A plan for a new biorefinery and chemical recycling plant for plastics planned by Italian energy company Eni has taken another step forward. Eni has now launched the authorisation process for the Environmental Impact Assessment as part of its plans to transform its industrial site in Priolo, Sicily. The Italian Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security recently approved the application to proceed with the construction of the plants.
Part of a €2 billion investment the project will see the decommissioning of an ethylene cracker, owned by Versalis, Eni’s chemical company, to make way for the new biorefinery which will have a capacity of 500 000 tonnes per year of hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) diesel. This diesel will be available for use by road, marine and rail transport, as well as for use in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Feedstock will comprise residues and waste of vegetable origin, along with animal fats, and vegetable oils.
As well as the biorefinery, the project will see the construction of a biogenic feedstock pre-treatment plant as well as a hydrogen production facility. The project is slated for completion by the end of 2028.
The chemical recycling plant, which will be based on Versalis’ proprietary Hoop technology, will pyrolyse mixed plastic packaging waste. Processing 40 00 tonnes of material each year it will produce some 32 000 tonnes per year of pyrolosis oil. The Hoop technology, which Eni says complements mechanical recycling, transforms mixed plastic waste into raw materials for producing new plastic products that can be used in food contact and pharmaceutical packaging. Eni adds that the Hoop process technology combines a high-performance pyrolysis reactor with AI for polymer property measurement and process optimisation.
This chemical recycling plant will be Versalis’ first industrial scale unit, following the commissioning of a demonstration Hoop production unit in June 2025, which is located at Versalis’ site in Mantua, Italy. This plant processes 6,000 tonnes of secondary raw material per year and has served to validate the technology application on an industrial scale.
In October 2024, Eni set out its plans to significantly reduce Versalis’ exposure to basic chemicals, “a sector that is facing structural and irreversible decline in Europe, and which has led to losses that have been close to €7 billion in cash terms over the last five years,” it said then. As well as reducing emissions by approximately one million tonnes of carbon dioxide, which represents around 40% of Versalis’ emissions in Italy, the strategic plan will also see investment in the development of new chemical platforms in renewables, circular and specialised products.
Eni said it would focus Versalis' chemistry on a high-value downstream portfolio comprising compounding and specialized polymers, biochemistry and the circular economy, "which will be consistent with Eni's technology-driven strategy focused on energy transition businesses with competitive advantages," it said at the time.
Further reading:
- 'Difficult market dynamics' in Europe as Dow plans ethylene cracker closure
- US tariffs: Understanding the impact on the chemicals industry
- Why Europe's chemicals industry has had a 'disappointing' year so far
- Future of the chemicals industry: Europe's action plan
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