Dow has announced an agreement with French recycling company Valoregen to contribute to building the largest single hybrid recycling site in France, to be owned and operated by Valoregen.
Valoregen will build the largest single hybrid recycling site in Damazan, France, which will have capacity to process up to 70 kilotons of plastic waste per year. Dow will be the main off-taker of post-consumer resins (PCR) from Valoregen’s new plant. In the future, the site will uniquely combine advanced and mechanical recycling facilities in one ecosystem.
The project, which is expected to be operational and delivering recycled materials at the end of Q1 2023, will mark an important step in bringing together mechanical recycling (which processes certain plastic waste into secondary products) and newer, advanced recycling processes (which breaks down mixed, hard-to-recycle plastics into their original naphtha-like liquid form to manufacture new virgin-like polymers).
By bringing these technologies under one roof, the plant will increase energy efficiency by enabling a yield greater than 80%, well above the average conventional mechanical recycling efficiency of approximately 60-70% – minimizing waste – thanks to a smart energy management system. Valoregen will also reduce the overall carbon emissions produced from these processes as it strives to limit the transportation of waste products to different sites.
