TotalEnergies and Paprec partner for France’s “first” advanced plastic recycling value chain

16 Mar 2023 --- TotalEnergies and Paprec have signed a long-term commercial agreement to develop a French value chain for advanced recycling of plastic film waste. The deal will secure the supply of materials from TotalEnergies’ future advanced plastic recycling plant in Grandpuits, France. 

The advanced recycling plant will be able to process 15,000 metric tons of waste per year and is scheduled to be operational in 2024. 

Citeo, the main organization in charge of end-of-life household packaging in France, will provide a stream of flexible plastic waste sorted from post-consumer packaging. This stream will be delivered to the Paprec Plastiques 80 plant in Amiens, France, where a “first-of-its-kind” sorting and preparation line will be built. 

“The objective in France is to collect and recycle more and more plastics. Through Citeo for packaging but also with our industrial partners. We have designed our plant to meet the anticipated growth of collection of plastics not recycled before,” David Etienne, COO at Paprec Plastiques tells PackagingInsights. 

Circular films 
TotalEnergies will use this French-origin waste in its advanced recycling plant at the Grandpuits zero-crude platform and will produce recycled plastics which have the same properties as food-grade virgin plastics.

Paprec is a leading plastic recycling company in France. “We are a pioneer on mechanical (or low carbon) recycling of plastics aiming at circularity, which means allowing plastic packaging waste to become packaging again,” asserts Etienne.

The Grandpuits zero-crude platform (Image credit: TotalEnergies).“Ten years ago we developed such a process for PET bottles, where we can go all the way to food packaging and water bottles and have just developed a process for HDPE to return to packaging (not to food contact yet).”

“PP and LDPE films cannot become circular with low carbon technologies which is why we decided to become partners with TotalEnergies with chemical recycling technologies,” he explains.

Advancing French recycling
Valérie Goff, senior vice president Renewable Fuels & Chemicals at TotalEnergies, adds that the long-term agreement is a “major milestone” for TotalEnergies’ advanced recycling plant at Grandpuits, as it guarantees a supply of waste from French origin.

“It is a tangible example of TotalEnergies’ commitment to developing a circular economy for plastics and fully contributes to our ambition of producing 30% circular polymers by 2030,” she continues.

“Our job is to provide our customers and partners with circular packaging that makes it possible to return material to its original use and achieve carbon savings. We are taking an aggressive, innovative approach to monolayer resins such as PET, HDPE and PVC,” highlights Sébastien Petithuguenin, chairman and CEO of Paprec Plastiques.

“This innovation with TotalEnergies supplements mechanical, or ‘low carbon’ recycling, which cannot offer the same circularity for plastic that’s not as eco-designed or that’s too soiled. Supporting and developing French industrial excellence is one of our missions,” he says.

Earlier this year, TotalEnergies joined the Nextloopp initiative to accelerate the feasibility of advanced mechanical recycling projects targeting food contact and further expand its recently launched RE:use polymers range, which contains mechanically recycled raw materials. 

Prior to joining Nextloopp, TotalEnergies launched a new product range branded RE:clic for its low-carbon polymers to generate a more circular economy. Lighter than many alternatives, three different polymer ranges were released under the brand to reduce the carbon footprint of end-use applications by improving energy efficiency.

By Natalie Schwertheim 

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