ACT collaborates with APChemi to enable scalable plastic circularity

Delhi: ACT, a non-profit venture philanthropy platform, is collaborating with APChemi to enable scalable plastic circularity through sustainable recycling of non-recyclable plastic waste. ACT For Environment will support APChemi in building a first-of-its-kind pyrolysis oil purification that can purify 17.5 thousand tons of pyrolysis oil which can be used as feedstock for the generation of biofuels.

Plastic has permeated all aspects of life on Earth. Every year, 350 million tonnes of plastic waste are generated globally – only 20% of this waste is recycled, while the remaining 80% ends up in landfills and water streams or gets incinerated. Since plastic is the lifeline of a large number of industries, removing or replacing and managing it has been a herculean task.

While conventional pyrolysis enables the recycling of mixed plastic waste, it often produces contaminated oil that is unsuitable for use by refineries/petrochemical plants as is and is also usually commercially unviable to purify.

PUREMAX™, AP Chemi’s patented pyrolysis and oil purification technology, removes contaminants from pyrolysis oil to produce PUROIL™ – a high-quality oil from mixed plastic and biomass waste – while reducing associated costs. PUROIL™ has also been demonstrated to be the best feedstock for the production of biofuels, circular polymers, sustainable chemicals, and sustainable vehicle fuels.

Prashanth Prakash, Advisor – ACT For Environment, said, “One of our areas of focus at ACT For Environment is catalysing scalable solutions for global plastic waste circularity. Suhas’s tech-led expertise in converting plastic waste into feedstock for environmentally friendly fuels is exemplary and we’re proud to partner with AP Chemi on this project. We aim to strengthen APChemi’s ability to transform non-recyclable waste and hope to help them scale globally while reducing the dependency on fossil fuels like crude oil in the long term.”

Since 2007, APChemi has established over 45 pyrolysis plants across Asia, Europe, Africa and Middle East where they provide turnkey sustainable pyrolysis solutions. They have converted ~180k tonnes of plastic to oil, reduced dependency on crude oil by ~110k tonnes and plan to recycle 500 million kgs of plastic per year by 2028.

Says Suhas Dixit, Founder and CEO – AP Chemi,,“We are grateful to ACT for supporting our work on the 1st advanced recycling project in India and Asia. With this support, APChemi intends to prevent plastic waste landfilling/incineration by a minimum of 2,500 tons per year. The proposed project is based on APChemi’s pyrolysis technology which is at TRL9 as well as our pyrolysis oil purification technology which will be upgraded from TRL7 to TRL9. This would be the founding stone of our future 300KTA plastic circularity ambition.”