Plastic recycling: inside Synova

10/05/2021

With the expansion of the Synova facility in Tillières-sur-Avre (Normandy), TotalEnergies is doubling its production capacity for mechanically recycled polymers. The Company’s goal is to meet the growing demand for sustainable plastics from its customers, including automotive suppliers and manufacturers and the construction sector.

TotalEnergies and plastic recycling

TotalEnergies has the ambition of producing 30% recycled and renewable polymers by 2030. TotalEnergies is working on all types of recycling:

  • In mechanical recycling with its subsidiary Synova, the French leader in the production of recycled polypropylene for sustainable applications for the automotive or construction industry.
  • In chemical recycling, TotalEnergies announced in September 2020 the construction of France's first chemical recycling plant on its Grandpuits zero-crude platform. This new plant will use Plastic Energy's patented technology to transform plastic waste that is not generally recyclable into a pyrolysis oil called Tacoil, which will then be used as feedstock in TotalEnergies' steam crackers to produce polymers with properties identical to virgin polymers.
  • TotalEnergies is also a world leader in bioplastics. The joint venture between TotalEnergies and Corbion owns a plant in Thailand producing 75,000 tons/year of PLA, a 100% bio-based, recyclable and biodegradable bioplastic. In September 2020, it announced the construction of a second plant with a capacity of 100,000 tons/year on the Grandpuits zero-crude platform in France.
  • TotalEnergies is also a founding member of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, which consists of around forty companies invested in the plastics and consumer goods value chain. They have pledged to allocate more than $1 billion, with a goal of reaching $1.5 billion by 2025, to the implementation of solutions to eliminate plastic waste in the environment, particularly in the oceans.