Energy giant Shell has conceded defeat in its bid to recycle 1 million tonnes of plastic waste into fuel next year.
The firm said a range of market factors made the target “unfeasible”.
Shell said in its latest annual Sustainability Report that it was working with a number of partners to “help develop a circular value chain globally”.
This included signing “several” co-operation agreements last year to “unlock access to plastic waste feedstock”.
The firm also pressed on with development of a pyrolysis oil upgrading plant in the Netherlands, which is expected to process up to 50,000 tonnes of the synthetic fuel per annum.
But it added: “While Shell sees customer demand for circular chemicals, the pace of growth globally is less than expected.”
This was due to “lack of available feedstock, slow technology development and regulatory uncertainty” according to the company.
“As a result, in 2023 we concluded that the scale of our ambition to turn 1 million tonnes of plastic waste a year into pyrolysis oil by 2025 is unfeasible.”
