Neste Commissions World's Largest Liquefied Waste Plastic Upgrading Facility
Neste has commissioned its EUR 111 million upgrading facility in Porvoo, Finland, the world's largest for liquefied waste plastic. This facility processes up to 150,000 tons annually, transforming challenging plastic waste into high-quality feedstock for the plastics and chemicals industry. It marks a significant milestone in scaling up chemical recycling, reducing virgin fossil resource use and greenhouse gas emissions. Neste also highlights the need for policy amendments to support refineries in meeting EU recycled content targets.
Neste has successfully launched its new EUR 111 million upgrading facility for liquefied waste plastic (LWP) at its Porvoo refinery in Finland, hailed as the world’s largest of its kind. With an annual capacity to process up to 150,000 tons, this facility significantly advances chemical recycling by converting challenging waste plastic streams, such as multi-layer packaging and mixed plastics, into high-quality feedstock for the petrochemical industry. This investment aims to bridge the quality gap between crude LWP and the demanding requirements for manufacturing new high-quality plastics.The project, which began construction in 2023 and completed in late 2025 with production ramping up in 2026, demonstrates Neste’s commitment to developing advanced technology and establishing new supply chains for difficult raw materials. Jori Sahlsten, Executive Vice President of Oil Products, highlighted the industrial-scale processing capability and the crucial role of partners and employees.By processing LWP with crude oil using a mass balance approach, Neste RE™ products can achieve over 70% reduction in virgin fossil resource consumption and over 35% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to incineration. Maiju Helin, Director of Polymers and Chemicals, emphasized that the facility enables chemical recycling for low-quality waste otherwise destined for landfills or incineration. However, she also pointed out that current European Commission calculation rules on recycled content in the Single Use Plastics Directive could limit refineries' ability to contribute to EU targets, advocating for necessary amendments in the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation to ensure Europe's competitiveness in circular economy initiatives. Neste, alongside Alterra and Technip Energies, also licenses liquefaction technology to further support hard-to-recycle plastics' chemical recycling.
