New Turkish recycling plant to use Honeywell polymer process

Biotrend Energy will use Honeywell’s UpCycle Process Technology in its planned plastics recycling factory in Turkey.

The facility will convert mixed waste plastics into recycled polymer feedstock (RPF). The facility will be the first commercialized waste plastics recycling facility in Turkey to use the Honeywell process.

The advanced recycling plant is expected to have the capacity to transform 30,000 metric tons of mixed waste plastics into recycled feedstock per year. Honeywell will provide related engineering and technical services, including startup, commissioning, and technical support services during the plant’s lifetime.

Honeywell and Biotrend Energy intend to collaborate on additional plastic recycling facilities in the future.

“Biotrend Energy is a leading player in the waste management sector in Turkey that is investing in a sustainable circular economy. I have full confidence that we will lead the sector in this field with Honeywell,” said Osman Nuri Vardı, CEO of Biotrend Energy.

“Biotrend Energy’s experience in waste management, supported by Honeywell’s technology, will contribute to Biotrend Energy’s sustainability efforts.”

Currently, Biotrend is only able to recover a low percentage of mechanically recycled materials. Moreover, there are some types of plastic waste that cannot be recycled mechanically due to process limitations caused by contamination, colours and additives used in plastic production. Currently, the plastics that cannot be mechanically recycled are either converted into refuse derived fuel (RDF) or stored in landfills.

Chemical recycling, like that used in Honeywell’s process , can process a wider range of waste plastics, supporting Biotrend’s efforts to increase recovery volumes.

Biotrend Energy is one of the pioneers of the integrated waste management industry in Turkey and processes 4,500,000 tons of waste per year across its 18 facilities (including pre-licenced plants) within Turkey. Biotrend Energy’s activities include waste transfer, recycling, landfill, waste to energy and production of organic fertilizer (compost) and RDF.

Honeywell’s UpCycle Process Technology uses molecular conversion, pyrolysis, and contaminants management technology to convert waste plastic to RPF, which is then used to create new plastics. The technology expands the types of plastics that can be recycled to include waste plastic that would otherwise go unrecycled, including colored, flexible, multilayered packaging, and polystyrene.