Thailand's SCGC Completes Chemical Recycling Trial of Waste Cable Insulation Materials

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 27, Thai chemical company SCGC and the Association of Thai Cable Manufacturers (ATCM) completed preliminary testing of an advanced recycling process for waste cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) cable insulation materials. The trial converted waste insulation materials with different cross-linked structures into recyclable hydrocarbon materials, including circular naphtha. Under the process conditions tested, the recycling process produced no solid residue requiring further disposal, and the resulting products are intended to serve as feedstock for petrochemical production to manufacture recycled plastics.

This round of testing covered two main types of cross-linked polyethylene materials—peroxide cross-linked and silane cross-linked—and used low-voltage, medium-voltage, and high-voltage cables as test subjects. SCGC also processed waste cables with multilayer structures, in which the insulation layer and outer sheath layer can enter the recycling process simultaneously without prior separation. The test feedstock included mixed cable waste to verify the process's adaptability to materials with different structures and compositions.

The target product of the recycling process is circular naphtha, which can serve as feedstock for petrochemical production and be further used to manufacture SCGC GREEN POLYMER series recycled plastic products. SCGC plans to incorporate the relevant recycled feedstock into its supply chain system compliant with ISCC PLUS certification requirements to meet subsequent material manufacturing and traceability management needs.

The waste sources used in this trial included scrap generated during cable manufacturing as well as decommissioned cables removed from power systems. SCGC and ATCM will jointly study the recycling and utilization of these two types of feedstock. In Thailand, more than 2,000 tons of aged or end-of-life cross-linked polyethylene cables enter landfill disposal channels each year.