Versalis launches Hoop plant for chemical recycling of plastic in Mantua

On 19 June, Eni’s chemical company, Versalis, presented its demonstration plant at the Mantua site, based on its proprietary Hoop technology for the chemical recycling of mixed plastic waste.

Hoop was developed through a joint project with the Italian engineering company SRS (Servizi di Ricerche e Sviluppo). The collaboration led to the creation of an innovative technology that achieves maximum recovery yield and offers high flexibility in terms of feedstock input. This is made possible through the combination of a high-performance pyrolysis reactor and Versalis’s expertise in polymer property measurement and process optimisation, supported by artificial intelligence systems.

Construction of the Hoop demonstration plant, which covers an area of approximately 5,000 square metres within the Mantua site, began in late October 2023. During the building phase, more than 25 specialised companies were involved, with an average daily workforce of around 70 people. In recent weeks, the first production tests were successfully completed.

The plant has the capacity to process 6,000 tonnes of secondary raw material and will allow for validation of the technology’s application on an industrial scale. As part of the memorandum of understanding on Eni-Versalis’s chemical transformation plan—signed in March with the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy – a 40,000-tonne plant is planned for the Priolo site in Sicily. The feasibility study has already been completed and the design work for the authorisation process is currently underway.

“Today we add further substance and value to circularity, one of the key pillars of Versalis’s transformation plan,” said Adriano Alfani, CEO of Versalis. “The Hoop plant we are inaugurating is a symbol of the path we are taking, using innovation as a driver to transform our business through new industrial initiatives based on circularity, biochemistry, and specialisation, towards greater sustainability. Sustainability goals that we aim to pursue across all three dimensions: environmental, social, and economic.”

SC-HOOP is the name of the Versalis project for the construction of the demonstration plant based on Hoop technology in Mantua. It is the only large-scale Italian project among 41 winners (from 239 proposals submitted) to receive funding under the 2023 “EU Innovation Fund”, a European Commission initiative dedicated to low-carbon innovative technologies. Furthermore, the patent has been selected by the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy to be showcased among successful Italian innovations, both in the thematic exhibition “Italy of Patents” (held in Rome from November 2024 to March 2025) and in the Italy Pavilion at Expo Osaka.