Chemical recycling France: Citeo, Mars, Nestlé, Total and Recycling Technologies partner on circular economy acceleration

16 Dec 2019 --- Recycling and recovery organization Citeo has joined forces with global brands Nestlé and Mars, international energy company Total and plastic recycling technology provider Recycling Technologies to develop an innovative industrial chemical recycling industry in France. The first-of-a-kind consortium of world-leading players from across the plastic packaging value chain will examine the technical and economic feasibility of recycling complex plastic waste, such as small, flexible and multilayered food-grade packaging. These products are currently considered non-recyclable and are therefore either incinerated or disposed of in landfills.

Chemical recycling uses thermochemical processes to transform plastic waste into pyrolysis oil. This secondary raw material then serves as feedstock for the chemical industry to produce plastic for various purposes, such as packaging. The packaging produced using these chemically recycled materials is of the same quality as packaging made of new plastic. This allows fossil resources to be saved and waste to be reduced.

“This ambitious project meets Citeo’s goal of finding end-to-end solutions for all packaging,” says Jean Hornain, CEO of Citeo. “New recycling technologies, such as chemical recycling, will take performance to the next level and accelerate the circular economy for post-consumer plastic waste, especially when it is complex. Our initiative will be a key driver to deliver short- and medium-term solutions.”

“We are delighted to join this cross-value-chain consortium to help identify the right system to recycle flexible plastic packaging,” adds Kate Wylie, Global Vice President, Sustainability for Mars. “Identifying and investing in the right waste management systems is a critical part of the solution to address the plastic waste problem. We support this new pyrolysis project in France to help identify circular systems for post-consumer plastic packaging and consequently increase the scale of recycling across Europe.”

A boost for 2025 sustainability targets
Mars’ Circular Packaging Plan includes the goal of using only plastic packaging that is 100 percent reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025 by reducing “unnecessary” packaging, redesigning for circularity and investing to “close the loop.”

Nestlé is also aiming for 100 percent of its packaging to be reusable or recyclable by 2025. “Combining our expertise in a collective project to improve recycling is something we need to do to tackle the global plastic issue,” comments Claudine Rosiers, Head of Corporate Packaging for Nestlé France.Chemical recycling will take the circular economy for post-consumer plastic waste “to the next level,” says Jean Hornain, CEO of Citeo.

The development of a circular economy for plastics packaging is becoming an increasingly pressing issue for global FMCGs, with both public and regulatory pressure intensifying. Notably, one key objective of the EU Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy, published in January 2018 in the context of the Circular Economy Package, is to ensure that “all plastic packaging is reusable or easily recyclable by 2030.”

A recent and damning Break Free From Plastic report suggested that the FMCG heavyweights are only offering “false solutions to the plastic pollution crisis they have created.” Following 484 cleanups in over 50 countries across six continents, the report named Nestlé, along with Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, as the world’s “top polluting companies.”

As Bernard Pinatel, President Refining & Chemicals for Total highlights, chemical recycling is regarded by many as a “perfect addition” to existing recycling activities and one that can help drive up the recycling levels of complex plastic waste.

“The project announced today to develop an industrial sector involving major players in the packaging value chain is an important step in our ambition to produce 30 percent recycled polymers by 2030,” Pinatel says.

“We are delighted to be the technology provider for this project,” adds Elena Parisi, Sales & Marketing Director for Recycling Technologies. “This cross-sector partnership is a great example of the industry working together to bring about the changes necessary to make plastic sustainable. We must carve out a clear pathway that others in the value chain will follow to boost plastic recycling capacity in France and elsewhere.”

Chemical recycling gathers pace in Europe
In other chemical recycling news, British multinational oil and gas company BP has developed an enhanced recycling technology, BP Infinia, that enables currently unrecyclable polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic waste to be diverted from landfill or incineration and instead transformed back into virgin-quality feedstocks. BP plans to construct a US$25 million pilot plant in the US in 2020 to “prove the technology,” before progressing to full-scale commercialization.

Meanwhile, the ChemCycling project involving Südpack, Zott, BASF and Borealis continues to progress. It has resulted in the development of a prototype Zott Gourmet Dairy flexible pack made from 100 percent recycled plastic.

More recently, Henkel produced bottles using 100 percent chemically recycled plastic for the first time in collaboration with packaging manufacturer Alpla. Also part of the ChemCycling project led by chemical producer BASF, Henkel will use the bottles as a pilot project for its Perwoll detergents.

Last month, Fortune 500 global plastic manufacturer Berry and global chemical industry leader SABIC announced a collaboration to drive the innovation and use of polyolefin resins made from chemical recycling.

Edited by Joshua Poole