France-based energy giant TotalEnergies announced today the launch of France’s first advanced plastics recycling plant, designed to convert hard-to-recycle household plastic waste into synthetic oil.
The plant, located at the company’s Grandpuits site near Paris, has an annual processing capacity of 15,000 tons, and marks a key step in the transformation of the site into a zero-crude platform, according to the company.
The new facility uses pyrolysis recycling technology supplied by advanced recycling technology company Plastic Energy, converting hard-to-recycle household plastic waste which is currently sent to landfill or incineration, into synthetic oil. The process involves heating waste at high temperatures in an oxygen-free environment, enabling the treatment of materials that cannot be mechanically recycled.
The resulting synthetic oil is then treated as petrochemical feedstock, serving as a substitute for fossil-based inputs.
TotalEnergies signed an agreement with environmental organization Citeo and recycling company Paprec in 2023 to secure the plant’s long-term supply of plastic waste.
Valérie Goff, Senior Vice President, Renewables, Fuels & Chemicals at TotalEnergies, said:
“The start-up of the first advanced plastics recycling plant in France is an important milestone in the conversion of our Grandpuits site into a zero-crude complex. Alongside Plastic Energy, contributing its technology, and our partners Citeo and Paprec, we are supporting the emergence of a brand-new French plastic recycling activity.”
