From plastic to biofuel: what chemical recycling is and how it differs from mechanical recycling

Not all plastic can be turned back into plastic. When waste is dirty, mixed or degraded, conventional recycling falls short. This is where chemical recycling comes in, able to transform those rejects into biofuels and raw materials. Let’s look at what it is and how it differs from mechanical recycling.

What is mechanical recycling

Mechanical recycling is the most widespread method: plastic is collected, sorted, washed, shredded and turned into pellets to make new products. It is efficient and low in energy use, but it has clear limits. It requires relatively clean, homogeneous waste, and the material quality degrades with each cycle.

That is why a significant share of plastic —films, multilayer, mixed or contaminated waste— is not suitable for this route and ends up in landfill.

What is chemical recycling

Chemical recycling breaks plastic down at the molecular level to recover its basic components. Instead of melting the material, it breaks the polymer chains and converts them into new raw materials or energy products.

Pyrolysis is one of its key technologies: through heat and the absence of oxygen, it transforms plastic rejects into pyrolysis oil, gas and char, products that can be used as fuel or as industrial feedstock.

Main differences

• Type of waste: mechanical needs clean, homogeneous material; chemical accepts mixed and contaminated waste.
• End product: mechanical produces pellets; chemical generates raw materials and energy products such as biofuels.
• Quality: chemical does not suffer the progressive degradation typical of mechanical recycling.
• Complementarity: they don’t compete; chemical treats exactly what mechanical cannot use.

From plastic to biofuel

The great value of chemical recycling is that it provides an outlet for waste that today has none. Turning rejects into biofuels and raw materials reduces dependence on landfill, generates local resources and fits European regulatory requirements.

Nantek’s role

At Nantek we apply pyrolysis at industrial scale with a range of modular plants and sector-specific solutions. Does your waste find no outlet in mechanical recycling? Tell us and we will assess its viability.