Turning Trash Into Treasure at Germany’s MoReTec Plant

LyondellBasell’s Wesseling MoReTec plant edges closer to launch, advancing Europe’s circular plastics ambitions

4 Mar 2026

Europe’s effort to build a circular plastics economy is moving from policy talk to industrial reality. One of the clearest signs sits along the Rhine River in Wesseling, Germany, where construction crews continue work on a major advanced recycling facility.

The plant, developed by LyondellBasell, broke ground in 2024 and is steadily advancing through construction and regulatory milestones. When completed, the site is expected to process about 50,000 metric tons of plastic waste each year. The company is targeting a startup around 2026.

European policymakers have shown strong support for the project. In 2023, the initiative secured roughly €40 million from the European Union’s TECHNOLOGY Fund, highlighting the growing importance of technologies that can tackle difficult plastic waste streams across the region.

At the center of the facility is LyondellBasell’s proprietary MoReTec catalytic recycling process. The technology breaks down polyolefin plastics into smaller molecular building blocks. Those molecules can then return to petrochemical production as feedstock for new plastics.

That approach differs from traditional mechanical recycling, which melts and reshapes plastic but often lowers its quality over time. By converting waste into molecular components instead, advanced recycling aims to produce materials that match the performance of newly made plastics.

The ability to handle mixed or contaminated waste is especially significant. Much of today’s plastic packaging is too complex for conventional recycling systems, which leaves large volumes headed for incineration or landfill. Technologies like MoReTec are designed to capture more of that material and bring it back into the production cycle.

Environmental efficiency is also part of the design. The process aims to optimize energy use and recover gases generated during recycling as feedstock rather than burning them.

As Europe tightens recycling targets, projects like the Wesseling plant are drawing close industry attention. If the facility performs as expected, it could offer a blueprint for turning plastic waste into a valuable resource in a more circular materials economy.