Plastic Energy, global leader in chemical recycling technology, has commissioned a new pilot plant in its Research & Development (R&D) labs in Loughborough University Science & Enterprise Park (LUSEP) in the UK.

The new state of the art pilot plant will be used to further develop and optimise Plastic Energy’s unique chemical recycling technology, by testing our output, called TACOIL, and improving the quality of the final product.

Plastic Energy has been based at the University of Loughborough for over a decade and opened new labs in November last year. Plastic Energy’s research & development labs act as an important catalyst in the scale up of Plastic Energy’s projects from the laboratory to commercial scale.

The pilot plant, which will use Plastic Energy’s patented recycling technology, will follow the same TAC process which is used at its larger plants. Plastic waste is heated in the absence of oxygen and converted into TACOIL, which is used as a replacement for fossil oils in the creation of new plastics. Having the ability to make adjustments within the pilot plant will make it easier to optimise the efficiency and design of Plastic Energy’s new projects going forward.

David McNamara, Chief Technology Officer at Plastic Energy, said: “Commissioning our first ever pilot plant at our R&D labs in Loughborough is an important milestone for the company, As Plastic Energy continues to expand globally, the pilot plant will be instrumental in helping Plastic Energy to test new feedstocks, further scale up its process and optimise our chemical recycling technology.”

In parallel, Plastic Energy has also been leading work on a digital twin of the pilot plant, helping the team to gather data on the performance of recycling plants currently under construction.