Chemical Recycling / Non-mechanical capacity
There are a number of companies who are currently developing chemical recycling or other non-mechanical recycling processes within the UK. These are at different stages of being developed - laboratory scale, pilot plant or commercial plant.
UK chemical / non-mechanical capacity
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Updated February 2026 based on information available.
Chemical Recycling Capacity in Europe
BPF Chemical Recycling Members
Plastic Energy
Plastic Energy uses its patented TAC™ process to convert end-of-life plastics into recycled oils, called TACOIL™, which are used as a replacement for fossil oils to create new virgin-quality plastics suitable for food-grade packaging. Plastic Energy currently has two commercial chemical recycling plants in Spain that have been in operation for the past seven years. Plastic Energy has three plants currently under construction in Europe, including a joint venture with SABIC for a 20,000 tonne capacity plant in the Netherlands, which should be operational at the end of 2023. Under construction in France are a joint venture with TotalEnergies for a 15,000 tonne capacity plant, and another 33,000 tonne capacity plant with an offtake agreement with ExxonMobil, both which are expected to be operational in 2024. Plastic Energy also has agreements for projects with Petronas in Malaysia, ExxonMobil in Indonesia, Ineos in Germany and TotalEnergies in the US.
https://plasticenergy.com/
ReNew ELP
ReNew ELP, a subsidiary of Mura Technology and based in Teesside, England, are set to commence commercial operations at the world’s-first HydroPRS™ advanced recycling facility in late 2023. HydroPRS™, unlike pyrolysis, uses supercritical water to convert waste plastics that would otherwise be sent to incineration or landfill into virgin-equivalent hydrocarbons for use in the manufacture of new plastics, creating a circular plastics economy and reducing the reliance of fossil resource. A recent independent, academic Life Cycle Assessment by WMG at the University of Warwick showed a c. 80% reduction in carbon emissions by recycling one tonne of mixed plastic waste via this first HydroPRS™ site when compared to incineration, a comparable end of life treatment. The site is being constructed in phases, totalling 80,000 tonnes of waste processed per year. Geminor have been announced as principal feedstock suppliers of post-use consumer plastic waste and Dow are the agreed offtakers for the first 20,000 tonne advanced line.
www.muratechnology.com/renewelp
Clean Planet Energy
Clean Planet Energy are currently constructing their flagship ecoPlant in Teeside which is a joint venture with Crossroads Real Estate. This is the first of 10 new ecoPlants which will be built and operated across the UK. The plant will process non-recyclable and hard-to-recycle waste plastic which would have otherwise gone to landfill. Each ecoPlant will accept 20,000 tonnes of plastic. The plant will use pyrolysis technology along with a patented hydroprocess. Each plant will provide 60 permanent green jobs (600 jobs in total) and will be surrounded by green spaces. The plants provide a £35-40M inward investment for each council.
https://www.cleanplanet.com/energy
Other UK Chemical Recycling Companies
Please note these companies are not BPF members. All information has been provided directly by the companies.
Itero Technologies
Itero Technologies is a chemical recycling technology company working to build a circular carbon economy. Itero uses thermal conversion (pyrolysis) technology to converts hard-to-recycle waste plastic back into a chemical feedstock for brand new circular plastics products. Complementing traditional recycling methods, Itero diverts plastics from landfill and incineration, while increasing recycling rates and reducing dependency on crude oil. Itero has operated their West London Pilot Plant since 2020 where they carry out feedstock and product testing, and rigorously test their technology processes in preparation for its first at-scale demonstration plant plan at Brightlands Chemelot Campus in the Netherlands. At its West London Pilot, Itero also perform third-party commercial testing of certain end-of-life plastic waste streams to validate that a suitable oil can be made from which recycled plastics can be produced – even to a sufficient quantity that this can be processed by our downstream partners, creating the closed loop back to polymers.
Stuff4life
Stuff4Life has developed a solvent-based patent-pending technology for depolymerising polyester textiles into monomer for repolymerisation back into brand new polyester, working with Teesside University. The technology has been scaled up in partnership with the Centre for Process Innovation, part of the Government's High Value Manufacturing Catapult, funded through creation of a JV with Arco to form Stuff4Life Workwear based at Wilton International, Teesside.
Stuff4Life Workwear is currently in the process of establishing a commercial scale unit at Wilton which will be operational in 2023. Project partners have repolymerised monomer back into new polyester with plans to create workwear products in the UK in partnership with Arco (also in 2023), working with Arco and its customers to provide end-of-life solutions for existing workwear, improved circular-by-design products and business models and implement made-in-the-UK circular products in this essential market reliant on synthetic fibres and fabrics to keep people safe, dry, warm and performing.
The business is planning to construct a 50,000-100,000 tpa facility in the UK to be operational in 2027.
Worn again
Since, January 2021, Worn Again Technologies’ (WAT) process was successfully proven at pilot scale at our R&D plant near Redcar, UK.
WAT launched the Swiss Textile Recycling Ecosystem to support the creation of a circular supply chain based on WATs innovative polymer recycling technology. The Swiss Textile Recycling Ecosystem is a network of fabric and textile manufacturers, waste collectors and sorters, as well as retailers, brand owners and technology providers.
WAT closed on a new equity funding round of GBP 27.6 million, the largest in WAT history.
WAT has started engineering and construction of our demonstration plant in Winterthur, Switzerland. The plant will process up to 1000 tonnes per year of non-reusable, hard-to-recycle textile waste to produce virgin-quality PET and cellulose for reintroduction into the existing textile supply chain.
