Germany – British oil and gas firm BP and Saudi Arabian chemical producer SABIC have signed a new deal to work together to drive the circular economy in the petrochemical industry of the Gelsenkirchen chemical complex.
Building on a long-established partnership between the two companies at the production site, the current agreement would help to increase the production of approved circular materials using mixed plastics for the production of feedstock, thus reducing the amount of fossil resources required in the petrochemical plants at the site.
Certified polymers
Certified circular polymers are part of the SABIC’S TRUCIRCLE portfolio and are developed using advanced recycling to transform low-quality mixed and used plastics, otherwise meant for incineration or landfilling, into pyrolysis oils. The oil, which serves as an alternative feedstock to conventional fossil materials, will be refined at BP’s Gelsenkirchen refinery site and then used by SABIC in its Gelsenkirchen polymer plants to manufacture approved circular goods. The final substance has the same properties as virgin-based polymers and allows plastics to be recycled over and over again, without degradation of properties or characteristics.
ISCC+ accepted
Certified base chemicals from BP and certified circular polymers from SABIC are accepted by the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification Plus (ISCC+) program, which certifies content and requirements across the supply chain from source to final use. The ISCC+ certification is based on what is known as the ‘mass balance system,’ meaning that with each ton of circular feedstock fed into the cracker and substituting fossil feedstock, a ton of production will be counted as circular.
Circular polymers are part of SABIC’s TRUCIRCLE collection and circular engineering facilities. The TRUCIRCLE portfolio includes the design of recyclability, mechanically recycled products, certified circular feedstock processing products of used plastics, certified green bio-based feedstock products and closed loop projects for recycled plastic back to high-quality applications.
