CARBOLIQ

What CARBOLIQ does

CARBOLIQ GmbH is a German chemical-recycling company, founded in 2017 as a spin-off of engineering firm RECENSO GmbH and headquartered in Remscheid, North Rhine-Westphalia. The company operates a patented single-stage thermal-catalytic direct liquefaction process (marketed as the carboliq process) that converts mixed and contaminated plastic waste — including fractions containing polyamide (PA) and PET that most pyrolysis routes cannot handle — into a Circular Liquid Resource (CLR®) usable as a direct fossil-naphtha substitute in existing refinery and petrochemical infrastructure. The process operates below 400°C under slight vacuum, uses electrically driven friction turbines for heating and mixing, and is validated at TRL 8 by the German Environment Agency (UBA) following more than 22,000 hours of continuous 24/7 pilot operation at the Ennigerloh waste management center.

The company monetizes through four streams: (1) sales of CLR® to petrochemical off-takers via ISO tank container deliveries; (2) sales of caproliq®, a recovered caprolactam monomer obtained when processing PA6-containing waste such as PA/PE multilayer films; (3) project-based "Circular Projects" campaigns and "Material Evaluation" pilot testing services for industrial partners; and (4) a plant construction and technology licensing business targeting companies with their own technical capabilities. The pilot plant in Ennigerloh, operated under BImSchG license through subsidiary CARBOWEST GmbH, currently processes 1,200-1,500 tons of plastic waste per year and is designed to scale to 16,000 tons/year in industrial configurations.

The customer base spans industrial generators of plastic waste (automotive, packaging, manufacturing — including strategic shareholder SÜDPACK), municipal and private waste management companies (notably partner ECOWEST), and petrochemical off-takers. SÜDPACK Verpackungen SE & Co. KG became majority shareholder in early 2024, anchoring both the feedstock supply and the commercial pull-through for multilayer-film-derived CLR and caproliq®. CARBOLIQ also partners with c4future for the world's first industrial-scale deployment of the technology and collaborates with FH Aachen and Ruhr-Universität Bochum on the Reconomy-PA research project to optimize caprolactam recovery.

Name

CARBOLIQ

Legal name

CARBOLIQ GmbH

Website

https://carboliq.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CARBOLIQ is a German chemical-recycling company that uses a patented single-stage direct liquefaction process to convert mixed and contaminated plastic waste into CLR® (a fossil-naphtha substitute) and caproliq® (recovered caprolactam monomer), serving petrochemical off-takers, industrial waste generators, and municipalities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Remscheid

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Circular Liquid Resource (CLR) Sales: carboliq generates revenue primarily from selling the Circular Liquid Resource (CLR) produced from processing mixed and contaminated plastic waste. CLR is sold to the petrochemical industry as a feedstock substitute for fossil naphtha. Demand from the chemical industry far exceeds current supply. The product has a boiling range of approximately 60°C to 550°C; lighter fractions can serve as naphtha substitutes in steam crackers, while heavier fractions can be used in wax production.
2. caproliq Sales: Revenue is also generated from selling caprolactam (brand name caproliq), a high-value by-product recovered from PA6-containing plastic waste. Caprolactam serves as a raw material for polyamide 6 (nylon) production, displacing energy-intensive virgin monomer synthesis.
3. Plant Construction Services: carboliq supports companies interested in deploying carboliq technology by assisting in the planning and construction of customized oiling plants. Plants are constructed by qualified plant engineers in accordance with carboliq process specifications. This is a project-based, one-time revenue stream for bespoke plant deployment.
4. Technology Licensing: carboliq offers companies with their own technical expertise the opportunity to purchase a licence to use carboliq technology. Licence purchases are typically accompanied by specially developed core components, enabling safe integration of the carboliq process into existing infrastructure. This represents a recurring licensing/royalty model.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

CARBOLIQ operates a patented single-stage thermal-catalytic direct liquefaction process (below 400°C) that converts mixed and contaminated plastic waste into Circular Liquid Resource (CLR), a fossil-naphtha substitute, and into caproliq, a recovered caprolactam monomer. The company sells CLR and caprolactam, provides pilot-scale material evaluation services, runs industrial-scale circular processing campaigns, and licenses its plant technology and core components to industrial partners worldwide.

Product overview

CARBOLIQ offers a portfolio of chemical recycling solutions centered on its patented carboliq direct liquefaction technology — a single-stage, thermal-catalytic process that converts mixed and contaminated plastic waste into liquid secondary raw materials. The core products are Circular Liquid Resource (CLR®), a fossil-oil substitute for refinery and petrochemical use, and caproliq, a recovered caprolactam monomer for recycled polyamide production. Supporting services include Material Evaluation (pilot-scale testing and balance reporting), Circular Projects (industrial-scale conversion campaigns), and Plant Construction & Licensing (enabling partners to build and operate carboliq plants under license). The company operates a unique TRL-8 pilot plant in Ennigerloh, Germany, and serves as a technology platform jointly owned by RECENSO GmbH and SÜDPACK.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CLR® (Circular Liquid Resource): A circular liquid resource produced from post-consumer plastics through the carboliq process. It serves as a direct substitute for fossil hydrocarbons and can be processed using existing refinery and petrochemical infrastructure.
• caproliq®

Products and services

• Circular Liquid Resource (CLR) Liquid secondary raw material produced from mixed and contaminated post-consumer plastics via the carboliq direct liquefaction process. It is fully miscible with fossil-based oils and serves as a direct substitute for fossil naphtha in refinery and petrochemical infrastructure, for use in steam crackers and wax production.
• caproliq Recovered caprolactam monomer isolated from PA6-containing plastic waste such as PA/PE multilayer films. Can be directly re-synthesized into recycled polyamide 6 (R-PA6), displacing energy-intensive virgin caprolactam synthesis and yielding substantial CO2 savings.
• Material Evaluation Testing and analysis service that evaluates a customer's specific plastic waste streams for processability and oil yield through lab testing and pilot-scale campaigns at the Ennigerloh plant. Includes mass and energy balance reporting and serves as the proof-of-concept and sales qualification step before full commercial engagement.
• Circular Projects Project-based service that converts large volumes of a customer's plastic waste into CLR at industrial scale via multi-ton processing campaigns. The resulting CLR is delivered to a petrochemical partner for conversion into new high-quality polymers, providing proof of circularity in the customer's value chain.
• Plant Construction & Licensing Licensing and engineering service that enables industrial partners to build and operate their own carboliq oiling plants. carboliq provides patented process specifications and specially developed core components, with plant engineering carried out by qualified third-party engineers in accordance with carboliq specifications.

Quantifiable outcome

• CO₂ savings of up to 5 metric tons per ton of processed plastic waste, depending on waste type and renewable electricity share
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• RECENSO GmbHcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRECENSO is an engineering firm that developed the patented direct liquefaction process and spun off carboliq in 2017 to continue development of chemical recycling technology. RECENSO drives the advancement of the core oiling process and advises carboliq on applications involving high-calorific feedstocks. RECENSO also built the first modular oiling plant in Barrie, Canada. With subsidiary converbio GmbH, RECENSO is applying direct-oiling technology to biomass feedstocks.
• ECOWEST Entsorgungsverbund Westfalen GmbHcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerECOWEST is a public-sector company responsible for processing and disposing of municipal and commercial waste in the districts of Gütersloh and Warendorf. At its mechanical-biological treatment facility, various grades of refuse-derived fuel (RDF) are produced. ECOWEST partnered with carboliq to host the pilot plant at its Ennigerloh site. carboliq has been operating the pilot plant in partnership with ECOWEST since early 2021.
• CARBOWEST GmbHcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCARBOWEST (formerly Dieselwest GmbH until its majority acquisition by carboliq in 2021) is a certified waste management specialist (Entsorgungsfachbetrieb) authorized to accept and process waste at the Ennigerloh site. It operates the oiling plant as a licensed waste treatment facility under BImSchG.
• c4futureminorStrategic or Co-development Partnercarboliq partners with c4future to deploy the world's first industrial-scale advanced thermochemical process for converting plastic waste into liquid resources. c4future supports the industrial deployment of the technology.
• Fachhochschule Aachen — Institut für Angewandte PolymerchemieminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic research partner in the Reconomy-PA project. The institute contributes expertise in applied polymer chemistry to investigate technical optimizations and sustainability aspects of the carboliq process and PA recycling.
• Ruhr-Universität Bochum — Lehrstuhl für Responsible Process EngineeringminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic research partner in the Reconomy-PA project. The chair contributes expertise in responsible process engineering to investigate technical optimizations and sustainability aspects of the carboliq process.
• Anton Ledwon IngenieurbürominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEngineering partner in the Reconomy-PA project. Contributes engineering expertise to the project investigating caprolactam recovery from PA-6 mixed plastic waste using the carboliq process.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• OMV: OMV is an Austrian integrated oil, gas and chemicals company operating the ReOil process at its Schwechat refinery, which uses thermal depolymerization of mixed plastics to produce synthetic crude. It is a broad incumbent with overlapping thermal-recycling technology at a refinery-integrated scale, comparable to carboliq's mechanism though not its size.
• Eastman Chemical: Eastman is a US-based specialty materials company operating Carbon Renewal Technology (CRT) molecular recycling to depolymerize polyester and other plastics into monomers. It is a broad incumbent with deep chemical-recycling capability and far larger capital and customer base than carboliq.
• LyondellBasell: LyondellBasell is one of the largest global plastics, chemicals and refining companies, with molecular-recycling technology (MoReTec) and the Circulen family of recycled-content polymers. It is a broad incumbent pursuing chemical recycling at industrial scale and competing for the same converters and brand-owner demand.
• INEOS: INEOS is a global chemical company operating chemical-recycling programs including polystyrene depolymerization to styrene monomer. It is a broad incumbent with established petrochemical offtake channels and competes for the same European recycled-content mandate value pool as carboliq.
• BASF: BASF is the world's largest chemical company and operates the ChemCycling program using pyrolysis oil from mixed plastic waste as feedstock for new chemical production; it also owns Quantafuel. It competes for the same EU recycled-content mandates and petrochemical off-take partnerships as carboliq, but at vastly greater scale.

Direct peers

• Agilyx: Agilyx is a US/Norwegian chemical-recycling company that depolymerizes post-consumer polystyrene into styrene monomer for new plastic production. It is a comparable chemical-recycling business at similar maturity, focused on a narrower (polystyrene) feedstock than carboliq's mixed-plastic focus.
• Plastic Energy: Plastic Energy is a UK/Spain-headquartered chemical recycling company operating commercial-scale pyrolysis plants that convert end-of-life mixed plastics into TACOIL, a naphtha substitute for petrochemical off-takers. It is the closest direct competitor to carboliq in plastic-to-feedstock chemical recycling and targets the same petrochemical buyers.
• Mura Technology: Mura Technology is a UK-based advanced recycling company using supercritical steam (HydroPRS) to convert plastic waste into feedstocks for new plastic production. It is a direct peer in early-stage-to-commercial chemical recycling and competes for the same petrochemical offtake and policy support.
• Quantafuel: Quantafuel (acquired by BASF in 2022) is a Norwegian chemical-recycling company using pyrolysis to convert mixed plastic waste into synthetic feedstocks and fuels. It is directly comparable to carboliq as a plastic-to-feedstock recycler with industrial ambition, although pyrolysis-based rather than direct-liquefaction.

Others

• REMONDIS: REMONDIS is one of the world's largest privately held waste management and recycling companies, headquartered in Germany. It is relevant to carboliq as a major potential feedstock supplier, licensed-plant host, and adjacent waste-to-value player operating in the same German/NRW industrial ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CARBOLIQ