Exploring the Potential of Pyrolysis Oil in Sustainable Chemical Production

by Kathy Hall (Global Petrochemicals/OPIS) 10 Questions with 245 Recycle featuring Peter Fasullo, Co-Founder and CCO, and Robert Sawchuk, Co-Founder and CEO -- In our ongoing exploration of innovative solutions for sustainable chemical production, we dive into the world of pyrolysis oil, also known as py oil. Today, we're excited to introduce a gasified form of this remarkable material.

Pyrolysis oil is a product of chemical recycling, a process that transforms plastic waste into a usable liquid material. This could be a game-changer for the chemical industry, as using pyrolysis oil in a steam cracker could produce "green" or "fossil-free" ethylene and propylene.

Unlike traditional methods that blend mechanically recycled plastic with fossil-based plastics, using fossil-free olefins ensures that the eco-certified status is maintained throughout the plastics resin supply chain. This results in plastics that are as strong and high-quality as any virgin plastic.

Moreover, mass balancing can extend this fossil-free label to hundreds of downstream solvents and intermediate chemical markets.

We recently had the opportunity to speak with two executives from a forward-thinking company called 245 Recycle, which is set to collaborate with Cyclyx, a division of recycling giant Agilyx. Peter Fasullo and Robert Sawchuk, founders of 245 Recycle and veterans of the NGLs and chemical industry, shared their insights with us in a comprehensive Q&A session.

1. First, tell us more about the name of your operation. Why 245 Recycle? Second, tell us more about the exciting news regarding 245 and Cyclyx!

We founded the company with the mission to be able to recycle any plastic that is not mechanically recycled or repurposed.

Today, the most suitable plastics for advanced recycling are polyethylenes and polypropylene, which most people know by the resin identification codes 2, 4 and 5. Incorporating those numbers into our name serves two purposes; the first being that we think it’s a catchy and easy to remember, and the second being that when we look back after 5 or 10 years when we can advance recycle all plastics from numbers 1 through 7, we have a sense of history and accomplishment knowing from where we came.

We are excited to be a member of Cyclyx’s 10 to 90 Program which includes a diverse group of companies across the plastic value chain from producers to recyclers and those that provide logistics. Being part of the Program gives 245Recycle the opportunity to work with other members and exchange information about plastic recycling.

2. Chemical recycling, or advanced recycling, is a controversial subject in some circles, mostly centered upon the issue of incineration. Do you think this is misunderstood or is it a valid concern?

3. Let's focus on what you mean by "hard to recycle" plastics -- you primarily mean plastic film, yes? Why is film harder to recycle and is there a solution in the works?

4. Can you pull the lens back for us talk about product yields? Our understanding is that once the trash plastic is properly sorted and processed into pyroysis oil, there are different qualities of it and they have different yields of ethylene (and ultimately polyethylene). From a mass balancing perspective, what does that look like?

5. Tell us more about the gasified version of py oil that contains a certain amount of ethane and even olefins in it. It would be natural to call it "py gas" but the industry has long been calling pyrolysis gasoline pygas. Is is fair to say that py gas is closer to py "natural gas" and what are you calling this material?

6. Apart from the complexities of the product spec, yield and other associated issues, the question foremost on our minds at OPIS is how the commodity is priced?

7. What is the biggest investment gap at this point in this market's development? If it's infrastructure, what level are we talking -- MRFs, transportation, processing?

8. Let'’s talk about investment locations -– most of the petrochemical complexes in the US are in the Gulf Coast. Plastic trash is everywhere in the US. Chemical recycling facilities have been built in the Midwest, the Southeast and also in Texas. How is that location gap bridged, coupled with the investment needed to develop the use of renewable feedstocks by petrochemical companies?

9. Some of this story sounds reminiscent of how the NGLs industry itself developed in the US decades ago. What similarities or "universal truths" do you see between the renewable feedstock movement and NGLs as far as petrochemical use?

10. You've said in some of previous conversations: "If it was easy, we wouldn't be doing it." What would be the ideal industry landscape for 245 Recycle in the next 5 to 10 years? READ MORE