BOREALIS：Plans for first mechanical recycling plant shelved for now

Borealis has put its plans for a mechanical recycling plant for polyolefin waste at Schwechat, Austria, on hold for the time being. A spokesperson for the polyolefin group told journalist that a detailed assessment of the project had shown that, under current market conditions, the plant would not “achieve the expected performance targets”. The project has therefore been put on hold for the now.

The recycling plant will be built in Schwechat, Austria (photo: Borealis)

Instead, Borealis is relying on other sources for Borcycle M, i.e. mechanically recycled materials. In this context, the spokesperson referred to the acquisition of Bulgarian recycler Integra Plastics last year.

Borealis had pursued the recycling plans together with sorting technology specialists Tomra and NextChem. The plant at Schwechat was scheduled to go into operation in 2025 and have a capacity of 60,000 t/y.