New agreement between Versalis, Eni's chemical company, and Forever Plast, an Italian company leader at European level in the post-consumer plastic recycling sector, which is part of the transformation project of the industrial site in Porto Marghera.
The agreement, signed today by the Chief Executive Officer of Versalis Adriano Alfani and by the Chief Executive Officer of Forever Plast Piersandro Arrighini, provides for the exclusive acquisition of the license for the construction of an advanced mechanical recycling plant for the transformation of selected plastic waste obtained from separate collection, in particular polystyrene and high density polyethylene. The license acquired by Forever Plast will expand the product portfolio from recycled raw materials and consolidate Versalis' leadership in Europe in the mechanical recycling of polystyrene for high value-added applications, including food packaging.
The plant, which is expected to start up in 2024 in areas available at the Porto Marghera petrochemical site, will have a capacity for the transformation of already selected plastic waste around 50 tons / year with which recycled polymer compounds will be produced.
The agreement signed today also includes the extension of the contract with Forever Plast, which will make it possible to guarantee the volumes for the growth of the Versalis portfolio of recycled products and to consolidate its current competitive advantage: in 2020 the company has, in fact, launched a collaboration thanks to which the new polystyrene compounds with recycled content up to 75% under the Versalis Revive® brand were developed, already available on the market, intended for food packaging, thermal insulation and the electrical sector.
The development of a Versalis mechanical recycling center in Porto Marghera started in 2021 with the acquisition of Ecoplastic's technology and plants, which uses a second raw material based on pre-treated expanded polystyrene as feedstock, and is currently all the activities relating to the project are underway, including the authorization process.
Adriano Alfani, Versalis CEO, declared: “With this agreement we strengthen the transformation of Porto Marghera, a strategic site for the achievement of our sustainability objectives. The strength and innovation of the technology is the possibility of recycling plastics also for the food packaging market, the most challenging of applications from a circular point of view, consolidating our European leadership in recycled polymers ".