AECI and Clariter join forces to transform plastic waste into a clean and sustainable alternative to petrochemicals
AECI has invested EUR2,5 million in a strategic collaboration with Clariter, an international cleantech company with a revolutionary upcycling technology that transforms plastic waste into three industrial ingredients (i.e. oils, solvents and waxes) that are used to make thousands of crude oil-free consumer end products from cleaning agents, leather conditioners, paints, and wood and floor polishes to candles, inks, mineral oils, shoe cream, surf wax and so much more.
AECI’s investment is a convertible loan and includes the option to participate in further rounds of funding of up to EUR10 million as well as distribution and offtake agreements for Clariter’s range of oils, solvents and waxes. While the funding will be used to scale up the technology to commercial level, the two companies will also:
Explore the development and construction of Clariter’s full scale plants across parts of AECI’s existing geographic footprint, specifically South Africa as well as Germany and the USA
Research and develop new specialty chemical applications and blends that have a “green” premium
Since the products are decoupled from crude oil and refinery value chains, they ensure business continuity and price stability. Current results show that they meet FDA purity standards and exceed equivalent benchmarks.
Plastic waste is a global challenge. 370 million tonnes of plastic is produced annually and only 16% is recycled; 25% is burned and 59% is landfilled or discarded in an uncontrolled way. Since demand for plastic is growing by 3% a year and global volumes will reach 515 million tonnes by 2029, the current waste trajectory is unsustainable. By addressing the circularity of the commodity, Clariter will upcycle 2 million tonnes of plastic waste, produce 1,7 million tonnes of industrial products, and reduce CO2 by nearly 1 million tonnes by the end of 2028.
In order to do so, Clariter utilises a continuous, proprietary and proven chemical upcycling process that overcomes the challenges faced by mechanical recycling. These include being highly sensitive to the types of plastic suitable for processes and limitations on the number of times plastic can be mechanically recycled. Significantly, Clariter’s process treats nearly all types of plastic (including polyethylene, polypropylene and some polystyrene) in mixed colours and quantities and converts plastic back to original form to deliver drop-in ready replacements for product manufacturers.
The process comprises three steps, namely:
Thermal cracking to convert plastic waste into a wide range of liquid hydrocarbons
Hydro-refining to remove impurities and to form naphthenic and paraffinic hydrocarbons
Distilling and separating to distil fractions into stable products which can be blended into diverse products
AECI Chief Executive, Mark Dytor, said that there are many reasons why the company is well-placed for this type of strategic collaboration such as “our extensive chemical application expertise, industrial experience, market access in key geographies and product development capabilities”. “It’s also part of our internationalisation strategy which includes growing hard currency earnings.”
“At the same time, we’re shaping ‘a better world’ through a commitment to ‘better chemistry’. As one of the main features of our recently released Sustainability Framework, ‘better chemistry’ focuses on embracing the principles of green science and technology in developing, manufacturing, packaging and transporting industrial products and solutions. Our strategic collaboration with Clariter will play a meaningful role in this regard.”
Clariter’s President and CEO, Ran Sharon, added that circular, green processes and products have a meaningful role to play towards sustainability and ultimately a net-zero-carbon future. “A collaborative-driven approach is the essence of Clariter’s strategy. This happens on many levels from building plants to securing offtake agreements. AECI coming on board is a win-win for everyone involved and we’re looking forward to the future!”
Founded in 2003, Clariter is privately-owned, headquartered in Luxembourg and has operations in Israel, the Netherlands, Poland and South Africa. The company has international patents in key geographies, 100 employees of 15 nationalities and a strong management team with extensive expertise in the chemicals industry.
The technology has been proven at Clariter’s R&D pilot plant in Gliwice, Poland since 2006 and an industrial scale plant in East London, South Africa since 2018. During this time, detailed information has been gathered and there are lessons in areas such as core technology, debottlenecking, feedstock variability, mass energy balances, process flows, scaled engineering parameters and total carbon emissions. The target is to roll out the first full scale plants in Israel, the Netherlands and Poland.
Clariter won Frost & Sullivan’s 2021 Technology Innovation Leadership Award in the European chemical upcycling of plastic waste industry. Frost & Sullivan’s report indicated that Clariter’s upcycling process shows significant benefits like a net negative carbon footprint.