Plastic to Fuel Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Technology and End Product and Geography

The Plastic to Fuel market is projected to reach US$ 8,804.20 million by 2028; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15.8% from 2022 to 2028.

The plastic to fuel is a technology of the circular economy concept, which depends on the creation of high-quality plastic goods from waste. The technology is capital-intensive, and the market's return-on-investment (ROI) time typically ranges from two to five years. However, due to well-established waste management infrastructure, the sector is seeing an increase in the number of producers in the US and Europe. Increasing development in plastics-to-fuel technology and the rising importance of this technology have helped to power America's transportation system and local economies by reducing the amount of garbage sent to landfills and generating fuel and other valuable goods. Waste plastics can be converted to chemical feedstock or fuel. Depolymerization and pyrolysis are the processes used in these conversion technologies.

Based on technology, the gasification segment is expected to grow at a fastest CAGR during the forecast period of global plastic to fuel market analysis. Gasification is the process of heating waste plastic with air or steam to create useful industrial gas mixes known as "synthesis gas" or "syngas." This can then be used to make diesel and petrol, or directly burnt to create power in boilers. This technology is gaining popularity because to the growing need for industrial fuel throughout the world. In the plastic to fuel market, the most important benefit of gasification is that it decreases landfill space needs while simultaneously decreasing methane emissions. In addition, gasification has been successfully used on a commercial scale in the refining, fertilizer, and chemical sectors all over the world. As a result, as the uses for gasification expand into fuel generation, PTF Plant operators will have the opportunity to conserve resources and minimize hazardous emissions. The gradual adoption of gasification will help in propelling the demand for more plastic to fuel technology, and later is projected to contribute towards the global plastic to fuel market analysis.

The North American countries produce and consume plastic in tremendously high volume. In 2020, the demand for plastic rose enormously due to the production of medical devices and protection equipment. This highlighted enormous volume of plastic waste as at the end of life of the plastic made medical devices and protection equipment, these products were disposed to plastic landfills/pits. The North American region has several plastics to fuel recycling companies, especially in the US and Canada. The massive outbreak of the virus in the US had crippled the operations of various plastic to fuel recycling units. The disruption in logistics of plastic waste to fuel conversion units/plants resulted in lower volume of production in the year. This highlighted lower revenue among the companies as well as in the plastic to fuel market.

In North America, constant government initiative and investment to promote recycling and R&D of various technologies of recycling plastic is influencing the North America plastic to fuel market share. For instance, The DOE investment on R&D of plastic waste recycling is expected to influence the plastic to fuel market growth. Moreover, the population of the US enjoys the lofty standard of living, and the spending capacity of people is also immense owing to the high per capita income of the country. This results in the consumption of more plastic across the region contributing to the rise in plastic waste across the region. Also, North America is a technologically advanced region. IoT, and RFID technologies have witnessed high adoptions in this region. These technologies, are integrated with waste management systems to segregate plastic waste from other MSW which is further process thorough various technologies like pyrolysis, thereby influencing the growth of the market. The mentioned aspect will help in driving the plastic to fuel market size.
With the growing population of Canada, the amount of plastic waste produce of the country each year is also rising. For instance, according to the Canadian government 2.8 million tons of plastic waste are dumped into landfills each year in Canada. This rise in plastic waste have influenced the government to active steps for recycling of the same and produce other materials material like crude oil and diesel amongst others. For instance, Trenton a Canada based firm is engaged into producing diesel fuel and gasoline from plastic waste dumped across landfills in the country since 2019. Similarly, Sustane Technologies plans to produce 9,000 litres of synthetic diesel per day from 10 tonnes of plastic at Chester area. The company also aims to procure 40,000 to 50,000 tonnes of municipal garbage per year and convert it into biomass pellets and liquid fuel. Thus, the above-mentioned factors are contributing to the growth of the plastic to fuel market over the years.

Several plastic to fuel market players have adopted different strategies to continue their operations and increase their annual sales statistics. For instance, Agilyx Inc., one of the forerunners in the plastic to fuel market players developed a strategy to launch Cyclyx International LLC, a post-use plastic feedstock management in 2020. The new company aims at increasing recycling of waste plastic. This strategy is anticipated to boost Agilyx Inc’s business in the coming years. Similarly, in 2020, Nexus Fuel LLC and Shell agreed on contract, where Nexus Fuel LLC would supply Shell a volume of 60,000 tonnes of pyrolysis liquid derived from plastic waste to Shell over a period of 4years.

The overall plastic to fuel market size has been derived using both primary and secondary sources. To begin the research process, exhaustive secondary research has been conducted using internal and external sources to obtain qualitative and quantitative information related to the market. The process also serves the purpose of obtaining an overview and forecast for the plastic to fuel market growth with respect to all the segments pertaining to the region. Also, multiple primary interviews have been conducted with industry participants and commentators to validate the data, as well as to gain more analytical insights into the topic. The participants of this process include industry experts such as VPs, business development managers, market intelligence managers, and national sales managers, along with external consultants such as valuation experts, research analysts, and key opinion leaders, specializing in the plastic to fuel market. Agilyx Inc.; Cassandra Oil AB; Klean Industries Inc.; Nexus Fuel LLC; OMV Aktiengesellschaft; Bradam Group, LLC; RESYNERGI; MK Aromatics Ltd.; Plastic2Oil, Inc.; and Plastic Advanced Recycling Corp. are among key players operating in the plastic to fuel market.