Neste gets €135m EU funding for chemical recycling plant

The state-run petroleum company Neste has been granted EUR 135 million from the EU Innovation Fund for the company’s project to build chemical recycling capacities at its Porvoo refinery in Finland, said an official press release on Wednesday.

Project PULSE (“Pretreatment and Upgrading of Liquefied Waste Plastic to Scale Up Circular Economy”) aims to implement Neste’s proprietary technologies to pretreat and upgrade liquefied waste plastic and integrate the technologies into the refinery operations.

The PULSE project targets pretreatment and upgrading capacities of 400,000 tons per year, contributing to Neste’s goal of processing over 1 million tonnes of waste plastic per year from 2030 onwards.

A feasibility study evaluating the investments related to PULSE was announced in March 2022.

Investment decision readiness is targeted for 2023 and gradual implementation is expected to start in 2024.

Project PULSE plays an important role in commercializing chemical recycling of waste plastic as it allows scaling up chemical recycling and bridging the quality gap between unprocessed liquefied waste plastic and the petrochemical industry’s raw material requirements.

Once scaled up, chemical recycling can contribute to combating waste plastic pollution by increasing recycling rates for plastics and reducing dependence on virgin fossil resources.

“We are excited to be among the projects selected by the EU Innovation Fund,” said Mercedes Alonso, Executive Vice President Neste Renewable Polymers and Chemicals.