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INEOS Infinia

INEOS' Infinia depolymerisation technology will help to develop a circular economy for difficult to recycle PET packaging and polyester textile waste.

Proven at the pilot plant level, Infinia removes dyes, additives, and other impurities embedded in the waste, overcoming the limitations of other processes. It produces virgin quality recycled PTA and MEG monomers, capable of being used to manufacture new PET resin and polyester fibre that can be recycled again and again.

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Infinia is a proven depolymerisation (advanced recycling) technology that will help to develop a circular economy for difficult-to-recycle PET packaging and polyester textile waste that is otherwise destined for landfill or incineration.

Depolymerisation technologies break plastic waste down into its building blocks, which are then used to make new products. With Infinia, there is no need to accept any compromise in the quality of recycled products.

The challenge

A plastic packaging and textile waste crisis

New technologies are needed urgently to address society’s waste crisis and support the transition to a circular economy where materials remain in use forever.

Why is this urgent? In Europe alone*:

  • 8 million metric tonnes of PET resin and polyester fibre products are put on the market each year in Europe
  • Just 25% of that volume is recycled after use, with the rest lost from the system
  • 5 million metric tonnes of PET/polyester waste is incinerated or landfilled each year
  • 75% of new PET/polyester used in Europe each year is produced from conventional fossil resources

These figures illustrate the scale of the PET packaging and polyester textile waste problem in Europe, but the situation is even worse in other regions with less-developed recycling infrastructure.

Polyester fibre is a material commonly used in the production of textiles. PET resin, or polyethylene terephthalate, is a type of polyester that is commonly used to make packaging for food, beverages, and other products.

*Source of European PET/polyester data: Systemiq "Circular PET and Polyester" Report (July 2023) (all figures approximate)

The solution: Infinia

Infinia is a novel technology that overcomes the limitations of other processes, producing virgin-quality recycled raw materials from PET packaging and polyester textile waste streams that:

  • are not suitable for mechanical recycling (a process that washes, grinds, and re-melts plastic waste back into plastic products but is unable to remove embedded contaminants like colourants and additives)
  • cannot otherwise be recycled; and
  • are typically landfilled or incinerated today

Infinia is therefore complementary to existing recycling solutions. The key advantage of the Infinia process is it enables our customers to produce products that meet the same performance standards as those made from virgin materials, while delivering the increase in use of recycled materials that society demands.

The process

A unique combination of methanolysis, hydrolysis, and proprietary Infinia Know-How

  1. Depolymerisation: PET and polyester waste is initially broken down into its chemical building blocks
  2. Separation: The distinct monomer building blocks produced by depolymerisation are separated
  3. Purification: The separated monomers are purified, resulting in recycled purified terephthalic acid (rPTA) and recycled monoethylene glycol (rMEG) products that are chemically indistinguishable from virgin materials

The results

Infinia produces rPTA and rMEG monomers that are raw materials for new PET resin or polyester fibre that can be recycled again and again. In this way, Infinia enables a circular economy for difficult-to-recycle products that are otherwise destined for landfill or incineration.

The Infinia technology:

  • enables the removal of dyes, additives, and other impurities embedded into the waste material, overcoming key limitations of other processes
  • produces rPTA, the most marketable circular PET monomer and a drop-in product customers can use to manufacture PET without any investment or costly changes to processes.

Proven in pilot plant

Infinia is at Technology Readiness Level 6, meaning that it has been successfully operated on a continuous basis at pilot scale, converting difficult-to-recycle waste material into new raw materials for PET and polyester.

The pilot plant program:

  • Demonstrated flexibility to accept low-purity waste containing a broad range of different non-PET impurities directly into the depolymerisation process
  • Produced raw materials for new PET resin or polyester fibre from a variety of difficult-to-recycle waste streams including multi-layer trays, coloured PET packaging, and coloured polyester fibre waste
  • Removed intentionally and non-intentionally added contaminants from the waste material processed by Infinia
  • Manufactured clear PET bottles from raw materials produced on the pilot plant

Why it will succeed

INEOS’ decades of experience as a producer of PTA and MEG feedstocks for the PET and polyester industry means Infinia is uniquely positioned to succeed.

  • INEOS has expertise in the most challenging steps of the recycling process (the recovery of products and purification)
  • The process can accept a wider range of plastic waste and purity levels compared to other technologies
  • Infinia can benefit from integration into the existing global INEOS Aromatics manufacturing platform