Olefy Technologies

About Olefy Technologies

Olefy Technologies, a 2022 spin-off from the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, is commercializing a novel chemical recycling process for plastics. The company was founded by Matti Nieminen, who also serves as the Head of Technology, and emerged from VTT's LaunchPad incubator program. Nieminen, a Principal Scientist at VTT, has over three decades of experience in thermal conversion processes and waste treatment, which forms the scientific backbone of Olefy's technology.

The core of Olefy's business is its proprietary thermal conversion technology, developed over four decades at VTT, designed to tackle the global plastic waste problem. This gasification process breaks down a wide range of plastic waste, including low-quality and contaminated materials that are unsuitable for traditional mechanical recycling, into high-value olefins. These resulting molecules are equivalent to virgin-grade raw materials, suitable for even food and pharmaceutical applications, allowing them to be recycled indefinitely without quality degradation. The technology boasts a high yield, capable of extracting over 70% of the plastic waste as virgin-grade components in a single step.

Olefy's business model centers on licensing its patent-pending technology to petrochemical companies. The company targets the approximately 500 industrial steam cracker facilities operating globally, offering a modular solution that can be integrated directly into their existing infrastructure. This approach aims to reduce capital expenditure for operators while providing them a method to produce recycled plastics that meets the rapidly growing market demand from brand owners committed to sustainability goals. By replacing crude oil-based naphtha with plastic waste as a feedstock, the process not only creates a valuable commodity from waste but also significantly reduces the cost of producing recycled plastic. A pilot plant is operational at the VTT Bioruukki Pilot Centre in Espoo, Finland, with the first industrial demonstration anticipated to be operational by 2026.