Plastic circularity is an industrial design concept that focuses on the reuse of plastics. In an idealised model, virgin feeds would be reduced and post-industrial or post-consumer plastic would be repurposed for continued use. Many industries are looking for ways to align operations and supply chains with circularity principles and plastics are no different. With so much of our infrastructure, household products and medical technologies - to name just a few applications - being composed of plastic materials, the sustainability of this sector is crucial.
That is why Shell Catalysts & Technologies is developing catalyst and process solutions that convert collected post-use plastics into an economic feedstock solution based on recycled materials. That feedstock can be processed through a steam cracker to produce chemical building blocks more efficiently and sustainably. Now that steam cracker producers face increasingly stringent regulatory pressures that enforce levies on products not containing recycled waste, we are focused on creating new and integrated value chains to improve plastic circularity.
