Polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) dominate India's plastic consumption, appearing in grocery bags, flexible packaging, bottle caps, pipes and multilayer laminates. Much of this waste is thin, mixed or contaminated, making it unsuitable for conventional mechanical recycling. Chemical recycling, particularly pyrolysis, is therefore emerging as an important route for recovering value from these difficult streams.
Pyrolysis heats plastic at roughly 300-700 degrees Celsius without oxygen, breaking long polymer chains into liquid oil, process gas and solid char. The gas can help power the plant, while the oil can be purified and used as petrochemical feedstock. Catalysts such as ZSM-5 can improve product selectivity, although handling real mixed waste remains technically demanding.
Reliance Industries has processed plastic-waste-derived pyrolysis oil into ISCC Plus certified circular polymers at Jamnagar. Its CircuRepol circular polypropylene and CircuRelene circular polyethylene demonstrate how recycled feedstock can re-enter established petrochemical production while retaining traceability.
Chandigarh-based PolyCycl focuses on thin and contaminated polyolefin films that conventional recyclers often reject. Its continuous ContiFlow Cracker and PyOilClean purification system reportedly achieve 65-75% liquid yields and produce feedstock evaluated by international petrochemical companies.
APChemi is targeting multilayer flexible packaging containing combinations of PE, PP, PET, nylon and aluminium. These bonded layers are difficult to separate mechanically, making pyrolysis one of the few potentially scalable recovery routes. The company has worked with major packaging and petrochemical partners on this waste stream.
Researchers from IIT Madras, Vellore Institute of Technology and Samudhyoga Waste Chakra have tested catalytic pyrolysis using real Indian polyolefin, multilayer-film and municipal-sorting waste. Such studies are important because performance with clean laboratory plastics rarely represents commercial feedstock conditions.
India's Extended Producer Responsibility rules require 30% recycled content in rigid plastic packaging for 2025-26, but only a small share of current capacity can supply high-purity circular material. Meanwhile, the Plastic Waste Management Rules were developed largely around mechanical recycling and still provide limited clarity or dedicated incentives for chemical recycling.
India's emerging model is therefore two-track: integrated refiners can convert certified pyrolysis oil into circular polymers, while modular operators can process flexible and contaminated waste closer to collection points. Chemical recycling will not replace mechanical recycling, but it can address waste that mechanical systems cannot economically handle. Its expansion will depend on consistent feedstock, effective oil purification, credible mass-balance certification, emission control and clearer regulation.
Sources: Frontiers in Chemical Engineering; IntechOpen; ScienceDirect; PMC; Digital Refining; Renewable Carbon News; CPRJ Adsale Plastics Network; PETplanet; Indian Chemical News; Chemical Weekly; APChemi; Clean India Journal; Manufacturing Today India; Discover Applied Sciences; Advancebiofuel.