TotalEnergies launches RE:clic “low-carbon” polymer range to improve energy efficiency

25 Oct 2022 --- TotalEnergies has 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 have been released under the brand to reduce the carbon footprint of end-use applications by improving energy efficiency. 

TotalEnergies has been reinventing its polymer sourcing to accompany the transformation of its plastics value chain. 

The company’s portfolio is based on polymers from recycled material or from bio-feedstock, which helps customers achieve their environmental sustainability goals – without compromises on performance or processability, claims the company. 

TotalEnergies’ new polymer range
The polymer collection includes RE:use, RE:build and RE:newable. 

The first contains recycled plastic obtained through a mechanical recycling process and is derived from post-consumer and post-industrial plastic wastes.

The new polymer range facilitates circularity and carbon reduction. The RE:build polymers range, which are produced through an advanced recycling process that converts hard-to-recycle plastic waste into circular feedstock. The recycled content of the resulting polymers is tracked throughout the production process thanks to the ISCC PLUS certification. 

These RE:build polymers reportedly exhibit identical properties to virgin polymers and are therefore suitable for high-end demanding applications, including food-contact. 

The last one, the RE:newable polymers range, is derived from bio-based products. Similar to RE:build, RE:newable polymers are produced from renewable feedstocks certified under ISCC PLUS. The company claims that these polymers substantially reduce the carbon footprint of finished products and retain virgin-like properties.

“This announcement marks yet another step forward in TotalEnergies’ development of a circular economy for plastics and is fully aligned with the Company’s ambition,” says Nathalie Brunelle, vice president polymers at TotalEnergies. 

“The products associated with these new ranges are concrete solutions to help us reach our ambition of commercializing 30% circular polymers by 2030.”

TotalEnergies’ advancements 
Last week, TotalEnergies partnered with European waste management and recycling firm, Indaver, to deliver petrochemical feedstock produced from recycled mixed polyolefin waste including PE and PP. 

TotalEnergies will buy the petrochemical feedstock made at Indaver’s initial Plastics2Chemicals facility in Antwerp, Belgium.

At the start of 2022, Plastic Energy announced plans to build a second advanced recycling plant for end-of-life plastics in Sevilla, Spain, after securing a new agreement with TotalEnergies. The plant is expected to become operational in early 2025. 

Comparable to its existing operational plant, the new facility will convert end-of-life plastic waste into a recycled feedstock called Tacoil using Plastic Energy’s patented recycling technology.

In a similar development, Borealis is designing a “first-of-its-kind” mechanical recycling plant in Schwechat, Austria. The plant is an extension of Borealis’ EverMinds initiative, striving to create a circular plastic recycling system.

The commercial-scale plant is designed for mechanical recycled polyolefin with the capacity to produce over 60 metric kilotons of circular solutions and compounds per year. The plant will be operational in 2025. 

Edited by Natalie Schwertheim