Recycling technologies
Transforming post-consumer plastic waste into circular base chemicals derived from recycled feedstocks to further process it into new plastics.
Plastics are essential to modern life, keeping our food fresh, our vehicles light, and our medicines sterile. However, most plastics currently follow a linear lifecycle, in which they are produced, often used once, and then thrown away. A circular economy addresses this by keeping materials in use longer and reducing waste through the principles of reduce, reuse, and recycle.
While most recycling today is mechanical, chemical recycling is an essential complement that offers unique advantages:
- It can handle hard-to-recycle plastics that can’t currently be mechanically recycled, diverting them from incineration.
- It produces feedstock that can be transformed into polymers of virgin quality, indistinguishable from those made from fossil-based sources. This makes it suitable for highly demanding applications, including food contact materials, healthcare products, electric vehicles, and photovoltaics.
ReOil®
ReOil® is our proprietary chemical recycling technology that converts post-consumer plastic waste that is not suitable for mechanical recycling into circular feedstock for the production of chemicals, in particular new plastics. We operate ReOil® at our Schwechat refinery in Vienna and are continuously investing in advancing this technology to ensure a reliable supply of circular feedstock for the market.
How does the ReOil® process work?
The process begins with pyrolysis, where melted plastics are heated in an inert environment to 400-450°C, producing pyrolysis oil. This oil can then be processed into a base chemical that replaces fossil hydrocarbons as feedstock in the production of new plastics.
What makes ReOil® special?
ReOil® is one of the most advanced and scalable chemical recycling technologies on the market. Developed and operated by OMV, it is backed by years of experience thanks to in-house testing and piloting since 2009. The result is a proven technology designed to support the highest capacity single-train plants on the market.
ReOil® in action
We operate a ReOil® plant at our Schwechat refinery with a processing capacity of up to 16,000 metric tons of mixed plastic waste per year – equivalent to the annual plastic waste generated by 160,000 Austrian households. The new plant builds on the experience gained from our pilot unit, which has been operating since 2018.
Circularity, assured
Our ReOil® plants are ISCC PLUS certified, which ensures that the circular content is verifiably tracked and traced throughout the supply chain. This approach allows for accurate accounting of materials at every stage of the production process, providing a clear and credible way to attribute recycled content. The certified circular share is allocated to specific products according to the rules of the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC PLUS) scheme.
State-of-the-art waste sorting facility
We are working with Interzero on building a state-of-the-art sorting facility in Walldürn, Germany. This facility will provide end-of-life plastic waste for our ReOil® plants, supporting a stable supply of circular feedstock for our customers.
An industrial ReOil® plant
We’re planning a future industrial ReOil® plant capable of processing up to 200,000 metric tons of post-consumer plastic waste per year.
The plant is designed to handle hard-to-recycle plastics that aren’t suitable for mechanical recycling. With its large capacity, it will prevent post-consumer plastic waste from likely being incinerated. The resulting circular feedstock can be used in place of crude oil in the production of new chemicals, in particular plastics.
EU Innovation Fund project - key assumptions
- Where: our Schwechat refinery, Austria
- Capacity: up to 200,000 metric tons of post-consumer plastic waste per year
- Emissions: Based on our current project scope and calculation methodology, it is expected to avoid nearly 2.2 million metric tons of CO2 over its first decade, compared to incineration (currently the primary disposal route for end-of-life-plastics)
- Funding: up to EUR 81.6 million from the EU Innovation Fund
- Status: final investment decision pending
Funding
The ReOil industrial plant project was selected to receive up to EUR 81.6 million in funding under the Innovation Fund 2023 Call. It is one of very few plastics or chemical recycling projects to be selected by the EU Innovation Fund, underlining OMV’s innovation strength.
This project is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.