LyondellBasell may make 2026 FID on US chemical recycling plant

HOUSTON (ICIS)–LyondellBasell could make a final investment decision (FID) in 2026 on a second chemical recycling plant, which it may build in the US at its refinery site in Houston, the CEO said on Friday.

“FID, for the final step, I would expect that to happen in 2026,” said Peter Vanacker, LyondellBasell CEO. He made his comments during an earnings conference call.

The chemical recycling plant would feature LyondellBasell’s MoReTec process technology. The plant could produce 100,000 tonnes/year of cracker feedstock.

If LyondellBasell moves ahead with the MoReTec plant, it could be part of a larger project that would convert the Houston refinery into a sustainability hub.

The refinery’s existing hydrotreaters would be retrofitted so they could upgrade the output from the MoReTec unit as well as from third-party recycling plants. Once upgraded, the feedstock could be shipped by pipeline to LyondellBasell’s cracker operations in nearby Channelview, where it will be converted into olefins.

Those olefins would be polymerized to produce circular polyolefins, which LyondellBasell would market under its CirculenRevive brand.

LyondellBasell could also retrofit other units at the refinery that would convert renewable material into distillates and feedstock that the company could process in its crackers. LyondellBasell could market the resulting polymers under its CirculenRenew brand.

LyondellBasell did not provide details about the source of these renewable feedstocks.

However, one source could be a storage and logistics hub in Harvey, Louisiana, that is being developed by Kinder Morgan and Finnish refiner Neste. The hub collects used cooking oil and other renewable feedstock, and it could be expanded at Neste’s option.

Neste pioneered the production of naphtha from renewable feedstock, and the Houston refinery is a short distance by sea from Harvey.

In the future, the hydrogen that LyondellBasell would need for upgrading recycled and renewable feedstock could come from nearby blue and green hydrogen projects.

LyondellBasell, Air Liquide, Chevron and Uniper are part of a consortium that is evaluating sites for a hydrogen and ammonia project on the Gulf Coast. The Houston refinery is the top choice for the site.

More hydrogen could come from the proposed Houston HyVelocity Hub. It is among the hubs participating in the Department of Energy’s Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs program.

SHUTDOWN OF HOUSTON REFINERY IN Q1
In January, LyondellBasell will start shutting down the first crude distillation unit and coker train at the refinery.

In February, the company will begin shutting down the second crude distillation unit and coker train, the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit and other ancillary units.

The refinery does not have a catalytic reformer.

CONSTRUCTION STARTS AT GERMAN RECYCLNG PLANT
In September, LyondellBasell started construction at its MoReTec 1 plant in Wesseling, Germany, which will have a capacity of 50,000 tonnes/year and which should start up in 2026.

Vanacker said the plant has a plastic-to-plastic yield of more than 80%. It can use 100% renewable power.

Thumbnail photo: Plastic which can be recycled. (By Allison Dinner/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)