Aramco, TotalEnergies, SABIC Get Certification for Plastic Recycling
by Rocky Teodoro|Rigzone Staff|Thursday, July 20, 2023
Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Aramco), TotalEnergies SE, and SABIC have successfully converted oil derived from plastic waste into ISCC Plus-certified circular polymers, they said in a joint news release.
The plastic pyrolysis oil, also called plastic waste-derived oil, was processed at the Saudi Aramco Total Refining & Petrochemical Company (SATORP) refinery jointly owned by Aramco and TotalEnergies, in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. The product was then used as a feedstock by PETROKEMYA, a SABIC affiliate, to produce certified circular polymers, according to the release.
The project is the first successful certified conversion from plastic waste in the Middle East and North Africa, the news release said.
ISCC+ certification, which is given by the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification, an independent certification organization based in Germany, is a guarantee that the plastic produced went through the proper recycling processes and that the consumption of virgin feedstock is reduced. The certification covers all types of pre- and post-consumer waste and residues, non-bio renewables, and recycled carbon materials and fuels, according to the ISCC website.
The three industrial plants involved in the process, SATORP refinery, Aramco’s Ju'aymah NGL Fractionation Plant, and PETROKEMYA, obtained the ISCC+ certification, according to the release. This enables the production of circular materials, meaning the new plastics produced are made from waste and not from virgin oil or gas.
“This achievement illustrates the importance of the petrochemical sector in creating more sustainable products and solutions”, Aramco’s President of Downstream Mohammed Y. Al Qahtani said. “Our aim is to create circular solutions for plastic waste, while also making progress on our ambition to achieve net-zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions across our wholly-owned operated assets by 2050. By leveraging spare capacity of existing infrastructure, we aim to produce circular products that could be scaled up at low cost. Aramco is considering multiple ways of tapping into new technologies and leveraging existing assets to support the deployment of circular, more sustainable and lower-carbon products.”
“This advanced plastic recycling initiative reflects TotalEnergies’ ambition to concretely contribute to addressing the challenge of end-of-life of plastics”, TotalEnergies President for Refining & Chemicals Bernard Pinatel said. “Several other circular economy projects are being studied, leveraging the partners’ technical expertise and experience to further contribute to plastics recycling. It is a major pathway towards TotalEnergies’ target to produce 30 percent of circular polymers by 2030, and its strategy to build a multi-energy company with the ambition to get to net zero by 2050, together with society.”
“This project is aligned with SABIC’s commitment to avoid landfill and incineration through its innovation competencies and advanced technology”, SABIC EVP Sami Al-Osaimi said. “This project shows collaboration across the petrochemical value chain to overcome upstream and downstream challenges in circular plastics.”
SABIC is a Saudi Arabia-based petrochemical manufacturer that is 70 percent owned by Aramco.