{"id":12886,"date":"2026-04-08T12:02:53","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T12:02:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/plasticseurope.org\/pl\/?post_type=pe_case_study&p=12886"},"modified":"2026-04-08T12:38:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T12:38:20","slug":"a-case-study-in-chemical-recycling","status":"publish","type":"pe_case_study","link":"https:\/\/plasticseurope.org\/pl\/case-studies\/a-case-study-in-chemical-recycling\/","title":{"rendered":"A case study in chemical recycling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A four-way collaboration addresses the challenge of recycling hard-to-recycle plastic waste using innovative chemical recycling technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The disposal of hard-to-recycle plastic waste presents a significant environmental challenge. However, in an innovative approach, Neste<\/a>, Borealis<\/a>, Uponor<\/a>, and the Wastewise Group<\/a> have successfully transformed post-industrial waste plastic into high-quality plastic pipes for the construction sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conventional recycling methods struggle to process and convert certain plastic wastes into valuable products efficiently. This often leads to these plastics being incinerated or sent to landfill, perpetuating the waste problem. One such product is cross-linked polyethylene \u2013 known as PEX \u2013 used to manufacture pipes for heating and plumbing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Keen to find a better and more sustainable approach, Uponor\u2019s industrial waste from its PEX pipe production was liquefied using the Wastewise Group\u2019s innovative pyrolysis-based chemical recycling<\/a> technology to break the polymer chains into their building blocks. The process creates an oil-like recycled intermediate which is processed by Neste and refined into Neste RE\u2122<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo: Neste \/ Fanny Haga<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Borealis use this raw material in their steam cracker, where it is polymerized as a drop-in feedstock to create polyethylene, as part of the Borcycle\u2122<\/a> chemical recycling portfolio. Using recycled feedstock significantly reduces the use of virgin materials, contributing to a circular and closed-loop process. In the last step of the partnership, Uponor uses the newly created polyethylene to create new PEX pipe systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo: Borealis<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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Hard-to-recycle waste plastic as input and high-quality polymers as output are not in contradiction anymore. In fact, we are able to integrate chemically recycled PEX pipe waste as raw material into our established manufacturing processes. It doesn\u2019t require additional tests, approvals or validation. It\u2019s a drop-in solution, ready to use even for drinking water applications.<\/p>\nJohn Webster –<\/strong> Global Commercial Director, Infrastructure at Borealis<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The whole process is traceable via ISCC PLUS<\/a> certified mass-balancing \u2013 a chain of custody certification scheme designed to track the flow of materials through a complex value chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The collaboration between Neste, Borealis, Uponor, and Wastewise shows that chemical recycling can address the challenges associated with complex plastic waste while demonstrating the potential for a circular plastics future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Explore further<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Learn about Chemical recycling<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explore ISCC \u2013 International Sustainability & Carbon Certification<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A four-way collaboration addresses the challenge of recycling hard-to-recycle plastic waste using innovative chemical recycling technology. The disposal of hard-to-recycle plastic waste presents a significant environmental challenge. However, in an innovative approach, Neste, Borealis, Uponor, and the Wastewise Group have successfully transformed post-industrial waste plastic into high-quality plastic pipes for the construction sector. Conventional recycling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12887,"template":"","case-topic":[59,57],"class_list":["post-12886","pe_case_study","type-pe_case_study","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","case-topic-innowacja","case-topic-obieg"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA case study in chemical recycling - Plastics Europe PL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/plasticseurope.org\/pl\/case-studies\/a-case-study-in-chemical-recycling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"pl_PL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A case study in chemical recycling - Plastics Europe PL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A four-way collaboration addresses the challenge of recycling hard-to-recycle plastic waste using innovative chemical recycling technology. The disposal of hard-to-recycle plastic waste presents a significant environmental challenge. However, in an innovative approach, Neste, Borealis, Uponor, and the Wastewise Group have successfully transformed post-industrial waste plastic into high-quality plastic pipes for the construction sector. Conventional recycling […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/plasticseurope.org\/pl\/case-studies\/a-case-study-in-chemical-recycling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Plastics Europe PL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-08T12:38:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/plasticseurope.org\/pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/04\/nestere.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Szacowany czas czytania\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minuty\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plasticseurope.org\/pl\/case-studies\/a-case-study-in-chemical-recycling\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/plasticseurope.org\/pl\/case-studies\/a-case-study-in-chemical-recycling\/\",\"name\":\"A case study in chemical recycling - Plastics Europe PL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plasticseurope.org\/pl\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-08T12:02:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-08T12:38:20+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plasticseurope.org\/pl\/case-studies\/a-case-study-in-chemical-recycling\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"pl-PL\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/plasticseurope.org\/pl\/case-studies\/a-case-study-in-chemical-recycling\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plasticseurope.org\/pl\/case-studies\/a-case-study-in-chemical-recycling\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/plasticseurope.org\/pl\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A case study in chemical recycling\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plasticseurope.org\/pl\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/plasticseurope.org\/pl\/\",\"name\":\"Plastics Europe PL\",\"description\":\"Enabling a sustainable future\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/plasticseurope.org\/pl\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"pl-PL\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A case study in chemical recycling - Plastics Europe PL","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/plasticseurope.org\/pl\/case-studies\/a-case-study-in-chemical-recycling\/","og_locale":"pl_PL","og_type":"article","og_title":"A case study in chemical recycling - Plastics Europe PL","og_description":"A four-way collaboration addresses the challenge of recycling hard-to-recycle plastic waste using innovative chemical recycling technology. 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