LyondellBasel to build integrated plastic waste recycling hub in Knapsack

LyondellBasell (LYB) has secured a location for an integrated plastic waste recycling hub south of an existing industrial park in Knapsack, Germany, signing a land lease agreement with YNCORIS GmbH & Co. KG. The hub is planned to combine various advanced sorting and recycling operations, helping to address the plastic waste challenge and grow the circular economy. The project will be developed in phases; the initial phase will see the construction of an advanced sorting facility that will process mixed plastic waste to produce feedstock for mechanical and advanced recycling. This mixed plastic waste is not recycled today and mostly sent to incineration for energy recovery.

From left, Stephan Staender (LYB), Ralf Müller, Christoph Kappenhagen (both Yncoris)

In total, the integrated recycling hub will cover an area equivalent to 20 soccer fields. It is expected that the hub's initial advanced sorting facility will start operations in the first quarter of 2026. These new investments support the company's ambition to produce and market at least 2 million metric tons of recycled and renewable‑based polymers annually by 2030.

"The industrial park in Knapsack is the ideal location for our integrated hub as is it close to our world-scale facilities in Wesseling and will allow us to develop additional technologies for the recycling of plastic waste," says Yvonne van der Laan, LyondellBasell Executive Vice President, Circular and Low Carbon Solutions. "The integration of various technologies will allow us to build scale and offer our customers a wide range of products from recycled and renewable resources."

"The integrated recycling hub will also produce feedstock for the advanced recycling unit the company will build at its Wesseling site," says interim Wesseling-Knapsack site manager Stephan Staender. "The new hub will also provide opportunities for synergies with the company's mechanical recycling facility in Geleen, Netherlands and the company's polypropylene compounding facility in Knapsack."

"This move to our expansion site in the industrial park in Knapsack is a key building block in the transformation of the chemical industry in Germany to a circular economy," says Ralf Müller, CEO of YNCORIS. His fellow Managing Director Christoph Kappenhagen adds: "Over the years, the site has undergone continuous development; the people here have never rested on their laurels, but have always made a significant contribution to leading the site into the future with their innovative potential."