The Dutch group Lyondell-Basell (LYB) is acquiring the insolvent Merseburg recycling company.
 

The takeover, which is still pending approval from the antitrust authorities, is to enable LYB to expand and improve its business with closed-loop and low-carbon solutions, according to a statement from the two companies. APK's solvent-based recycling technology Newcycling, which can be used to recycle multi-layer flexible packaging based on PE-LD, is to complement LYB's existing recycling technologies in the future. It was an “important addition” to the company's own existing and future recycling processes, says Yvonne van der Laan, Executive Vice President Circular and Low Carbon Solutions at LyondellBasell. It also would bring the company closer to its goal of increasing its capacity for recycled and renewable polymers to at least two million tons per year by 2030. With APK's recycling technology, LYB aims to recycle more difficult-to-recycle flexible plastic waste, which today still makes up a large proportion of mixed plastic waste from the consumer sector. The technology is said to separate the various polymers from difficult-to-recycle flexible plastic waste and produces recycled materials with a high degree of purity that are suitable for new flexible packaging, e.g. for personal care products. The materials produced are to be marketed under the name LYB Circulen.
 
LYB says it has formulated ambitious plans to access innovative and differentiated technologies and has established a dedicated Circular & Low Carbon Solutions (CLCS) division as a key element of its new strategy. CLCS would have begun investing heavily in the sorting and recycling of plastic waste in Europe, the US and Asia.
 
Sources:

• Press release LyondellBasell, APK AG (22.8.2024)
• Photo: © APK AG