WPU, Vitol’s plastics recycling division, has announced plans to construct a new chemical recycling facility for end-of-life plastics in the Port of Rotterdam. Located adjacent to Vitol’s VPR refinery, the plant will have an annual capacity to process 80,000 tonnes of post-consumer plastic waste. Once operational, it is expected to become one of the largest chemical recycling plants in Europe.
The facility will utilize WPU’s proprietary batch pyrolysis technology to convert plastic waste into pyrolysis oil, which serves as a circular feedstock for chemicals and new plastics. This process provides a sustainable substitute for fossil-based naphtha. The technology is already proven at WPU’s existing commercial-scale plant in Denmark, and the new Rotterdam site will incorporate advanced furnace technology designed to minimize emissions and energy consumption.
To support the project’s logistics, the facility will leverage existing industrial infrastructure and a strategic partnership with Vopak. Vopak plans to repurpose approximately 20,000 cubic meters of storage capacity at its Europoort naphtha hub specifically for the handling and storage of the produced pyrolysis oil. This integration ensures an efficient connection between recycled output and the established petrochemical value chain in the region.