The PSYCHE project focusses on the production of base chemicals out of plastic waste for application in the chemical industry. Expectations are that the production of plastics (currently amounting to 8 million tons of PE, PP, PS and PVC in Europe) will be a fourfold higher by 2050 than today, resulting in a considerable environmental impact and economic loss if these plastic waste streams are handled according to the current recycling strategies. These current strategies mostly consist of landfilling and incineration of the plastic waste. Since mechanical recycling is not feasible for certain streams of plastic waste, thermochemical recycling towards the original chemical building blocks is an interesting alternative. Within the project, the gasification of several plastic waste streams will be demonstrated by using an innovative technology. The obtained gas will then be catalytically transformed into base chemicals such as linear alpha-olefins.

In view of the presence of numerous relevant companies in the cross-border zone France, Flanders and Wallonie, the problems tackled within this project are extremely relevant for this region. The project is supported by the regional clusters Catalisti (spearhead cluster on chemistry and plastics in Flanders), GreenWin (competence cluster on green economy and sustainable development in Wallonia) and MATIKEM (competence pool on materials, chemistry and green chemistry in France). These clusters will assist in dissemination of the project results to the companies present in the program region. In this way, the PSYCHE project contributes to the securement of the strategic position of the present industrial tissue on plastics in Europe and its transformation to a circular industry.