TotalEnergies announces that it has acquired Spain-based Iber Resinas, an actor in the mechanical recycling of plastics for sustainable applications. With this transaction, TotalEnergies will increase its production of circular polymers in Europe, extend its range of recycled products, and enhance its access to feedstock through Iber Resinas’s network of suppliers.

Source: TotalEnergies

Combining Recycling Know-How and Polymers Expertise

Iber Resinas recycles plastics (polypropylene, polyethylene, and polystyrene) derived from household and industrial waste in its two plants near Valencia, Spain. The company also has a large network of direct customers to whom it sells its products for the manufacture of automotive parts, packaging, or building materials.

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. We are pleased to welcome Iber Resinas’ teams and combine their recycling know-how with TotalEnergies’ polymers expertise.

Nathalie Brunelle, Senior Vice President Polymers, Refining & Chemicals, at TotalEnergies

Iber Resinas will leverage synergies with TotalEnergies’ operations to develop quality products and will benefit from the Company’s ability to accelerate its growth.

Joining TotalEnergies is a great satisfaction, but also an opportunity to strengthen and develop Iber Resinas. It will allow us to jointly build on our work, knowledge, and development in Spain and the EU in the polymer recycling sector, and meet the new challenges and ambitions of our customers.

Santiago Sanz and Borja Sanz, owners and managing directors of Iber Resinas

Developing a Circular Economy for Plastics

By reducing the weight of many end-use applications, plastics improve their energy efficiency and reduce their carbon footprint. Moreover, producing them from recycled materials contributes to meeting the challenge of managing their end-of-life. Committed to promoting the circular economy in the use of plastics, TotalEnergies is working on all types of recycling:

• In mechanical recycling, its subsidiary Synova is the French leader in the production of recycled polypropylene for sustainable applications for the automotive and construction industry, with a capacity of 45,000 tons at the end of 2022. In 2022, the Company also announced the construction of a new hybrid production line of 15,000-ton high-performance recycled polypropylene for automotive applications at its Carling – Saint-Avold platform in northeastern France.
• In advanced recycling, TotalEnergies announced in September 2020 the construction of one of France's first advanced recycling plants at its Grandpuits zero-crude platform southeast of Paris, in partnership with Plastic Energy. In 2022, TotalEnergies 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.
• In bioplastics, TotalEnergies is also a world leader through its joint venture with Corbion, which operates a plant in Thailand producing 75,000 tons per year of polylactic acid (PLA), a 100% bio-based, recyclable, and biodegradable bioplastic.

Furthermore, TotalEnergies is a founding member of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, which brings together around ninety companies, project partners, and supporters committed to implementing solutions to eliminate plastic waste in the environment, particularly in the oceans.