Catalytic Processing of Waste Plastics With/Without Petroleum Resid—An Economic Evaluation

Economic evaluation of processing mixed plastic waste (MPW) with/without vacuum residue (VR) into a heavy liquid is presented for Saudi Arabian conditions. Profitability analysis was carried out for different plant capacities, capital investment and product selling price. The facility is economically not viable at a capacity of processing 100,000 TPA MPW without VR. It was concluded that processing of MPW with VR at a capacity of 200,000 TPA (80,000 TPA MPW and 120,000 TPA VR) is economically feasible for Saudi Arabian conditions. The IRR is about 14.6% with a payback period of 6.4 years and break-even capacity of 47.6%.

Keywords:

• waste plastics recycling
• economic evaluation
• vacuum residue

Acknowledgments

The financial support provided by King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology (KACST), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia through Project No. AR-18-22 for this work is gratefully acknowledged. The facility support from KFUPM is sincerely appreciated.

Notes

^a An exponent 0.65 was used to estimate the capital cost.

^a For negative ROI, the profitability indicators cannot be evaluated.

^a For negative ROI, the profitability indicators cannot be evaluated.