Aduro Clean Technologies processed approximately 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of post-consumer plastic during a 120-hour pilot campaign in October, its longest to date, and will use the results to help design and permit its first industrial plant at the Chemelot site in the Netherlands.
The company noted in a press release that the material, a commercially available grade known as PO95, accounted for nearly 20 hours of the five-day campaign. Operators started with an equal blend of polyethylene and polypropylene, moved to an 80:20 (PE/PP) blend, introduced PO95 and then returned to the 80:20 blend without a full shutdown.
“We’re trying to make the transition to post-consumer waste to evaluate how the process performs with contaminated feedstock and understand the conditions needed to process this type of material,” said Abe Dyck, Aduro’s head of corporate development and investor relations. “Operators adjusted operating parameters as the pilot switched between feedstocks. During the PO95 segment, the pilot processed material at about 10 kilograms an hour.”
PO95 contains at least 95% polyolefins, primarily PE and PP. The Dutch material Aduro tested also contained small amounts of PET, polyamide (nylon) and polystyrene, along with fillers and additives. Dyck noted Aduro expects to source prepared feedstock for Chemelot from existing European suppliers. Those suppliers prepare some of the plastic that sorting facilities set aside from mechanical recycling. Handling dirtier streams in the future would likely require mechanical preparation before the material enters the chemical recycling process, he said.
Dyck described Aduro’s Hydrochemolytic Technology as an alternative to pyrolysis, noting that oil produced through pyrolysis can require additional hydrotreating before use as chemical feedstocks. Aduro used its earlier runs with clean polyolefins to establish a benchmark before moving to post-consumer material. Its September campaign ran for 75 hours and tested three blends.
The company reported a condensable hydrocarbon yield of about 85% for the full campaign. In September, the company reported yields of 88.8% to 90.8% using controlled polyolefin blends. October’s run involved different feedstocks and operating conditions, with the team focused on switching materials and maintaining stable operation rather than maximizing yield.
Dyck said 20 hours was too short to give a PO95-specific yield or say what further treatment the output might need before it could be used to make new plastics.
“We’re moving from clean, controlled plastics to real post-consumer waste, which contains other polymers and materials that can affect how the process operates,” Dyck said. “We want to understand how those materials affect the process and what adjustments are needed to maintain stable operation.”
The company did not report a separate yield for the roughly 20-hour PO95 segment or determine what further treatment, if any, that material’s output might need before use in making new plastics. Dyck said more operating time and analysis would be needed to make those assessments. The company plans further testing of samples collected during the campaign.
Aduro also deliberately interrupted operations while running each type of feedstock. Operators brought the system back to target operating conditions without going to a full shutdown. Backup systems kept the pilot running during an unexpected outage on the local power grid.
The interruption tests helped the team identify what its automated controls will need to monitor at higher throughput. Data from the pilot program are also supporting FOAK Early Works engineering and procurement activities being undertaken by Saipem at Chemelot, including reactor sizing and design, equipment evaluation, and utility integration for Aduro’s first industrial plant.
Aduro plans to run more pilot campaigns with different feedstocks and operating conditions as it works toward initial production at Chemelot.
“The company is targeting 2028 for the first product to go through the facility,” Dyck said. “But that all depends on permitting on the sites.”
