13-05-2024

NEXTCHEM partners up with Johnson Matthey to jointly license Waste-to-Methanol solution

NEXTCHEM S.p.A, through MyRechemical, a leader in waste-to-chemicals, with its proprietary waste-to-syngas technology and its proprietary Circular Methanol™ trademark, and Johnson Matthey (JM), a global leader in sustainable technologies, have agreed to partner up for the commercialization of the Circular Methanol™ technology package worldwide.

Following the joint cooperation agreement of July 2021, aimed at integrating MyRechemical’s waste-to-syngas technology with JM’s syngas-to-methanol technology, the two companies have reached a new agreement to jointly commercialize the integrated technology under MyRechemical’s proprietary Circular Methanol™ trademark. MyRechemical grants JM the right to use its proprietary Circular Methanol™ trademark, further enhancing the technology package’s positioning in the market.   

The cooperation has recently led to the signature of the first engineering agreement for the FEED of a waste to methanol project for a confidential client in Europe. Additionally, there are various other confidential opportunities that are progressing at different levels of development across the globe.

The process uses municipal and industrial waste that cannot be mechanically recycled as the feedstock, and it chemically recycles it into synthesis gas via a partial oxidation process. The synthesis gas is then purified and conditioned, transformed into methanol and distilled to the required purity level. Circular Methanol™ flowsheet can also be applied to biomass conversion as well as incorporate the addition of low carbon hydrogen to maximise the carbon utilisation.

The agreement between MyRechemical and JM aims to strengthen their collaboration especially on low-carbon fuels for the shipping industry, to meet the new European shipping regulations aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Methanol is an important intermediate product used in many goods such as resins, plastics, insulation and fibers. More importantly, it is gaining significant traction as a marine fuel, thus representing a potential enabler for transportation decarbonization.

Giacomo Rispoli, MD of MyRechemical, commented: “We are pleased to continue our partnership with such an important player as Johnson Matthey. The methanol market is large and promising, helping the industry to use more sustainable feedstocks while avoiding the consumption of natural resources. In particular, methanol will play a key role as low-carbon fuel for the shipping industry, and we are proud of giving our contribution to this market."

Alberto Giovanzana, Managing Director – Catalyst Technologies Licensing at Johnson Matthey, said: “There are many exciting opportunities to use sustainable methanol as a means of decarbonisation, including in the shipping industry, and the solution we’ve co-developed with MyRechemical has the added benefit of producing methanol from waste – reducing the amount destined to landfill. We look forward to continuing our partnership with this integrated offer for the market.”