TotalEnergies has officially inaugurated France’s first advanced plastics recycling facility, marking a significant milestone in the transformation of its Grandpuits refinery into a “zero-crude” platform.
Located southeast of Paris, the plant has an annual capacity of 15,000 tonnes. The facility is designed to tackle “hard-to-recycle” household plastic waste that is traditionally diverted to landfill or incineration.
The site utilises cutting-edge technology developed in partnership with Plastic Energy. Unlike traditional mechanical recycling, this advanced process employs pyrolysis—heating plastic waste to high temperatures in an oxygen-free, pressurised environment. This thermochemical breakdown converts the waste into a synthetic oil, which serves as a direct substitute for fossil-fuel-based petrochemical feedstock.
The resulting recycled plastics are chemically identical to virgin polymers. Crucially, this ensures they meet the stringent safety and quality standards required for food-grade packaging and medical applications, which are often beyond the reach of conventional recycling methods.
To ensure a consistent domestic supply chain, TotalEnergies secured long-term agreements in 2023 with French environmental specialists Citeo and Paprec.
Valérie Goff, Senior Vice President of Renewables, Fuels & Chemicals at TotalEnergies, described the start-up as an “important milestone” for the Grandpuits complex.
“Alongside Plastic Energy… and our partners Citeo and Paprec, we are supporting the emergence of a brand-new French plastic recycling activity,” Goff stated.
The project aligns with broader European efforts to bolster the circular economy and reduce industrial reliance on imported crude oil for plastic production.
