Chemical recycling facilities for processing mixed plastic waste are provided herein. Such facilities have the capability of processing mixed plastic waste streams and utilize a variety of recycling facilities, such as, for example, solvolysis facility, a pyrolysis facility, a cracker facility, a partial oxidation gasification facility, an energy generation/energy production facility, and a solidification facility. Streams from one or more of these individual facilities may be used as feed to one or more of the other facilities, thereby maximizing recovery of valuable chemical components and minimizing unusable waste streams.

Aspects of the invention are associated with the discovery of approaches for the conversion of carbonaceous feeds, such as biomass and biomass-containing solids via thermal treatment. Particular examples of biomass-containing solids are municipal solid waste (MSW), as well as waste plastics and waste tires. In some cases, this conversion, such as by pyrolysis, will allow for straightforward integration with gasification (e.g., entrained-flow gasification) or partial oxidation. Advantageously, processes and associated apparatuses/equipment described herein are tailored to the physical and chemical properties of the feeds. In this regard, important advantages reside in auger reactors that include electric heating elements within one or more auger shafts. Such centralized heating may be used in combination with external heating, for example also utilizing electric heaters. With centralized heating, the surface area available for heat transfer into the feedstock may be increased dramatically (e.g., by a factor of 3 to 5).

A plasma processing method for a gas includes: supplying a gas inside a cavity for plasma processing, supplying microwaves having a predetermined frequency and power in order to generate a plasma of the gas, and propagating the microwaves in the gas by a waveguide which communicates directly with the cavity so as to provide a plasma cracking processing operation for the gas inside the cavity.