A new material that gives products a second life
Repsol Reciclex®: A circular material
The Repsol Reciclex® range encompasses both polyolefins and polyols. This range is made with different types of plastic waste that are incorporated into virgin polymers. To do this, various technologies are used so that the circular polymers maintain the same performance as virgen polymers, while ensuring the consistency of the material and its functionality for the final application.
With this new product range, we are extending our commitment to the circular economy and our value chain, while marketing innovative and more sustainable solutions.
As part of our Repsol Reciclex® range through the mechanical recycling of polyolefins, we can manufacture high-quality plastic raw materials that incorporate a percentage of post-consumer plastic, which is plastic that has reached its useful life and would otherwise end up as a wasted resource. These raw materials could be used for different final applications such as:
Car parts
Non-food packaging
Non-woven bags
Shrink film
Our Repsol Reciclex® circular polymers obtained through chemical recycling are produced using plastic that cannot be recycled in any other way and would otherwise end up in a landfill. This makes it possible to transform it into a new raw material that can be used to manufacture different products. As of today, all our petrochemical complexes have the ISCC Plus certification for the production of circular polyolefins. With this certification, we guarantee the traceability of the non-recoverable solid waste we introduce as secondary raw materials into our facilities, as well as the same quality and functionality of the equivalent virgin polymers.
These raw materials comply with the most stringent regulations for their application:
Medical applications
Cosmetic applications
Food packaging
With respect to polyols, the Repsol Reciclex® range will include a recycled polyol obtained through the chemical recycling of polyurethane waste.
We'll build Spain’s first chemical polyurethane foam recycling plant at our Puertollano Industrial Complex. It's expected to be operational in 2023, when we'll be able to start offering our customers a solution for incorporating circular polyols into their formulas.
This raw material can be used for comfort applications such as:
Couches
Mattresses
Our process for producing circular polyols
The Repsol Reciclex® polyol makes it possible to close the circular economy loop for the polyurethane foam in used mattresses. Its value proposition is mainly derived from various factors: it makes it possible to recycle a material that's harder to recycle than a thermoplastic, and at the same time, it reduces the recycled polyol's carbon footprint compared to one of fossil origin.
Strategic partnerships
Throughout this whole process, collaboration with the various key players in the value chain is fundamental, from the suppliers of the raw material that guarantee the plastic waste is high-quality to the developers of the technology, transformers, waste managers, and end customers.
Suppliers
Strategic partnerships to drive the circular economy, like one with the integrated management company for waste and plastic recycling, ACTECO, contribute to our goals of reducing our carbon intensity. We have been collaborating with ACTECO since 2018 to promote new circular economy models through the recovery of polymers that have reached the end of their useful life and their subsequent reincorporation into new, high value-added products in sectors like automotives, healthcare, construction and infrastructure, and packaging. The recycled product is incorporated into the Repsol Reciclex® range of polyolefins.
Technological developers
Among our collaborations with technology companies are one with Axens, a global technology supplier for industry, and IFP Energies Nouvelles (IFPEN), the world-renowned French institute for research and training in the field of energy, to develop and patent an innovative process that eliminates impurities from the pyrolisis oil of used plastics and boosts the production of circular materials.
The process, called Rewind Mix, will enable us to directly use the circular raw material in our facilities.
We also partner with Germany-based RAMPF Eco Solutions, which developed the technology we will put into use in our facilities for the chemical recycling of polyurethane. RAMPF Eco Solutions has vast experience in polymer recycling technologies and a recycled polyol portfolio.
Transformers
An example of one of our strategic partnerships with transformers is our collaboration with the companies Berry Superfos and Grupo Choví to promote circular packaging in the food sector, one of the industries with the most demanding safety and hygiene requirements. Repsol provides the polypropylene that Berry Superfos uses to manufacture its traditional Grupo Choví allioli containers. These new mortars contain 25% chemically-recycled material and will be 100% recyclable after their useful life.
Circular benefits
Classification by key lines and value chain
Our circular economy projects are aligned with the key lines of our strategy and are present throughout our entire value chain, from obtaining raw materials to commercializing products and services.
Find out more about our circular economy projects
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