What if every waste stream could become the starting point for a new generation of products?
As industries accelerate the transition toward a circular economy, recycling is evolving from a sustainability initiative into a strategic business advantage. Evonik develops and sells advanced additives, specialty chemicals, and processing solutions that help transform plastic waste, used paper, electronic scrap, batteries, and pyrolysis oils into valuable resources for tomorrow's industries. From improving recyclate quality and recovering critical raw materials to enabling advanced chemical recycling, Evonik helps customers improve process efficiency and recyclate quality.
Imagine the journey:
A discarded food package becomes a high-value recycled component. A used newspaper gains a second life as premium paper. A retired battery returns valuable metals to the supply chain. Mixed plastic waste becomes feedstock for future production.
This is not simply recycling. This is transforming waste into opportunity with Evonik.
Why Choose Evonik for Recycling?
Evonik develops and sells innovative solutions that help customers advance circularity while improving operational and economic performance.
Enable Circular Economy Success
Additives for wet-stage treatment, compounding and feedstock processing across the recycling value chain.
Improve Recycling Efficiency
Optimize washing, separation, deinking, odor control, material recovery, and feedstock processing across the recycling value chain.
Enhance Recycled Material Quality
Increase the performance, consistency, and market acceptance of recycled materials.
Leverage Global Expertise
Benefit from Evonik's extensive application know-how, innovation capabilities, and commitment to sustainable solutions.
Solutions by Recycling Application
Mechanical Plastics Recycling
Producing high-quality recycled plastics requires far more than collection and sorting. Washing, separation, deinking, delabeling, odor management, and compatibilization all play critical roles in creating recycled polymers that meet demanding performance expectations.
Evonik develops and sells a comprehensive portfolio of recycling additives that support the entire mechanical recycling process, from wet-stage treatment through final compounding.
Washing, Separation, Deinking, Delabeling & Demetallization
TEGO® CYCLE WA 111 helps improve wet-stage recycling operations by enhancing wetting, separation, deinking, delabeling, and demetallization processes. It is a non-foaming, non-ionic organic surfactant used in the washing step of plastic recycling lines. TEGO® XP 21061 is a dynamic anionic wetting agent for the same process steps. The result is cleaner recyclate streams, improved process efficiency, and higher-quality recycled plastics.
Odor Management
Recycled polymers often face odor-related quality challenges that can limit reuse opportunities.
TEGO® Sorb helps reduce unwanted odors, improving customer acceptance and expanding the range of potential end-use applications.
Compatibilization & Material Upgrading
Increasing recycled content often requires improved compatibility between different polymer types.
TEGOMER® and VESTENAMER® help enhance compatibility, processing behavior, and material performance, enabling manufacturers to increase recycled content while maintaining product quality and processing efficiency. TEGOMER® DA 850 is a polymeric dispersant with pigment-affinic groups; VESTENAMER® 8012 and CS10 are polyoctenamer grades. TEGO® XP 21002 is an organo-modified siloxane improving impact strength and elongation at break.
Benefits for Plastics Recyclers
- Higher-quality recycled polymers
- Improved washing and separation efficiency
- Reduced processing challenges
- Enhanced recyclate performance
- Increased recycled content opportunities
- Support for circular plastics value chains
Paper Recycling
Today's paper producers must balance sustainability, fiber conservation, and high-quality product performance.
Evonik develops and sells advanced oxidation solutions that support efficient paper recycling processes while helping preserve valuable fiber resources.
Deinking & Brightness Improvement
HYPROX® hydrogen peroxide solutions help remove residual color components and improve fiber brightness during paper recycling. Hydrogen peroxide decomposes into water and oxygen; the rate of decomposition depends on temperature, pH value and the presence of catalytically acting impurities.
High-Purity Processing Requirements
For specialized applications with elevated purity requirements, PERSYNT® high-purity hydrogen peroxide grades provide an additional solution option while delivering the benefits of hydrogen peroxide oxidation technology.
Benefits for Paper Recycling
- Improved paper brightness
- Effective deinking performance
- Reduced reliance on virgin fiber
- Oxidation without halogenated by-products
- Support for circular paper production
E-Waste, Battery & Critical Material Recovery
Electronic scrap, batteries, and end-of-life renewable energy technologies contain valuable metals and strategic raw materials that are too valuable to lose.
Evonik develops and sells specialty oxidizing solutions that help recover critical resources from complex waste streams, supporting urban mining and resource conservation initiatives.
Recovery of Valuable Metals
HYPROX® and PERSYNT® hydrogen peroxide solutions support recycling processes used to recover gold, platinum, copper, rare earth elements, and other valuable materials from electronic waste, batteries, mobile devices, computers, and solar panels. Hydrogen peroxide can oxidize or reduce metals such as cobalt, manganese, nickel, lithium and iron to aid in their recovery from battery substrates.
Benefits for Resource Recovery
- Efficient recovery of valuable materials
- Recovery of cobalt, manganese, nickel, lithium and iron
- Applicable to electronic waste, batteries and solar panels
- Support for urban mining concepts
- Chemical Recycling & Pyrolysis Oil Upgrading
The future of plastic circularity extends beyond mechanical recycling.
Advanced recycling technologies such as pyrolysis enable mixed plastic waste and other difficult-to-recycle materials to be converted into valuable feedstocks that can re-enter the production cycle. By helping improve pyrolysis oil handling and processability, Evonik supports the next generation of circular plastics solutions.
Optimizing Pyrolysis Oil Performance
VISCOPLEX® PyOil Pour Point Depressants help optimize the flow behavior of pyrolysis oils produced from mixed plastic waste and recycled tires. By reducing viscosity and pour point, these solutions improve storage, transportation, and processing efficiency while supporting reliable handling of recycled feedstocks.
Benefits for Chemical Recycling
- Improved pyrolysis oil handling
- Enhanced storage and transportation efficiency
- Reliable pumping at lower temperatures
- Better utilization of recycled feedstocks
- Support for advanced recycling technologies
- Processing of recycled feedstocks
The Evonik Advantage
Recycling is no longer just about waste management. It is about creating value, from material streams.
With innovative solutions including TEGO® Cycle,TEGO® Sorb, TEGOMER®, VESTENAMER®, AERODISP®, HYPROX®, PERSYNT®, and VISCOPLEX® PyOil Pour Point Depressants, Evonik helps customers improve recycling efficiency, enhance material quality, and recover valuable metals.
Ready to Turn Waste into Opportunity?
Whether you are improving recycled polymer quality, recovering critical materials, optimizing paper recycling, or advancing chemical recycling technologies, Evonik has the expertise and solutions to help you succeed.
Explore our recycling solutions.
Contact our recycling experts.
→ Partner with Evonik to discuss additive selection for your recycling process.