TotalEnergies has joined NEXTLOOPP, an initiative bringing together 47 companies from the plastics value chain that aims to create food-grade recycled polymer from advanced mechanical recycling.

Launched in October 2020 by Nextek Ltd, NEXTLOOPP is a global multiparticipant and award-winning project with the objective to produce high-quality recycled polypropylene that is suitable for food-grade applications and made from post-consumer packaging material.

The project deploys pioneering technology to efficiently and cost-effectively sort food-grade polypropylene (PP) from post-consumer material and then decontaminate the polymer to comply with stringent food-grade standards. NEXTLOOPP has recently completed a landmark study of background contamination of post-consumer PP packaging for its submissions to food safety authorities in Europe (EFSA), in the United States (USFDA), and in the United Kingdom (UK FSA).

TotalEnergies is committed to the development of a circular economy for plastics and to meeting the growing customer demand for high-quality recycled polymers. In that context, TotalEnergies will leverage this technological partnership to accelerate the feasibility review of advanced mechanical recycling projects targeting food contact and further expand its recently launched RE:use polymers range which contains mechanically recycled raw materials.

“We are delighted to join and support the NEXTLOOPP project, alongside other major industry players,” said Nathalie Brunelle, Senior Vice President Polymers at TotalEnergies. “This initiative will allow us to go one step further in developing technologies to produce food-grade recycled material from advanced mechanical recycling and broaden our options for projects that contribute to our ambition to produce 30% circular polymers by 2030.”

Professor Edward Kosior, founder and CEO of Nextek Ltd and NEXTLOOPP says: ”The whole of the NEXTLOOPP project is strengthened by TotalEnergies’ adding to the programme their extensive technical capabilities in creating circular solutions for PP resins. They contribute to the growing body of expertise in controlling the properties and formulation of their range of both virgin and recycled PP for a myriad of applications.”

About TotalEnergies and Polymers

TotalEnergies develops, produces, and commercializes polymers — polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, their recycled equivalents, and biopolymers — that can be incorporated into the plastics manufacturing process. Lighter than many alternative materials, they help reduce the carbon footprint of end-use applications through enhanced energy efficiency. TotalEnergies’ polymers experts in Europe, Asia, and the United States of America are working alongside all the professionals in the value chain, including plastic manufacturers, research centers, waste collection, and sorting companies, and their customers to accelerate the circular economy. The Company is developing different plastic recycling processes and using renewable raw materials, with the ambition to produce 30% circular polymers by 2030.

About TotalEnergies

TotalEnergies is a global multi-energy company that produces and markets energies: oil and biofuels, natural gas and green gases, renewables, and electricity. Our more than 100,000 employees are committed to energy that is ever more affordable, cleaner, more reliable, and accessible to as many people as possible. Active in more than 130 countries, TotalEnergies puts sustainable development in all its dimensions at the heart of its projects and operations to contribute to the well-being of people.

About Nextek Ltd

Nextek is a global sustainability and technology consultancy that offers strategic advice to regional and multi-national organisations and recycling companies. Launched in 2004, Nextek researches and develops innovative strategies and processes within the recycling ecosystem – from designing recycling plants to developing ground-breaking projects for governments and major organisations. Nextek launched NEXTLOOPP, a multi-participant project, to close the loop on food grade (FGrPP). This project incorporates unique technological breakthroughs that include innovative sorting and cutting-edge decontamination technology.