plastic waste and its main operation will be supplying the plastic recycling company Quantafuel’s current facilities in Kristiansund, Norway (mechanical plastic recycling), Skive in Denmark (chemical plastic recycling), and its planned facilities in Denmark and the UK.
Polynate will also supply plastic waste to Quantafuel’s joint project with Eurazeo – ReSource, Denmark’s largest plastic sorting facility in Esbjerg, which will be ready to receive waste from early 2024.
Polynate will also enter the British market, where Quantafuel has an ambitious project plan with several Plastic-to-Liquid (PtL) plants in the coming years.
Polynate will be an important contributor to the sustainable treatment and handling of international plastic waste, said Kjetil Vikingstad, CEO of Geminor.
Establishing Polynate together with Quantafuel is strategically important for Geminor. Our ambition is to increase our market share and secure new downstream solutions for plastics. It is becoming increasingly important to sort plastics from residual waste, both to secure more feedstock for new plastic products, and also to reduce the fossil content in the waste that is sent to energy recovery, Kjetil Vikingstad said.
“Chemical recycling is the solution”
Quantafuel’s core business is chemical recycling, which means that plastic waste is broken down into its original building blocks, consisting of carbon and hydrogen chains, in a pyrolysis process.
These are then reassembled into an oil that can be used to produce new high-quality products – such as food packaging – that meet the high demands from the EU and the rest of Europe.
We see great potential here. Chemical recycling of plastics complements mechanical recycling and significantly increases the overall recycling rate. Thanks to chemical recycling, it will be easier for many countries to reach their ambitious recycling targets. I am really excited and look forward to focusing exclusively on plastics and supporting the industrialization of Quantafuel, said Ralf Schöpwinkel.
- Quantafuel Skive, Denmark: is Quantafuel’s first production plant for chemical recycling of plastics with a capacity to process 20 000 tonnes of plastic waste per year.
- Quantafuel Kristiansund, Norway: in Kristiansund, plastic sorting and mechanical recycling of mixed, hard plastics, are combined. This is a fraction that often goes to landfill or incineration today. Quantafuel Kristiansund can process up to 20 000 tonnes of plastic a year.
- ReSource Denmark, Esbjerg, Denmark: is owned 50/50 by Quantafuel and the French green investment fund Eurazeo SE, and once completed at the turn of the year 2023/2024, will be Denmark’s largest plastic sorting facility. ReSource will have the capacity to annually sort up to 160 000 tonnes of mixed plastic waste into recyclable fractions.
