The chemical company and recycling company plan to build the largest hybrid recycling plant at Damazan in France.
The plant, which would be operational by the end of the first quarter of 2023, is said to process 70,000 tons of plastic waste into recyclate per year. Mechanical and chemical recycling processes are to be used. By combining the processes under one roof, owner and operator Valoregen aims to increase the energy efficiency of the mechanical plant. With an intelligent energy management system, the plant should reportedly be able to achieve a yield of more than 80 percent. The main customer for the recyclates produced will be Dow. The chemical company plans to use them to develop new plastic products that will be marketed under the Revoloop brand name. Dow and Valoregen plan to establish additional hybrid recycling sites that will use chemical recycling in addition to mechanical recycling. Thierry Perez, president of Valoregen, explains, "Valoregen's goal is to create an ecosystem that can recycle all kinds of plastic waste in one place. Both recycling technologies complement each other and are essential for Dow to fulfill its commitment to incorporate at least 100,000 annual tons of recycled material into its compounds sold in the European Union by 2025." Fabrice Digonnet, head of mechanical recycling strategy at Dow Packaging & Specialty Plastics, adds, "Recycling rates for plastics are far too low. We need to work on broadening our recycling technologies and making post-consumer plastic waste marketable. Our investment in Valoregen will help promote the circular economy for plastics while reducing CO2 emissions."