UK firm to build world's first commercial-scale Cat-HTR plastics recycling plant

Teesside-based ReNew ELP will use the funding to build an initial plant that will recycle 80,000 tonnes of waste plastic annually when complete.

Recycling plant to generate profit from waste plastic

Cat-HTR (Catalytic Hydrothermal Reactor) technology uses supercritical water, heat and pressure to convert waste plastic considered ‘unrecyclable’ through mechanical means back into chemicals and oils that can be used by the petrochemical industry to produce new plastic and other materials.

In use, Cat-HTR is able to recycle multi-layer, flexible plastic materials such as films, and pots, tubs and trays (PTT). Furthermore, new materials made from ReNew ELP’s feedstock are suitable for use in food-contact packaging.

According to the company, the process starts by shredding end-of-life plastic and removing contaminants such as glass, metals, grit and stones. The shredded plastic, which does not need to be dried, is then heated and compressed, combined with supercritical water and further heated. It then enters the Cat-HTR where the water acts breaks down the polymeric bonds, releasing hydrogen to create short-chain, stable hydrocarbons, which are separated and stored.