ExxonMobil to Build Its First Large-Scale Plastic Waste Advanced Recycling Facility
October 11, 2021 at 07:30 am EDT
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ExxonMobil plans to build its first, large-scale plastic waste advanced recycling facility in Baytown, Texas, and is expected to start operations by year-end 2022. By recycling plastic waste back into raw materials that can be used to make plastic and other valuable products, the technology could help address the challenge of plastic waste in the environment. A smaller, temporary facility, is already operational and producing commercial volumes of certified circular polymers that will be marketed by the end of this year to meet growing demand. The new facility follows validation of ExxonMobil’s initial trial of its proprietary process for converting plastic waste into raw materials. To date, the trial has successfully recycled more than 1,000 metric tons of plastic waste, the equivalent of 200 million grocery bags, and has demonstrated the capability of processing 50 metric tons per day. Upon completion of the large-scale facility, the operation in Baytown will be among North America’s largest plastic waste recycling facilities and will have an initial planned capacity to recycle 30,000 metric tons of plastic waste per year. Operational capacity could be expanded quickly if effective policy and regulations that recognize the lifecycle benefits of advanced recycling are implemented for residential and industrial plastic waste collection and sorting systems. ExxonMobil is developing plans to build approximately 500,000 metric tons of advanced recycling capacity globally over the next five years. In Europe, the company is collaborating with Plastic Energy on an advanced recycling plant in Notre Dame de Gravenchon, France, which is expected to process 25,000 metric tons of plastic waste per year when it starts up in 2023, with the potential for further expansion to 33,000 metric tons of annual capacity.
Exxon Mobil Corporation is an oil group organized around 3 areas of activity:
- refining and distribution (78.8% of net sales): 5.2 million barrels of oil products (diesel fuel, gasoline, fuel oil, lubricants, motor oils, etc.) sold per day. At the end of 2021, the group operated a network of 22,545 service stations under the Exxon, Mobil, Esso names, etc.;
- petrochemical (13.3%): primarily oils, aromas, alcohols, ethylene, elastomers, propylene, and polymers (26.3 Mt sold in 2021) for the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, textile, electrical, etc.;
- exploration and production of hydrocarbons (7.9%; worldwide leader): 2.3 million barrels of oil produced per day and 241.7 million m3 of natural gas produced per day.
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: the United States (37.7%), Canada (8%), Singapore (5.4%), the United Kingdom (5.3%), France (4.8%), Italy (3.6%), Belgium (3.3%), Australia (2.8%) and other (29.1%).