Eneos Corp. (Tokyo) and Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. (MCC; Tokyo) have completed a chemical recycling facility aimed at advancing plastics-to-oil conversion. The facility has been under construction since July 2021. Eneos and Mitsubishi have also announced collaborations focused on hydrogen and production of sustainable aviation fuels.
This facility employs a hydrothermal plastic recycling technology (Hydro-PRT) that features supercritical water to chemically break down waste plastic procured externally and convert it into oil. The technology has been made available under a license agreement with U.K.-based Mura Technology Ltd. The recycled oil produced with the technology is used as feedstock at both companies’ existing refinery and naphtha cracker and reprocessed into petroleum products and various chemicals and plastics, thereby helping to realize a circular economy. In addition, this facility plans to obtain ISCC PLUS certification. ISCC PLUS is one of the international certification systems for sustainable products. Once the facility is certified, Eneos and Mitsubishi Chemicals will be able to offer various products made from the recycled oil.