Eni signed an agreement for the start of research projects to produce Hydrogen from plastic packaging waste with COREPLA, the National Consortium for the Collection, Recycling and Recovery of Plastic Packaging.
Giuseppe Ricci, Eni Chief Refining & Marketing Officer, and COREPLA President Antonello Ciotti signed the agreement. The joint working group will assess the start of research projects on hydrogen and high-quality biofuel production from plastic waste over the next six months. The working group will analyze the growth prospects in the coming years for non-mechanically recyclable packaging market. In line with new EU directives, they will study the kinds of waste which can be used to develop a positive, innovative circular economy process and maximize recovery.
Eni has been producing high-quality biofuels from used cooking and frying oil, animal fat and other non-edible waste in Porto Marghera since 2014, using its Ecofining technology. Hydrogen is an essential part of the production process as it neutralizes the oxygen in vegetable oil and converts the triglycerides into paraffins and isoparaffins, eliminating the sulfur, nitrogen and polyaromatic hydrocarbons from the biofuel completely.
About CORPELA: COREPLA has more than 2600 companies and has been committed to improving plastic packaging end-of-life management. It raises awareness among the public, institutions and businesses about the latter and actively supports applied research aimed at developing new industry and market opportunities for collected waste.