BP and CPE join forces to advance circular economy for plastics

        BP has signed a 10-year offtake agreement with Clean Planet Energy (CPE), a UK-based clean energy technology company. Under the new agreement, BP will receive output from CPE's first plant, currently under construction in Teesside, northeast England, which will convert hard-to-recycle plastics into naphtha as a feedstock for the plastics circular value chain.

        CPE designs and builds plants and their associated equipment, which are expected to be used to process plastics that would normally be landfilled or incinerated, as well as those rejected by traditional recycling centers.

        It is understood that the Teesside plant is designed to process 20,000 tons of waste plastics into naphtha and ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) per year. Naphtha can be used as a raw material for the circular plastic value chain, making products and materials last longer. CPE is currently developing 12 eco-factories around the world. The company plans to divert 250,000 tons of difficult-to-recycle waste plastics from landfills and the environment each year, creating more than 700 green jobs for local communities. CPE expects to announce its further eco-factory plans in the UK, EU, Southeast Asia and the Americas in the second half of this year.

        In addition, BP has developed a number of significant hydrogen and carbon capture and storage projects in and around Teesside that will support the decarbonisation of the region’s industry.

        Sven Boss Walker, BP senior vice president of refining and product trading, said: “This long-term agreement with CPE for the export of naphtha will help BP develop new sources of value through circularity, while helping to divert plastic waste from landfill, incineration and the environment.”

        “We set out to find an international energy company to partner with who we felt understood our vision. Not only did BP put sustainability performance at the heart of their discussions with us from day one, but their globally leading refining and trading business meant that our naphtha products could have an impact on the circular economy,” said Katerina Garyfalou, CPE business development director.