— By PIE staff — 

German chemical recycling company Pruvia (Fürth; www.pruvia.com) has announced plans to build its first commercial pyrolysis plant at the Gendorf Chemical Park in the state of Bavaria. Construction is to start this summer.

The process (“MLM-R” technology), developed and patented by Pruvia founder Maria Laura Mastellone, is designed to convert otherwise non-recyclable mixed plastics waste into circular naphtha using a continuous pyrolysis process. The company emphasises that this feedstock can subsequently be used for producing new plastics.

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Commissioning is planned for Q4 2026, at which point the plant will be able to process an input capacity of 35,000 t/y of mixed plastics waste, according to the company.

In the first phase, Pruvia said it is investing a mid-double-digit million euro amount, with plans to employ a staff of 30. The chemical recycler then aims to double the initial annual capacity by 2028 – Pruvia CEO and co-founder Martin Nitz said the company’s total investment would be in the low three-digit million range.

For its first commercial plant, Pruvia is looking to develop an area of around 2.5 ha at the northern end of Gendorf Chemical Park. The chemical park operator, InfraServ Gendorf, has acquired the plot from the state of Saxony and plans to hand over the cleared area to Pruvia in June.

According to the Fürth-based recycling specialist, demand for so-called circular naphtha currently far exceeds supply. “Five years’ worth of production output are already sold”, announced Nitz during a press talk with PIE and other media.

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The company was launched in 2020 with a pilot plant in Italy. With a current 14 employees, Pruvia now operates a demonstration plant in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Centre for Chemical-Biotechnological Processes CBP in the Leuna Industrial Park in eastern Germany. This site’s output is currently around 100 kg/h.