New Trinseo PMMA Depolymerization Plant Reimagines Plastics Value Chain With Sustainability In Mind

Trinseo (“Trinseo” or “the Company”) (NYSE: TSE), a specialty material solutions provider, is helping advance the potential of sustainable plastics with the inauguration of its next generation, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) depolymerization plant in Rho, Italy. Scheduled to be commissioned in Q1 2024, this demonstration facility marks a pivotal step towards reshaping the plastics ecosystem as part of the circular economy. PMMA, renowned for its versatility in various applications, will be transformed through this advanced recycling and purification process where it can go back into the plastics value chain and support the goal of circularity. This depolymerization operation will be designed to enable the efficient recycling of end-of-life PMMA, as well as other difficult to recycle structures, which will ultimately be used to produce acrylic resins, sheets, and compounds containing recycled materials.

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Trinseo Manufacturing Operations, Rho, Italy. Site of future demonstration PMMA depolymerization facility. (Photo: Business Wire)

Depolymerization is a chemical recycling technology which is complementary to more traditional mechanical recycling processes. While mechanical recycling is vital to a successful circular economy, depolymerization creates brand new opportunities by reducing the polymer back to its constituent monomers. This allows for the recycling of a wider variety of PMMA-based materials, supporting an increase in recycled content and overall recycling rates, and helping reduce the manufacturing demand for virgin materials.

“Innovation in recycling technologies is imperative to effectively recycle various types of materials. This new facility is yet another major achievement towards a scalable system with the goal of making PMMA a truly circular material of high quality,” said Trinseo’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Francesca Reverberi. “When combined with our own in-house sourcing and treatment of collected materials through our Heathland recycling operation, our PMMA depolymerization plant will offer a high-performance solution for a world increasingly looking for new ways to address sustainability in the plastics supply chain,” added Reverberi.