Ineos launches advanced recycled plastic production in France

REceiving pyrolysis oil. Picture: INEOS

INEOS Olefins & Polymers in Lavera, Southern France, has received the first deliveries of an innovative feedstock made from recycling plastic waste. This product, called pyrolysis oil, will be used to manufacture recycled polymers, helping its customers meet the EU requirements for food contact, medical and sensitive plastic packaging to have a minimum of 10% recycled content by 2030.

These new grades will help satisfy stringent EU regulatory requirements for other demanding applications such as caps and closures, milk bottles, and water pipes.

The pyrolysis oil is made in Europe from post-consumer plastic packaging waste that cannot be processed by mechanical recycling. This process of making pyrolysis oil is called advanced recycling. The pyrolysis oil will be used in the cracker to make recycled ethylene and propylene for conversion into virgin-quality, recycled polyethylene and polypropylene in the INEOS polymer plants located in Lavera and Sarralbe (FR), and Rosignano (IT).

The renewable nature of these products is independently certified under the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification scheme (ISCC PLUS), which validates that any renewable feedstocks have been tracked through the production process using mass balance principles, and that all renewable and recycled claims are accurate.

Advanced Recycling enables the production of end products that can be recycled again and again, bringing true circularity to consumer products. This technology ensures plastic does not end up in landfill or incineration, and reduces the use of fossil based raw materials.

Located 30 miles west of Marseille, the Lavera site is one of the largest petrochemicals sites in Europe. The cracker and polymer plants have been wholly owned by INEOS since April 2024.