Waste to Chemicals

The energy transition towards more sustainable production systems has to go through innovative technology aiming at GHG emission reduction and at a better exploitation of resources. On this regard municipal solid waste (MSW), refuse derived fuel (RDF) as well as non-recyclable plastic waste (PW), may be considered a sort of novel and sustainable hydrocarbon allowing to build a new chemistry. Our waste to chemical approach allows to use such kind of waste, otherwise incinerated or sent to landfill, as feedstock for the synthesis of new products thus giving a second chance of life to carbon and hydrogen they contained. Through a high temperature conversion technology carried out under pure oxygen environment, waste is transformed into a valuable syngas to be used as building block for the synthesis of a wide range of carbon recycled chemicals and fuel.

The synergy between two different field the waste management and disposal and the chemical industry, results in a very promising technology fitting well the principles of circular economy and achieving on the overall high carbon footprint reduction if compared with conventional standalone approach of waste incineration and conventional chemicals synthesis from fossil feedstock.

The syngas can be used for production of sustainable fuel for urban mobility but also for heavy transport and even for aviation. Circular Methanol^TM, Circular Ethanol^TM and jet fuel from waste will support the decarbonization of transport responsible in Europe for more than one third of total emission. Also, sustainable hydrogen can be generated to offer an alternative to car fueling. Circular Hydrogen® from waste can be cheaper than gasoline or diesel and can be also a valid alternative to electric mobility that is still suffering the discredit of battery disposal at end of life and noble material needed for its construction and provided by a handful of states with little respect for human rights. Hydrogen from waste can open the way to hydrogen mobility waiting for the electrolysis powered by renewable energy to be able to produce hydrogen at a competitive price with fossil sources.

The new chemistry based on waste feedstock rather than fossils may be achieved through a reliable technology based on a robust plant architecture optimized to manage a non-conventional and variable feedstock like waste. The latter through own gate fee allows to move feedstock from a cost to a revenue thus promoting the overall economic sustainability.

Waste to Chemicals technologies are under the new NextChem’s subsidiary MyRechemical

Methanol is an important and highly versatile chemical used to produce hundreds of every-day products which improve our quality of life, such as clothing, adhesives, paint, pharmaceuticals and plywood. It is also a clean-burning and safe alternative to conventional fuels and a potential enabler for decarbonisation.

Today, methanol is mainly produced from synthesis gas obtained from fossil fuels. Circular Gas® enables the production of Circular Methanol™ , replacing these non-renewable feedstocks.

Source: Johnson Matthey

To produce Circular Methanol™, we have partnered with Johnson Matthey (JM), the world’s number one methanol synthesis technology and catalyst provider, and a global leader in sustainable technologies.

Using JM’s well proven technology and high-performance catalysts, Circular Gas® is purified, conditioned, and transformed into Circular Methanol™ in a synthesis loop which has been optimised for this application.

The process can also incorporate green hydrogen, which doubles the amount of methanol produced and leaves an almost neutral carbon footprint.

Finally, the crude Circular Methanol™ is purified in a custom-built distillation train to the required purity level. It can then go on to be converted into sustainable fuels and chemicals.

Source: Johnson Matthey