Jochen Adler, CTO, and Georg Stausberg, CEO, both Oerlikon Manmade Fibers Solutions, Dr. Max Preisenberger, Head of Catalysts at Evonik, Lukas Adamek, Head of Strategy & Business Development Oerlikon Manmade Fibers Solutions, and Dr. Gerd Löhden, SVP R&D Smart Materials Evonik at the official founding of the new partnership between Oerlikon Barmag and Evonik.
Germany’s Remscheid, Essen, January 23, 2025 To encourage the chemical recycling of trash made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Oerlikon Barmag and Evonik have announced their partnership. Both businesses are dedicated to creating technology for reliable and effective purification and depolymerisation procedures, as well as an integrated repolymerization concept and related EPC business models.
Evonik and Osterlikon Barmag are both top providers in their respective important sectors, working together for a sustainable circular economy in the plastics sector. Oerlikon Barmag, a Remscheid-based producer of machinery and plants, brings to the new collaboration its experience in processing polymers for the creation of chemical fibres and packaging materials. In addition, as a core brand of Oerlikon Manmade Fibers Solutions of the Swiss Oerlikon Group, the company has excellent international market access in the polymer processing industry.
One of the top producers of speciality chemicals worldwide, Evonik is committed to advancing sustainability programs and creating cutting-edge solutions. Through the use of cutting-edge catalytic processes, the collaboration with Oerlikon Barmag seeks to develop process solutions and technologies for the chemical recycling of PET.
Making an investment for a sustainable future
By the end of this decade, the partners want to have the jointly created chemical recycling technology solution completely launched and commercialised. Plans call for the creation of a worldwide network of development partners as well as the active and intense engagement of other businesses in the ecosystem (including feedstock, technology, and manufacturing).Making an investment for a sustainable future By the end of this decade, the partners want to have the jointly created chemical recycling technology solution completely launched and commercialised. Plans call for the creation of a worldwide network of development partners as well as the active and intense engagement of other businesses in the ecosystem (including feedstock, technology, and manufacturing).
In addition to driving the next generation of sustainability in the plastics industry, Georg Stausberg, CEO of Oerlikon Manmade Fibres Solutions, states, “We are firmly convinced that with Evonik we gained a strong and experienced partner in the field of speciality chemicals, and together we will establish a significant market position as a total solution provider in the growth market for chemical recycling of PET.”
“This collaboration represents a significant advancement in PET chemical recycling. In order to achieve a high recycled PET content from highly polluted and mixed PET trash that would otherwise be burned or dumped in a landfill, our innovative catalytic processes and chemical technologies will be used in conjunction with the present mechanical recycling technique. We are actively promoting a sustainable circular economy in this way,” stated Max Preisenberger, Evonik’s Head of Catalysts.
Seamless integration into PET production processes
The PET recycling technology will bring numerous advantages. From a chemical perspective it is a highly efficient process, and it can be seamlessly integrated into existing PET production processes. Operational costs, investment cost and scalability are the key drivers in the development.
The combination of cooperational know-how in catalyst and process technologies will allow a chemical recycling of polyester materials from many closed- and open-loop sources, which need chemical technology to allow for high, fossil-like recyclate qualities.
“The strong and complementing technological knowhow and expertise of both companies in combination with Oerlikon Barmag’s market access and PET processing knowhow, establishes a competitive and unique partnership within the emerging chemical PET recycling industry. With the goal of creating a circular economy for all types of PET waste that is currently incinerated or landfilled, we want to scale our technology to a significant size and make it available to global PET producers and processors. In this way we will enable our customers to become more sustainable and contribute to a circular economy,” explains Lukas Adamek, Head of Strategy & Business Development of Oerlikon Manmade Fibers Solutions.