The issue
Waste is a major challenge for the chemical industry. When valuable assets reach the end of service they are often incinerated or sent to landfills, despite still holding valuable resources. The amount of spent hydroprocessing catalysts disposed of each year alone could fill a whole football stadium.
Disposal of end-of-service catalysts and hazardous byproducts contributes to greenhouse gas emissions while driving up recovery costs. Chemical processes often generate high volumes of byproducts and hazardous residues that require significant energy output to recover or are difficult to reuse, further increasing environmental impact and cost.
New approaches that prioritize recycling and regeneration in chemical production are needed; spent catalysts should be viewed as valuable feedstock, not disposable waste. Evonik Catalysts develops catalyst regeneration and metal reclamation technologies that let customers reuse catalysts and recovered metals instead of relying only on fresh catalyst and newly mined raw materials.
The solution
We’re pioneering technologies that extend resource lifecycles, reduce incineration and landfill waste, lower emissions and create new value streams.
A key part of our commitment is transforming waste without compromising performance – exemplified by our Excel® Rejuvenation technology. Through this process, restored catalysts deliver performance close to that of fresh catalysts while reducing the need for newly mined raw materials compared with fresh-catalyst production.
We recognize that many spent catalysts still contain valuable resources. That’s why our catalyst acquisition program is designed to reclaim maximum value, enabling customers to reduce landfill waste, comply with strict regulations and lower environmental footprint.
Resource recovery is taken a step further by our scalable Purocel™ series. Purocel™ adsorbents and catalysts purify pyrolysis oil from plastic waste so it can be used as feedstock in refinery and petrochemical processes instead of fossil feedstock.
How this drives sustainability
Recycling is fundamental to a thriving circular economy, and Evonik is committed to developing technologies that keep valuable resources in use for longer. Our advanced processes – spent catalyst restoration, valuable metal recovery, and impurity removal – reduce industrial dependence on virgin materials and cut waste.
These technologies can help customers improve material efficiency and extend asset lifecycles – for example, catalyst regeneration instead of fresh-catalyst purchase, and fewer adsorbent changeouts than with shorter-cycle alternatives – while lowering operational costs.