Neste expands logistics for recycled raw materials

This lays the foundation for handling larger volumes of liquefied raw materials to support Neste's strategic goals of driving chemical recycling and transforming the Porvoo refinery into a center for renewable and circular solutions.

The new logistics facilities include special unloading systems: Neste is building an unloading arm with a heating system and pipelines to connect the port with special storage tanks in the refinery's port. In contrast to normal crude oil, liquefied plastic waste or discarded rubber tires must be heated in order to remain liquid. At the same time, the systems must be highly resistant to corrosion. In addition to the unloading arm and piping, Neste is also building a vapor recovery system to help control emissions from the operation.

Larger quantities of liquefied recycled raw materials

"Transforming our Porvoo refinery into a center for renewable and circular solutions will require many individual steps and adjustments," explains Jori Sahlsten, Senior Vice President of Refinery and Terminal Operations at the Porvoo refinery in Neste's Oil Products business area. "The new logistics infrastructure is one of these steps. It will enable us to process larger and continuous volumes of liquefied recycled feedstock. This will be necessary when we start up the new processing plant, which is capable of processing 150,000 tons of liquefied plastic waste per year."

The new logistics infrastructure is expected to be completed in 2024. It will therefore be available when Neste has completed the construction of its processing plant for liquefied plastic waste at the Porvoo refinery, which is currently being built as part of the planned PULSE project. The processing plant will convert the liquefied raw materials into high-quality raw materials for the plastics and chemical industries.