Clariant to power Europe’s first waste-to-methanol plant

The facility will transform 400,000 tons of non-recyclable waste each year into 240,000 tons of renewable methanol

In a major step toward Europe’s circular and low-carbon future, specialty chemicals producer Clariant has announced its collaboration in a groundbreaking project — the first facility in Europe set to convert municipal waste into renewable methanol.

Located in El Morell near Tarragona, Spain, Repsol’s groundbreaking Ecoplanta plant will deploy Enerkem’s advanced gasification technology alongside Clariant’s high-performance syngas purification and methanol synthesis catalysts.

When operational in 2029, the facility will transform 400,000 tons of non-recyclable waste each year into 240,000 tons of renewable methanol — marking a pivotal innovation in sustainable fuel production and waste management, as per a release.

Georg Anfang, Vice President Syngas and Fuels at Clariant Catalysts, commented, “We are proud to collaborate with Repsol and Enerkem in the prestigious Ecoplanta project to support Europe’s energy transition. Leveraging our decades of innovations in methanol synthesis catalysts, Clariant is uniquely positioned to drive the large-scale deployment of low-carbon methanol technologies that will play a decisive role in decarbonizing hard-to-abate industries.”

Michel Chornet, CEO of Enerkem, added, “We are excited to contribute to the Ecoplanta project and set an inspiring example for others on the path to decarbonization. Our technology not only enables large-scale production of low-carbon methanol and the reduction of waste in landfills but also avoids substantial greenhouse gas emissions. According to estimates, abatement will be equivalent to 3.4 million tons of CO2 in the first 10 years of operation.”

Clariant’s catalytic technologies are perfectly suited to the Ecoplanta process. After gasification of municipal waste, the trap and guard catalysts will be used to efficiently remove all types of impurities, such as metals, halogens, and sulfur species. The purified syngas will then be converted to methanol using the MegaMax series catalysts.

Due to its high activity, the catalyst can optimize methanol yield while significantly reducing operating costs. MegaMax also offers enhanced selectivity, which greatly reduces the formation of by-products and thus improves the sustainability and economics of bio-methanol production.