en.Wedoany.com Reported - On August 13, Covestro announced that its investee company BioBTX has completed the final investment decision for the PETRA circular aromatics project in the Netherlands, transitioning the project from the technology development phase to the commercial execution phase. Key equipment suppliers, contractors, and partners have been confirmed, and the manufacturing of process equipment modules has commenced.
The PETRA project will be built at the Delfzijl chemical park in the province of Groningen, the Netherlands. It is planned to process approximately 20,000 tonnes of mixed plastic waste that is difficult to recycle mechanically each year, producing around 10,000 tonnes of renewable aromatics oil and 8,000 tonnes of sustainable by-products, while creating approximately 35 jobs. On-site construction is scheduled to begin in early 2027, with the plant expected to commence operations in mid-2028.
The project will apply BioBTX's proprietary integrated catalytic cracking process at commercial scale for the first time. Mixed plastic waste is first subjected to thermal pyrolysis under oxygen-free conditions, and the resulting gas is subsequently converted into BTX aromatics such as benzene, toluene, and xylene through a catalytic process. The pyrolysis and catalytic conversion stages operate separately, allowing reaction conditions to be adjusted based on feedstock composition and enabling the processing of mixed or contaminated plastics that are difficult to utilize in conventional recycling systems.
The BTX aromatics produced by the project can be directly integrated into existing chemical production systems for use in coatings, adhesives, pharmaceuticals, plastics, and high-performance materials. They can also serve as feedstocks for the production of diphenylmethane diisocyanate and toluene diisocyanate, which are further used in flexible polyurethane foam and building insulation materials. BioBTX estimates that, compared to conventional fossil-based feedstock routes, the basic chemical feedstocks produced by this plant can reduce full life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions by 70% to 80%.
In 2024, BioBTX secured over €80 million in financing for the construction of its first commercial-scale plant. Among this, Invest-NL, Infinity Recycling, Covestro, and existing shareholders provided approximately €42 million in equity investment, with the remaining funds comprising debt financing, Dutch government subsidies, and financial support from the province of Groningen.
Covestro has been a shareholder and strategic partner of BioBTX since 2024, with an investment in the mid-single-digit million euro range. The two parties have also signed two joint development agreements to collaborate on researching chemical recycling pathways for Covestro products and optimizing plant operations using digital technologies. Following the successful commissioning and validation of the PETRA project, BioBTX plans to promote and license its integrated catalytic cracking technology to other chemical companies.
