Viva Energy has successfully processed more than 9.5 tonnes of plastic pyrolysis oil (PPO) at its refinery in Geelong, Victoria, demonstrating the suitability of the facility for establishing a large-scale waste plastic facility in Australia.
It’s a major step forward in Viva Energy’s plans to establish a waste plastic recycling facility with Cleanaway, which – with its national collection and processing footprint – has been exploring options for collecting and sorting used plastic.
While Viva Energy has processed small volumes of PPO in the past, last week’s trial proved it has the capacity to process large volumes, testing both the Geelong Refinery infrastructure capability and downstream product-quality impacts.
The PPO processed in Geelong was made from waste plastic in Akron, Ohio, in the USA, by Alterra, a leading developer of plastic recycling technology. Viva Energy obtained approval to import this quantity of PPO to allow the demonstration to proceed, reflecting the sort of PPO volumes that will be produced from the future Advanced Recycling project.
The focus of the trial was on whether contaminants would impact either the design of the joint venture facility or the ability of the Geelong Refinery to process PPO volumes at scale. The learnings from this trial will be used to inform new packaging design standards to maximise the volumes of soft plastics that can be processed through advanced recycling technologies.
Viva Energy and Cleanaway are continuing a full feasibility study into the plastic recycling project, with the Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) phase expected to start in 2026 once details of the Australian Government’s packaging reform have been finalised.
Bill Patterson, Viva Energy’s Executive General Manager – Refining, said it was exciting to see a new future emerge for the refinery.
“Over many decades our facility has played an important role in preserving our sovereign manufacturing capability and keeping the country moving,” Patterson said. “We will continue to manufacture the fuels essential for our standard of living, but we will now play an additional critical role in establishing a circular economy and helping to address Australia’s waste plastic issue.”
Valerio Coppini, Alterra’s Chief Commercial Officer, said Alterra’s thermochemical liquefaction process technology would be critical in efforts to renew discarded plastic back into its original building blocks.
“The Alterra technology has proven the ability to add value to end-of-life, post-consumer plastics by successfully converting them into feedstock for chemicals and new plastic production,” Coppini said.
“Following the successful trial at the Geelong Refinery we are looking forward to growing together with Viva Energy and Cleanaway in Australia to divert discarded plastics from landfill, displace virgin, fossil-derived material, and reduce GHG emissions.”
For more information, visit: www.vivaenergy.com.au
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