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Ineos said it has received its first initial batch of pyrolysis oil (pyoil) produced from recycled post-consumer waste plastics for processing into olefins at its steam cracker in Lavera, France, as per company.
The specific volume of pyoil received was not given. The company’s Olefins & Polymers Europe business took delivery of the pyoil at Lavera and will use it to produce virgin-quality polymers, it said in an announcement on June 11.
The pyoil feedstock will be used to produce recycled ethylene and propylene for onward production of recycled polyethylene and polypropylene at the company’s polymer plants at Lavera and Sarralbe in France, and Rosignano in Italy, it said.
The recycled polymers produced will help Ineos customers meet incoming EU requirements for food contact, medical and sensitive plastic packaging to have a minimum of 10% recycled content by 2030, it said.
Ineos said part of the cracker at Lavera needed to be adapted to “enable production of these innovative materials from renewable naphtha made from sources such as biomass, organic waste, or recycled materials, alongside traditional feedstocks.”
The pyoil was produced in Europe using an advanced recycling process from waste plastic packaging that was not able to be processed by mechanical recycling, Ineos said. The company did not disclose details of the supplier of the pyoil.
Ineos said the renewable nature of the products will be independently certified under the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification scheme, ISCC Plus, which validates use of renewable feedstocks through the production process using mass balance principles.
The EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) has set ambitious circularity targets for recycling packaging waste for 2030 and 2040. Advanced recycling technologies will play “a critical role” in meeting growing demand for recycled materials needed to achieve minimum levels of recycled content in plastic packaging, according to Ineos.
Ineos took full ownership of the steam cracker and polymer plants at Lavera in April 2024 after buying the 50% equal stake of its partner TotalEnergies in the Naphtachimie, Appryl, Gexaro, and 3TC businesses at the site. The businesses had been operated as joint ventures by Ineos and TotalEnergies.
“While mechanical recycling remains essential, advanced recycling plays a critical role in expanding the potential for plastics recycling and closing the loop – particularly for high-performance applications,” said Rob Ingram, CEO of Ineos O&P Europe. “By converting our cracker in Lavera and securing access to pyrolysis oil, we are building the capability needed to produce virgin-quality polymers from recycled feedstocks.”
Ineos’ O&P Europe business has a nameplate production capacity for over 8.5 million metric tons per year of chemicals and polymers, produced at eight separate sites.
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