Honeywell, TotalEnergies to develop advanced plastics recycling

Technology provider Honeywell and energy company TotalEnergies are to promote the development of advanced plastic recycling as part of a strategic agreement, according to a joint statement released Feb. 17.

Under the agreement, Honeywell will supply recycled polymer feedstock that will have undergone Honeywell's UpCycle Process Technology at a yet-to-be built plant in Spain.

TotalEnergies will convert the recycled polymer feedstock into virgin-quality polymers suitable for food packaging, among other end uses, at its Europe-based plants.

Honeywell's UpCycle plant, a joint venture between Honeywell and Sacyr, a Spain-based infrastructure company, is planned for start up in 2023 and will aim to process 30,000mt/year of mixed plastic waste.

"Plastics demand will continue to grow, so it's critical to create a linkage between waste management and plastics production to strengthen a circular flow of plastics," Ben Owens, vice president and general manager, Honeywell Sustainable Technology Solutions, said.

As recently as Feb. 1, Honeywell announced a partnership with US-based recycler Avangard Innovative to co-build an advanced chemical recycling facility in Texas.

The 30,000 mt/year facility for processing mixed plastic waste is expected to begin operations in 2023, according to the statement.

The plant will convert end-of-life plastic via molecular conversion and pyrolysis into a naphtha-type feedstock, which can be fed into a steam cracker, the output of which can be used to make virgin-like plastics.

On Jan. 27, TotalEnergies announced it will supply Berry Global, a packaging producer, with certified circular polymers obtained through the advanced recycling of post-consumer plastic waste.

By processing this circular feedstock at its steam cracker in Antwerp, Belgium, TotalEnergies' portfolio of polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene will be available as certified material from advanced recycling.

The statement also said that, starting from 2023, feedstock for its certified circular polymers will be produced at a new advanced recycling plant in Grandpuits, France.

With this announcement, TotalEnergies joins a growing list of companies, from existing oil and gas and petrochemicals companies to new start ups, to announce their intention to build chemical, or advanced, recycling plants.

Over 1.4 million mt/year of chemical recycling capacity has been announced globally to start up by 2023, according to S&P Global Platts research, with much of that capacity expected in Europe.