Solution for more sustainable plastics: Neste RE™

For the production of renewable Neste RE, we are leveraging Neste’s proprietary NEXBTL (“Next generation biomass to liquid”) technology. NEXBTL enables us to turn bio-based oils and fats into pure hydrocarbons - fuels or feedstock for plastics production. Waste and residue oils and fats, such as used cooking oil or waste and residues from vegetable oil processing, account for more than 90% of our annual renewable raw material inputs globally.

The benefit of replacing fossil feedstock for plastics with renewable feedstock lays with the carbon footprint. Renewable feedstock comes with renewable carbon: the carbon content is of atmospheric origin as it has been absorbed from the atmosphere during biomass growth. When this carbon is later released back into the atmosphere, e.g. when plastic produced from renewable feedstock is being incinerated, it does not add additional carbon to the atmosphere. Instead, the carbon is part of the natural carbon cycle where carbon is continuously exchanged between biosphere and atmosphere.

Environmental impact of renewable Neste RE

Using renewable Neste RE therefore comes with a significantly reduced carbon footprint over the use of fossil resources. Our life cycle assessment (LCA) shows renewable Neste RE has a more than 85%* smaller carbon footprint over its entire life cycle compared with fossil feedstock.

^{*Life Cycle Assessment on Environmental Impacts of Neste Renewable Polymers and Chemicals (30 June 2021)}

Today’s predominant plastic recycling technology is mechanical recycling. While it is a very efficient process, it relies on rather clean plastic wastes. Further, it also slightly diminishes the quality of the recycled material, leading to a finite amount of possible cycles. Finally, there are also limitations in the applications that can be made from mechanically recycled waste plastic: The more sensitive the application (e.g. medical or food contact), the more difficult it becomes. For certain waste streams though, e.g. PET bottles, it is a very valuable and important approach to circular plastics. 

To produce recycled Neste RE, we are using a new technology: chemical recycling. While mechanical recycling maintains the polymeric structure of the plastics, chemical recycling works similar to a reset button. It turns the wheel back a little further by breaking up this structure and turns the plastic back into the raw material (hydrocarbons) it was made of.

Initially, this creates a liquid that to some degree resembles crude oil. Dedicated processes in our conventional refinery then remove various impurities and turn the liquefied waste plastic into high-quality feedstock for new plastics again. This feedstock, Neste RE consisting of pure hydrocarbons, is of virgin quality and can be turned into all kinds of plastics and applications.

The advantages: with chemical recycling, we can recycle waste plastic that currently has no real use as it is considered hard to recycle with conventional means. At the same time, there are no limitations when it comes to quality, purity and sensitivity of applications. Chemically recycled feedstock can be used for all kinds of plastic applications.

While chemical recycling requires more efforts and more energy than conventional recycling, it tackles different waste streams and turns them into different output. That is why we consider mechanical and chemical recycling complementary technologies - and we will require both to tackle the plastics challenge. 

Our independently reviewed life cycle assessment (LCA) shows that despite the efforts required, chemical recycling comes with an improved carbon footprint over the production of plastic waste from fossil resources and the incineration of plastic after its use phase. In fact, GHG emissions can be reduced by more than 35% if recycled Neste RE replaces fossil feedstock and ultimately incineration*. 

_{* Life Cycle Assessment on Environmental Impacts of Chemical recycling of waste plastic - Case Neste (October 2022).}