Turning Plastic Waste Into Valuable Petrochemical Feedstocks

Plastic recycling is entering a new phase. For decades, discussions around circularity focused primarily on collection rates, sorting infrastructure, and consumer behavior. While these remain important, the next frontier is increasingly technological: transforming complex plastic waste streams into high-quality secondary raw materials that can re-enter industrial value chains.

Mexico, like many countries, faces a significant challenge in managing mixed and contaminated plastic waste. Mechanical recycling remains the preferred option whenever materials can be efficiently separated and reprocessed. However, a substantial portion of post-consumer plastics — multilayer packaging, contaminated films, mixed polyolefins, and certain industrial residues — cannot be economically recycled through conventional methods.

This is where chemical recycling, particularly pyrolysis, is attracting growing attention.

Pyrolysis: Expanding the Recycling Toolbox

Pyrolysis converts plastic waste into hydrocarbons through thermal decomposition in an oxygen-free environment. Instead of burning plastics, the process breaks long polymer chains into smaller molecules, producing a liquid known as pyrolysis oil alongside gaseous and solid fractions. This oil can then be used as a feedstock for steam crackers and petrochemical facilities to manufacture new polymers.

The significance of this approach lies in its ability to process materials that would otherwise be sent to landfills, incineration facilities, or unmanaged disposal streams. According to data cited by Evonik, less than 10% of global plastic production currently comes from recycled material, while vast quantities of plastic waste continue to be landfilled or thermally treated.

For Mexico, where packaging represents a major share of plastic consumption and waste generation, chemical recycling could complement existing mechanical recycling systems rather than compete with them. The objective should not be to replace mechanical recycling, but to create additional pathways for difficult-to-recycle materials.

The Quality Challenge

Despite its promise, pyrolysis faces an important technical obstacle: feedstock quality.

Mixed plastic waste contains more than polymers. It also includes dyes, stabilizers, flame retardants, fillers, food residues, and various contaminants. During pyrolysis, many of these substances are transferred into the resulting oil. Chlorine, nitrogen, oxygen, and silicon compounds are among the most problematic contaminants because they can damage downstream processing equipment, cause corrosion, and deactivate catalysts used in petrochemical operations.

This challenge becomes increasingly relevant as companies seek to increase recycled content in plastics. While steam crackers can currently co-process relatively small quantities of pyrolysis oil by diluting contaminants within conventional fossil feedstocks, higher inclusion rates require substantially cleaner recycled feedstocks.

In other words, producing pyrolysis oil is only part of the solution. Producing pyrolysis oil that meets industrial specifications is what will ultimately determine the scalability of chemical recycling.

Innovation in Feedstock Upgrading

Recent developments in adsorption and catalyst technologies are helping address this bottleneck.

Evonik's Purocel™ platform is an example of how the industry is focusing on purification technologies designed specifically for pyrolysis-derived streams. The company introduced a series of adsorbents and catalyst systems capable of removing chlorides and other contaminants from pyrolysis oil, enabling the material to meet feedstock requirements for steam crackers and refineries.

Particularly noteworthy is the industry's shift from treating pyrolysis as a waste-management challenge to viewing it as a feedstock-quality challenge. Technologies that remove chlorine, nitrogen, silicon, and oxygen compounds can significantly improve the compatibility of recycled oils with existing petrochemical infrastructure.

This approach offers an important advantage: it leverages assets that already exist. Rather than requiring entirely new polymer production systems, upgraded pyrolysis oils can be integrated into established refining and petrochemical operations, accelerating the transition toward circular materials.

Opportunities for Mexico

Mexico possesses several structural advantages that could support the development of advanced recycling ecosystems.

First, the country has a well-established petrochemical and manufacturing base, particularly in packaging, automotive, consumer goods, and industrial applications. Second, growing sustainability commitments from multinational brands are increasing demand for recycled content. Third, nearshoring trends are encouraging investments in supply chains that prioritize resource efficiency and circularity.

However, unlocking these opportunities will require more than additional collection infrastructure. Policymakers, recyclers, petrochemical companies, and technology providers must work together to establish quality standards for recycled feedstocks, create investment certainty and encourage innovation across the value chain.

Chemical recycling facilities alone will not solve the plastic waste challenge. Their success depends on reliable feedstock supply, robust sorting systems and advanced purification technologies capable of producing market-ready outputs.

A Circular Economy Requires Circular Feedstocks

The future of plastic recycling will be defined not only by how much waste is collected, but by how effectively that waste can be transformed into high-value industrial feedstocks.

Pyrolysis offers a promising route for recovering value from plastics that are difficult to recycle mechanically. Yet, as the industry scales, attention is shifting from conversion technologies to purification technologies. The ability to deliver clean, specification-compliant pyrolysis oil may ultimately determine whether chemical recycling becomes a niche solution or a major pillar of the circular economy.

For Mexico, this evolution presents a strategic opportunity. By investing in advanced recycling technologies and feedstock-upgrading capabilities, the country can strengthen its circular economy, reduce dependence on virgin fossil resources, and position itself as a regional leader in sustainable materials management.