A Texas plant will use chemical recycling technology to convert 66 million pounds per year of scrap plastic into feedstock for new resin production.
Plastic Energy, Freepoint Eco-Systems and TotalEnergies jointly announced the project last week, noting that the facility is scheduled to open in mid-2024. The facility will bring in post-consumer plastic and convert it into a feedstock called TACOIL.
U.K.-headquartered Plastic Energy produces TACOIL using a patented pyrolysis process it calls thermal anaerobic conversion. The company has multiple facilities in Europe, and it has worked with SABIC, Berry Global and other firms.
In a release, the companies noted the Texas plant follows a similar project that’s currently underway in France. This marks the first Plastic Energy project in the U.S.
Freepoint Eco-Systems will manage scrap plastic sourcing for the facility. TotalEnergies will use the TACOIL in producing new resin that goes into items including flexible and rigid food packaging, according to the release.
“It shows our commitment to work with our customers to meet the growing demand for more innovative plastics with ever-higher performance, especially for durable applications,” said Valérie Goff, senior vice president of polymers at TotalEnergies, in the release. “It will contribute to addressing the challenge of the circular economy and to achieve our ambition of producing 30% recycled and renewable polymers by 2030.”
