Attero Finalizes Design for Advanced Waste Separation Facility

- The new facility will be an expansion of Attero's existing post-sorting capabilities at its Moerdijk location, which currently operates as a large energy-from-waste plant. - A key feature of the new plant is a long-term cooperation with chemical company SABIC, where post-consumer plastics that would otherwise be incinerated will be sorted and supplied as feedstock for advanced chemical recycling. - The sorted plastic will be converted by SABIC into pyrolysis oil at a new hydrotreater in Geleen, which is then used as an alternative to naphtha for producing new, certified circular polymers. - This development is a direct response to the Dutch government's ambitious circular economy goals, which include a 50% reduction in the use of primary raw materials by 2030 and a fully circular economy by 2050. - The new facility will utilize "smart technologies" to separate valuable materials from waste streams that would typically go to the energy-from-waste plant, though specific details on these technologies have not been publicly disclosed. - Attero's existing post-separation facility in Wijster, the world's largest of its kind, sorts municipal solid waste into ten different streams, providing a model for the capabilities that may be implemented at Moerdijk. - Beyond plastics, Attero currently processes mineral waste like rubble and contaminated soil into reusable construction materials for the concrete, road, and water construction sectors through various mechanical separation techniques. - The push for advanced material recovery aligns with the growing implementation of "material passports" in the Dutch construction sector, a digital record of a building's components to facilitate high-quality reuse, a concept being championed by organizations like Madaster.