Circular polyethylene from plastic waste boosts Apac recycling collaborations

Dow, a global materials science company, has launched circular polyethene resins made from pyrolysis oil and hard-to-recycle plastic waste in Thailand.

Delivered by Dow Thailand, the development of this capability aims to drive the momentum for advanced recycling partnerships in Asia Pacific. The capability provides innovative solutions for value-chain partners and meeting their sustainability commitments in the region.

Dow’s Circular polyethene resins, produced through advanced recycling, demonstrate identical properties and performance to virgin plastics. They offer the flexibility to be used entirely or blended with virgin materials for a targeted amount of recycled content, especially in food-contact applications.

The recycled resin meets quality and consistency standards in regulated and sensitive applications like primary food packaging, pharmaceuticals, and medical products. The resins can be used in packaging such as refill bags, food and liquid pouches, rice sacks, and various other packaging applications. 

Transforming hard-to-recycle plastic waste and scaling the innovation across the Asia Pacific

Through advanced recycling processes, value-chain partners can transform hard-to-recycle plastic waste into raw materials for virgin-grade polyethene resin production, replacing fossil feedstock, contributing to waste reduction and promoting a circular economy for used plastics. 

“Hard-to-recycle plastics are often discarded in landfills without consideration for their value in other applications. Our role at Dow is to deliver high-performance and sustainable packaging. This is why we are excited to have launched our circular polyethene resins and developed our capabilities through Dow Thailand. This new offering not only enables our partners to adhere to meet their sustainability goals but to address the issue of plastic waste on a larger scale,” said Bambang Candra, Asia Pacific commercial vice president, Dow Packaging & Specialty Plastics.

After the successful pilot run and commercialization in 2023, Dow will look to gradually scale up its advanced recycling capacity to serve customers regionally and globally. 

Empowering value-chain partners to meet sustainability commitments

“We're grateful to our partners in Thailand for their invaluable support in bringing circular polyethene to market. Through close collaboration along the value chain for the circular feedstock utilization, Dow Thailand has achieved a remarkable milestone: becoming the first Dow manufacturing facility in the Asia Pacific region to receive the prestigious International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) under the ISCC PLUS scheme. This achievement underscores our unwavering commitment to sustainability and circularity, and we're excited to continue driving positive change in the plastics industry in the region," added Ekkasit Lakkananithiphan, Commercial & Carbon Business Development Director of Dow Thailand

The launch of Dow’s circular polyethene resins and the development of its advanced recycling capability in the Asia Pacific follows Dow’s recent partnership announcement with Mura Technology to locate Europe’s largest advanced recycling facility in Böhlen, Germany. 

These efforts are aligned with Dow’s sustainability goals to transform plastic waste and other forms of alternative feedstock to commercialize 3 million metric tons of circular and renewable solutions annually by 2030.