BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 12. French energy
major TotalEnergies has become the sole owner of the Grandpuits
advanced plastics recycling plant in France, strengthening its
position in the emerging market for chemical recycling of
hard-to-recycle plastic waste.
As part of a restructuring of Plastic Energy's shareholding,
TotalEnergies said it has agreed to acquire the remaining 35% stake
in the Grandpuits facility from Plastic Energy's new shareholder.
TotalEnergies previously owned 65% of the plant.
Located in Seine-et-Marne, the facility began production in
March 2026 and has an annual capacity to process 15,000 metric tons
of plastic waste. The transaction gives TotalEnergies full control
of a facility that is designed to address one of the key challenges
facing the plastics industry: recycling waste that cannot be
effectively processed through conventional mechanical
recycling.
Turning hard-to-recycle plastic waste into new
plastics
The Grandpuits plant processes plastic waste collected from
French households, including waste placed in yellow recycling bins.
Much of this material is currently destined for landfill or
incineration because it is too contaminated, mixed or technically
difficult to recycle mechanically. The facility uses pyrolysis, a
process in which plastic waste is heated to high temperatures in an
oxygen-free environment. The process breaks the plastic down into a
synthetic oil that can subsequently be used as a circular feedstock
by the petrochemical industry.
The resulting feedstock can replace part of the fossil-based raw
materials traditionally used to manufacture plastics.
An important feature of the technology is that the recycled
material can be used to manufacture plastics with properties
comparable to those produced from virgin feedstocks. TotalEnergies
says the resulting recycled plastics can meet demanding
requirements, including applications involving food contact and
medical products.
This creates a route for plastic waste that would otherwise have
limited recovery options to be returned to the plastics production
cycle.
In 2023, TotalEnergies signed an agreement with French recycling
and waste-management companies Citeo and Paprec to secure a
long-term supply of plastic waste for the Grandpuits facility.
Part of a broader circular economy strategy
The Grandpuits project forms part of TotalEnergies' broader
effort to build a circular economy around its energy and
petrochemical businesses.
The company describes the circular economy as an integral part
of its strategy for the energy transition and says it is using
circular feedstocks across several areas, including plastics,
biofuels and biogas.
“The circular economy is an integral part of the transition
strategy that TotalEnergies is pursuing,” the company said, adding
that it aims to become “a world-class player” in the energy
transition while working toward carbon neutrality together with
society.
For plastics, the strategy is increasingly focused on increasing
the availability of recycled and alternative feedstocks and
developing technologies capable of processing waste streams that
cannot be handled through mechanical recycling.
Advanced recycling, also known as chemical recycling, is
particularly relevant to mixed or contaminated plastic waste.
Unlike mechanical recycling, which generally involves sorting,
washing, shredding and remelting plastics, chemical recycling can
break polymers down into chemical feedstocks that can be used again
in the production of new plastics.
TotalEnergies targets larger circular polymer
production
TotalEnergies has set an ambition to produce 1 million metric
tons of circular polymers per year by 2030, combining recycled and
renewable feedstocks. The company is developing several routes to
achieve this objective, including mechanical recycling, advanced
recycling and the use of renewable feedstocks. The approach is
intended to reduce dependence on virgin fossil-based raw materials
while maintaining the performance characteristics required for many
industrial and consumer applications.
TotalEnergies' strategy also extends beyond plastics recycling.
The company says it is seeking to increase the recovery and reuse
of waste generated by its own operations, with a target of
recovering at least 70% of its production waste. It has been
developing waste-management contracts and partnerships with
waste-treatment companies in countries where it operates.
Waste also being converted into biogas and
biofuels
The company's circular-economy strategy includes the conversion
of organic waste into energy products. At TotalEnergies' La Mède
biorefinery in France, for example, a biomethanization unit allows
the facility to recover almost 90% of the waste it generates in the
form of biogas and digestate. The digestate can be used as an
organic soil improver in agriculture.
TotalEnergies is also increasing the use of waste oils and
animal fats as feedstocks for biofuel production. The company has
said it aims to source more than 75% of the feedstocks for its
biofuel production from waste oils and animal fats, compared with
around 50% previously. Using waste and residues from the food
industry can also reduce potential competition for agricultural
land associated with some conventional biofuel feedstocks.
TotalEnergies said it stopped sourcing palm oil and its
derivatives in 2022. The company has also entered into an agreement
with Saria, a major European company specializing in the collection
and recovery of organic materials, to supply circular feedstocks
such as used cooking oils and animal fats to its future Grandpuits
biorefinery.
TotalEnergies is also developing biogas production from organic
waste. Biogas is generated through the decomposition of organic
material and consists primarily of methane. TotalEnergies has been
developing partnerships with companies in agriculture, waste
management and wastewater treatment to secure feedstock for biogas
production. The company has previously set targets for increasing
its biogas output, with agricultural waste expected to represent an
important source of feedstock.
