Lummus Technology (Houston) and MOL Group (Budapest, Hungary) have announced their agreement to cooperate in the deployment and integration of chemical recycling of plastics at MOL’s assets in Hungary and Slovakia. Chemical recycling of plastics is part of MOL’s commitment to collect close to 5 million tons of municipal solid waste, which includes the treatment and related investments.
“MOL Group and Lummus have a long track record of successful collaboration in various technology areas, and we are proud to now partner with MOL again to address a critical challenge for our industry and society,” said Leon de Bruyn, President and CEO of Lummus Technology. “Both organizations are playing a leadership role in the circular economy, and by joining hands we will help further develop and deploy sustainable solutions to recycle plastic waste.”
MOL has committed to drive circularity and has recently invested in addressing waste plastics recycling in Central Europe. With a total annual capacity of 40,000 tons, MOL can offer a wide range of sustainable compounds for various industries, including the automotive, construction, building and packaging sectors. The company’s aim is to build a production portfolio of more than 100,000 tons of recycled plastic materials.
“We’re thrilled to extend our cooperation with Lummus in a field that largely contributes to our strategic goals in reaching net zero by 2050,” said Gabriel Szabó, Executive Vice President of MOL Group Downstream. “MOL Group is actively building a strong plastic recycling and waste integration portfolio as we are aware of its crucial role in the circular economy, and sustainable business models require such mindset that considers everything as raw material and potential energy source. The waste plastic pyrolysis technology, and Lummus’ expertise will help us to optimize our value chain, and make our business more sustainable.”
Lummus’ Green Circle business unit will provide to MOL its advanced waste plastic pyrolysis technology, which effectively converts plastic waste into high-value chemicals and feedstocks, creating circularity. This technology is a proven, reliable, economically attractive solution to address the global plastic waste problem, which offers additional environmental benefits such as a lower carbon footprint and the elimination of char production. Lummus will also provide its experience and expertise in steam cracking, catalytic cracking and residue processing technology to ensure that integration with MOL’s existing assets is optimized.
Green Circle concentrates and expands Lummus Technology’s capabilities to capture new opportunities in the energy transition and circular economy. Green Circle is a leader in providing economically and technically sound solutions to: process solid wastes containing plastics; process various renewable bio-based feedstocks to value-added chemicals, polymers and fuels; decarbonize refinery and petrochemicals assets; and expand production of blue hydrogen and biofuels.