Neste expands chemical recycling infrastructure at Porvoo Refinery

Neste is enhancing its logistics infrastructure at the Porvoo refinery in Finland to support its strategic goals of advancing chemical recycling and transforming the facility into a hub for renewable and circular solutions. The expansion will accommodate larger volumes of liquefied recycled raw materials, such as waste plastic and rubber tires, by installing new unloading facilities at the refinery’s harbor.

The upgraded infrastructure includes a specialised unloading arm equipped with a heating system, corrosion-resistant pipelines, and a vapor recovery unit to control emissions. This setup is designed to handle liquefied raw materials that require heating to remain in a liquid state, unlike conventional crude oil.

The new logistics system is scheduled for completion in 2024, aligning with the construction of Neste’s liquefied waste plastic upgrading unit at the refinery, which is part of the broader PULSE project. Once operational, this unit will process 150,000 tons of liquefied waste plastic annually, turning it into high-quality feedstock for the plastics and chemicals industry.

“The transformation of our Porvoo refinery into a renewable and circular solutions hub will require many individual steps and adjustments,” said Jori Sahlsten, senior vice president of Refinery and Terminal Operations at the Porvoo refinery in Neste’s Oil Products business unit. “The new logistics infrastructure is one of these steps. It puts us in a good position to process larger and continuous volumes of liquefied recycled raw materials. This will be needed when we start using the new upgrading unit, which is able to process 150,000 tons of liquefied waste plastic per year.”