Why plastic isn’t (necessarily) the enemy

Quantafuel turns old plastic into green diesel

Quantafuel, headquartered in Lysaker near Olso, Norway, has got the excavators going in Denmark. On Thursday, 19 April 2018, Quantafuel began construction work on their first full-scale plant for converting plastic waste into synthetic fuel at GreenLab Skive industrial park just north of Skive.

Rasmus Hvid Kærsgaard, newly appointed Plant Director of the Quantafuel Skive operation, is responsible for the construction project. “This will be the first plant of its kind in Europe, and it will be Quantafuel’s reference plant,” he explains. “This facility uses a radically new pyrolytic method that enables us to convert one metric tonne of plastic waste into roughly 800 litres of synthetic fuel.” At the same time, Quantafuel has signed a long-term agreement with Vitol, a global player that is going to buy the synthetic fuel for admixture to diesel and petrol.

Making synthetic fuel from plastic waste is a greener type of production than normal diesel refining, and the Quantafuel plant at GreenLab Skive will be able to reduce carbon emissions from production by up to 66%, compared with conventional diesel production. There is also an additional environmental advantage in using waste plastics that would otherwise simply be incinerated as trash.

“We’re incredibly happy to have this location at GreenLab Skive. Here, we can benefit from the various surplus streams in the area, while other companies can utilise our surplus resources. That means a lot to us, since in our work we’re thoroughly committed to the green transition,” Plant Director Kærsgaard of Quantafuel Skive concludes.

The contractor in charge of building the new plant is the Danish firm Ginnerup A/S, also based in Skive, who expect construction to be completed in autumn 2018. This will be followed by a test and start-up phase before actual production begins.

Speaking on behalf of GreenLab Skive, Executive Director Steen Harding Hintze of Energifonden Skive is glad to see construction under way. “We’ve been anticipating this day, and we look forward to seeing the plant all completed. Quantafuel is yet another example of a company that finds setting up here at GreenLab Skive [in North Jutland] attractive – not least because of the industrial symbiosis our business park can offer.”

Facts about Quantafuel
Quantafuel has developed a technology that converts plastic waste into synthetic fuel. The plant now under construction at GreenLab Skive will have the capacity to process 60 metric tonnes of plastic waste per day, annually amounting to some 15 million litres of high-quality fuel. The total planned investment of DKK 100 m (about EUR 13,5 m) will bring about 20 new, permanent jobs with it.

Press release

Old plastic to green diesel – at a plant now under construction in Skive

For further information and comments, feel free to contact us at GreenLab Skive