Advanced Plastics Recycling Offtake & Plant Economics

Model continuous chemical depolymerization yields, levelized cost of circular polymer (LCOP), corporate offtake contract pricing, and Scope 3 lifecycle carbon abatement.

Plant Design & Technology FOAK Scaler

Nameplate Capacity (t/yr) 25,000

Raw sorted plastic waste throughput feed per operational year.

Depolymerization Process

Solvent-based catalytic cleavage at <150°C preserving monomer purity without burning fossil gas.

Feedstock Contamination (%) 12%

Non-target polymers, colorants, moisture, and inorganic rejects.

Reaction Conversion Efficiency (%) 91%

Monomer / purified polymer mass yield from sorted feed.

Capital & Offtake Terms Commercial Bankability

Facility Capex ($ millions) $65M

Total EPC costs, reactors, distillation columns, purification skid.

Corporate Offtake Share (%)

Contracted anchor volume committed under multi-year PPA/offtake (e.g. Meta deal).

Virgin Fossil Resin Benchmark ($/t) $1,350/t

Global market spot price for virgin petrochemical polymer (PET/PE).

Offtake Green Premium ($/t) +$350/t

Corporate premium paid per tonne to enable FOAK debt financing.

Annual Clean Polymer 20,020 t 80.1% net mass yield

Levelized Cost (LCOP) $1,580/t Break-even production cost

Contract Strike Price $1,700/t +7.6% facility IRR buffer

Scope 3 CO2 Abated 38,038 t 1.90 kg CO2e / kg polymer

Mass Balance & Material Reaction Flow (t/year) Live dynamic conversion flow

Production Cost Stack ($/t polymer) $1,580/t

Cradle-to-Gate Carbon (kg CO2e / kg) Scope 1+2+3

Offtake Contract Tenor 10 Years Bankable foundation for debt syndication

Annual Corporate Offtake Value $20.4M/yr 12,012 t/yr @ $1,700/t

Facility Debt Service Coverage (DSCR) 1.62x Strong FOAK investability (>1.35x target)

Model synced with live parameter inputs. Ready for export.

1. Catalytic Solvolysis vs Pyrolysis

Traditional pyrolysis relies on thermal gas cracking at >450°C, producing pyrolysis oil that must be re-refined in heavy steam crackers. MacroCycle and next-gen depolymerization startups utilize lower-temperature catalytic solvolysis (often <150°C), unzipping ester bonds cleanly into virgin-equivalent monomers without heavy carbon combustion.

2. Why Offtake Agreements Build Plants

First-of-a-kind (FOAK) climate infrastructure projects suffer from technology and price risk. Corporate procurement deals (such as Meta's agreement with MacroCycle) provide multi-year price floors and volumetric guarantees that enable commercial banks and infrastructure funds to underwrite project debt.

3. Scope 3 Carbon Accounting

Virgin petrochemical polymers emit ~2.4 to 3.2 kg CO2e per kg resin produced. Advanced recycling with renewable heat or electricity cuts emissions down to 0.5 - 1.1 kg CO2e/kg while diverting post-consumer plastic from landfill or incineration, creating dual-sided Scope 3 emission benefits.