Total Energies is further bolstering its recycling activities in Europe with the acquisition of Spain-based Iber Resinas. Iber Resinas, a mechanical recycler who operates two plants near Valencia, Spain, is focused on the recycling of PP, PE, PET, ABS and PS derived from both domestic and industrial waste. For TotalEnergies, the deal is a strategic one that will increase and broaden its production of recycled polymers in Europe while securing access to feedstock through Iber Resinas’s network of suppliers.
“This acquisition is a further step towards achieving our ambition of increasing the share of circular polymers in our plastics production to 30% by 2030,” said Nathalie Brunelle, senior vice president Polymers, Refining & Chemicals, at TotalEnergies.
As part of TotalEnergies, Iber Resinas is looking forward to benefitting from that company’s ability to strengthen its growth. Being acquired by TotalEnergies will ‘allow us to jointly build on our work, knowledge, and development in Spain and the EU in the polymer recycling sector,” said Santiago Sanz and Borja Sanz, owners and managing directors of Iber Resinas.
The acquisition is just one of TotalEnergies’ latest ventures into the recycling and sustainable polymers space. In terms of mechanical recycling, it also operates a subsidiary called Synova, which in France produces recycled polypropylene for applications in the automotive and construction industry. The plant has a capacity of 45,000 tonnes (as of the end of 2022). In 2022, the Company also announced the construction of a new 15,000 t/a hybrid production line for high-performance recycled PP for automotive applications at its Carling – Saint-Avold platform in northeastern France.
In September 2020, TotalEnergies announced it would be constructing one of France's first advanced recycling plants at its Grandpuits zero-crude platform southeast of Paris, in partnership with Plastic Energy. And in 2022, it signed additional offtake agreements with Plastic Energy and Honeywell for pyrolysis oil to pursue its development in advanced recycling in Europe and the U.S.
Through its joint venture with Corbion, TotalEnergies has also positioned itself as a leading PLA producer; the JV operates a plant in Thailand that produces 75,000t/a of polylactic acid, a 100% bio-based, recyclable, and industrially compostable bioplastic.