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Vow and Unipetrol to set up plastics-to-fuel pyrolysis pilot in the Czech Republic

| By Mary Bailey

Vow ASA (Lysaker, Norway; www.vowasa.com), through its subsidiary ETIA, has been awarded a contract to provide a pyrolysis testing unit for processing of waste plastics and polymers for Unipetrol in the Czech Republic. Unipetrol is a part of PKN ORLEN group, a leading player in the fuels and energy markets. Unipetrol is the largest refining and petrochemical group in the Czech Republic with distribution throughout Central and Eastern Europe. Unipetrol will develop an application for plastic waste to fuel based on the core technology of ETIA.

The pilot plant is financed by public funds under the name of “Extension of the R&D infrastructure of Unipetrol with the addition of a pyrolysis testing unit”, ref. no. CZ.01.1.02/0.0/0.0/17_165/0016037, carried out within the operational programme “Enterprise and Innovations for Competitiveness”.

The plant is planned to be operational during 2020, when it will become a first showcase of ETIA’s Biogreen pyrolysis unit potential for conversion of waste plastic to fuel. In the agreement, ETIA intellectual property is protected, and the outcome of the project will be made available for Vow ASA and its subsidiaries.

“This award shows our strong technology portfolio becoming relevant for the oil refinery and petrochemical industries as they are changing focus towards plastic waste recycling. It really aligns with our forward strategy to expand Vow into new verticals for growth”; says Vow ASA CEO Henrik Badin in a statement.