Chemical recycling: Versalis (Eni) opens its first plant in Mantua
With a processing capacity of 6,000 tonnes per year of plastic that would otherwise be non-recyclable, it will be used to build the 40,000-tonne industrial plant in Priolo
Versalis (Eni) has unveiled the Hoop demonstration plant at its Mantua site; this is the company’s new proprietary technology for the chemical recycling of mixed plastic waste. The process involves suitably prepared batches of plastics that cannot be mechanically recycled (and which have been converted into granules) being thermally treated via pyrolysis: the molecular bonds are broken, producing pyrolysis oil, a compound that can be used to feed petrochemical processes in place of fossil raw materials.
Hoop is the result of a joint project with the Italian engineering firm S.R.S. (Servizi di Ricerche e Sviluppo) and has developed a technology capable of achieving maximum material recovery rates thanks to its high flexibility in handling the feedstock, which is also facilitated by artificial intelligence systems.
Work on the plant, which covers an area of around 5,000 square metres within the factory, began at the end of October 2023, with more than 25 companies involved in the construction phases. The first production tests were successfully completed in recent weeks.
The plant has the capacity to process 6,000 tonnes of plastic per year and will enable its application to be validated on an industrial scale: as part of the Memorandum of Understanding on the Eni-Versalis Chemical Transformation Plan, signed last March with the Ministry of Economic Development (MIMIT), there are plans to build a 40,000-tonne plant at the Priolo site in Sicily. The feasibility study has already been completed; ‘the application for an Environmental Impact Assessment was submitted at the end of May. We expect the final investment decision by the end of 2026. And we expect construction of the plant to be completed towards the end of 2028 and the beginning of 2029”, explains Adriano Alfani, CEO of Versalis.
Hoop’s project is among the winners of the 2023 call for proposals from the EU Innovation Fund – a fund set up by the European Commission dedicated to innovative low-carbon technologies – for which it has received €16.2 million. The patent was also selected by MIMIT for the exhibition L’Italia dei Brevetti, which ended in March, and for display in the Italian pavilion at the Osaka Expo.
