Project Snapshot (At a Glance)
Partner Context: Collaboration with PCK Raffinerie GmbH, VERBIO SE and Griesemann Engineering in the “Startup Challenge Schwedt—Design the Industrial Transition”.
Primary Objective: Demonstrate long-term robustness of Cyclize’s next-generation plasma reformer in a 3,000-hour continuous pilot run in Schwedt.
Cyclize' Role: Technology provider, plant designer, and operator of a containerized pilot plant.
Technical Scope: Testing new generation of Cyclize Plasma Reformer, producing syngas from CO₂ and specific hydrocarbons as feedstock representing site-specific waste, operated with remote monitoring and closed-loop cooling.
Key KPI targets: 3,000 operating hours without critical electrode replacement / Stable syngas quality suitable for downstream chemical use
Project Duration: Approx.12 months implementation phase plus potential extended operation on site.
Partner & Context
Cyclize is working with PCK Raffinerie GmbH (refinery), VERBIO SE (biofuels producer) and Griesemann Engineering (EPC and site services) at the Schwedt industrial site, which is undergoing a major transformation towards climate-neutral production.
The project is part of the Startup Challenge Schwedt – “Design the Industrial Transition”, with the goal of exploring new circular and defossilized value chains based on local waste streams and CO₂ point sources.
Challenge
Schwedt’s petrochemical and biofuel industries depend heavily on fossil-based feedstocks for key intermediates such as methanol and olefins, while generating complex waste streams and CO₂ emissions that are currently mostly incinerated or vented.
To enable a local carbon circular economy, the site needs a robust, scalable way to:
Convert complex, mixed industrial waste into valuable feedstock.
Utilize CO₂ from point sources as a carbon input instead of an emission.
Prove that such a process can operate reliably over thousands of hours in an industrial environment, a key precondition for TRL7+ plants.
At the same time, the solution must be cost-competitive with fossil syngas production and fit within existing site infrastructure and permitting frameworks.
Cyclize Approach & Solution
Cyclize designs, builds and operates a containerized plasma reforming pilot plant in Schwedt and runs a feedstock qualification programme in Stuttgart. The team leads process and plant design, plasma reformer development, automation and data analysis.
On-site process: Dry reforming of CO₂ with specific hydrocarbons as feedstock representing site-specific waste in a container with a non-thermal plasma reformer, remote monitoring and closed cooling.
Parallel testing: Lab-scale trials in Stuttgart to assess the carbon recovery potential of selected PCK and VERBIO waste streams.
Project scope: Engineering, build, commissioning and a 3,000-hour durability run as a blueprint for future larger-scale units.
Cyclize works with PCK, VERBIO and Griesemann Engineering: partners supply waste streams and CO₂ point sources, support site integration and permitting, and jointly evaluate results from feasibility testing through to long-term pilot operation.
Outcomes & Impact
The project is designed to demonstrate long-term continuous operation of Cyclize’s next-generation plasma reformer in an industrial environment, targeting 3,000 hours of stable syngas production from CO₂ and specific hydrocarbons as feedstock representing site-specific waste. The containerized, remotely operated pilot will validate the plant concept and generate detailed data on electrode wear, process efficiency and syngas quality, forming the technical basis for a future MW-scale TRL7 unit.
In parallel, testing of selected PCK and VERBIO waste streams will quantify their carbon recovery potential and the associated CO₂ reduction compared with conventional disposal. Together, these results create a concrete scale-up path towards a local TRL7/8 plant in Schwedt and, in the longer term, a 10 MW unit processing around 30,000 tonnes of waste per year, strengthening the site as a hub for circular, defossilized carbon value chains.
Contribution to Carbon Circularity
Circular Schwedt is a key step in closing the carbon loop at an integrated industrial site: local waste streams and CO₂ point sources are turned from a liability into a feedstock for fossil-free syngas.
By demonstrating that Cyclize’s process can replace virgin fossil carbon with carbon from mixed waste and CO₂ while remaining cost-competitive, the project paves the way to defossilize existing product chains such as methanol and olefins that are already processed in Schwedt.
Ultimately, Circular Schwedt shows how Cyclize’s technology can enable a local carbon circular economy: waste and CO₂ are recycled into syngas, which then feeds back into the chemical value chain instead of ending up as emissions.
