Two French companies have developed an agreement for the management of plastic film waste through a dedicated channel

Select post-consumer waste, so that it is not contaminated by other plastics or other polluting agents, has always been the highest goal in the field of recycling plastic materials deriving from differentiated collection.

Many strides have been made in the PET sector, where the efforts that have been made and are still being made to creating a single-product collection, therefore only bottles separated from other waste, is leading to good results.

Results that can be seen firsthand, in terms of quality of PET waste that can be recycled, since the collection of PET bottles alone greatly reduces the typical pollutants present in separate waste collection.

Now, in France, this principle of single-channel collection has spread, also for flexible packaging, creating a circulation of the product-waste in a closed circuit, collecting and processing only the film waste, creating a dedicated recycling process that does not involve its contamination with other plastics.

Indeed, TotalEnergies and Paprec, leader in plastic recycling in France, have signed a long-term commercial agreement to develop a chain of French value for advanced recycling of plastic film waste.

The deal will secure the supply of TotalEnergies' future advanced plastic recycling plant in Grandpuits.

Under the terms of this agreement, Citeo, the leading French organization responsible for end-of-life household packaging, will provide a flow of sorted flexible plastic waste from post-consumer packaging.

This flow will be delivered to the Paprec Plastiques 80 plant in Amiens (France), where a unique selection and preparation line in the its kind.

TotalEnergies will use this waste of French origin in its advanced recycling plant, at the zero-crude platform in Grandpuits, and will produce recycled plastic with the same properties of virgin plastic for food use.

The advanced recycling plant, built by TotalEnergies (60% ) and Plastic Energy (40%), will be able to treat 15,000 tons of waste per year and should be operational in 2024.

"This long-term agreement is an important milestone for our advanced recycling plant in Grandpuits, as it guarantees a supply of waste of French origin,” said Valérie Goff, senior vice president of renewable fuels and chemicals at TotalEnergies.

"It is a tangible example of TotalEnergies' commitment to developing a circular economy for plastics and it fully contributes to our ambition to produce the 30 % of circular polymers by 2030".

"Our task is to provide our customers and partners with circular packaging that allows the material to be returned to its original use and achieve carbon savings.

We are taking an aggressive and innovative approach to monolayer resins such as PET, HDPE and PVC. This innovation with TotalEnergies complements mechanical or "low-carbon" recycling, which cannot offer the same circularity for plastics that are not as eco-designed or that are too dirty. Supporting and developing French industrial excellence is one of our missions,” said Sébastien Petithuguenin, President and CEO of Paprec Plastiques.

About TotalEnergies and Polymers

TotalEnergies develops, manufactures and markets polymers - polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, their recycled equivalents and biopolymers - which can be incorporated into the production process of plastic. Lighter than many alternative materials, they help reduce the carbon footprint of end applications through increased energy efficiency.

TotalEnergies polymer experts in Europe, Asia and the United States of America are working alongside all professionals, including plastic producers, centers companies, waste collection and sorting companies and their customers to accelerate in the circular economy.

The company is developing different plastic recycling processes and using renewable raw materials, with the ambition of commercializing 30% circular polymers by 2030.

About Paprec

The group was founded by the Petithuguenin family in 1994 and has been managed by the family since its creation. Paprec is the French leader in recycling and a major European player in waste treatment and energy from waste recovery.

The group has grown from 45 employees to 13,000, spread across more than 300 sites in din countries. In 2022, the group managed 16 million tons of waste and turnover exceeded 2.5 billion euros.

Machine translation. We apologize for any inaccuracies. Original article in Italian.

Source TotalEnergy