Shell to make PE using recycled plastic feedstock at Pennsylvania site

Shell Polymers will use pyrolysis oil derived from recycled plastics to make polyethylene resin at its complex in Monaca, Pa.

The pyrolysis oil will be supplied by Freepoint Eco-Systems, which operates an advanced recycling plant in Hebron, Ohio. In a news release, Shell officials called the deal with Freepoint a "landmark feedstock agreement."

"This supplier agreement further strengthens our ability to provide advanced recycling and mass-balanced products backed by ISCC Plus certification," said Laura Chamorro, Shell's commercial general manager. "We are committed to helping our customers access certified, flexible solutions that support their sustainability goals."

Officials also said the partnership enhances Shell's mass-balanced product offerings, which they described as integral to creating sustainable solutions in the U.S. plastics market.

The Freepoint plant is expected to be fully operational later this year. It is projected to supply up to 130 million pounds of recycled plastic feedstock annually, while recycling around 200 million pounds of plastics.

In April, Freepoint officials said their first batch of pyrolysis oil was delivered to a Shell refining facility in Norco, La. Shell's Monaca plant, located near Pittsburgh, is within reach of more than 70 percent of the North American polyethylene processing market, officials said.

Shell opened the Monaca complex in 2022. The facility has annual production capacity of about 3.5 billion pounds of polyethylene. It was the first major U.S. resin operation built outside of Texas or Louisiana in more than 40 years. The site uses shale gas and oil from the nearby Marcellus and Utica shale fields as feedstock.

In May 2024, Freepoint announced plans to build its first pyrolysis plant outside the United States in the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal region of Belgium. That facility is expected to recycle around 180 million pounds of plastics per year.