Ineos Looks at Using Plastic Waste In Food Packaging in U.K.

(Bloomberg) -- Chemicals giant Ineos Group will carry out a trial in the U.K. to recycle plastic into packaging that can be used for chocolate bars, snacks and pet food. 

The company has partnered with Plastic Energy, developer of synthetic oil made from waste plastic, for processing at the Grangemouth refinery outside Edinburgh. The initiative could result in the country’s first plant to use the product, known as pyrolysis oil, for plastics recycling.

Ineos is the latest company to look at the technology to reduce waste and cut emissions. Finland’s Neste Oyj already has a target to process more than 1 million tons of plastic waste a year by 2030. Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Preem AB have been testing the technology, and OMV AG aims to start production of synthetic oil at its Schwechat refinery near Vienna by the middle of the decade. 

The pilot program at Grangemouth is set to begin in the first quarter of next year. The testing phase will start with a volume of 30,000 tons annually.

“This trial and the evolution of the policy environment in the U.K. will inform the development of a large-scale advanced recycling plant,” the companies said in a joint statement.

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