An Integral Approach for High-value Applications and Circularity

TotalEnergies, a Global Leader in Polymers production

TotalEnergies’ Polymers Business Unit benefits from TotalEnergies’ integrated model, offering control over the supply from oil extraction to polymers production and making its assets robust to market fluctuations in a tough context.
TotalEnergies Polymers produces virgin and circular Polypropylene, Polyethylene and Polystyrene in 17 production sites worldwide for a total production capacity of 6.8 million tons per year.
TotalEnergies promotes high-value applications in which plastics play an essential role due to their specific properties, for example automotive, medical, or construction through pipes and insulation applications. TotalEnergies also develops assets based on advantaged feedstock such as gas: this is the case for its Baystar Joint-Venture with Borealis in Texas (USA), recently expanded in 2023, and for its next petrochemicals complex in Saudia Arabia, set for a start-up in 2027.
TotalEnergies’ Circular Ambition is to produce 1 million tons of circular polymers by 2030. To achieve this, TotalEnergies has launched its Re:clic range of circular polymers and keeps investing in new circular polymers production assets worldwide such as in Carling (new hybrid compound facility started-up in 2024) and Grandpuits (new plastics pyrolysis oil production being started-up in 2025).

TotalEnergies’ Integral Approach for polymers: Rethink the use, Reduce the impact, Recycle & Develop Circularity.

This approach concerns both our virgin and circular polymers: it is an answer to today’s challenges by working on uses and impacts of our polymers as well as to prepare for a circular economy for plastics by investing in circular polymers solutions.
Rethink the use is about:
o Promoting the use of polymers in durable and high-value applications such as pipes, automotive, construction or medical.
o Promoting ecodesign via differentiated technical solutions: Design for recyclability (monomaterial), avoiding loss to the environment (tethered caps), etc...
o This is enabled by innovative in-house solutions developed by our R&D
Reduce the impact is about:
o Reducing the environmental footprint of our production by reducing its energy consumption, the associated CO₂ emissions, and by preventing losses to the environment (Operation Clean Sweep program implementation).
o Reducing the environmental impact of our products is done through the development of polymers with improved properties which allow for a reduction in quantity used for a given application (downgauging); it is also achieved through the integration of circular feedstock (traceability insured via ISCC Plus certification).
o TotalEnergies provides its customers with Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) results to assess the environmental impact of its polymers
Recycle & Develop Circularity is about:
o Using the complementarity of both mechanical and advanced recycling technologies to divert more plastics from landfill and incineration.
o Developing the use of biopolymers by processing bio-naphtha from used cooking oil and producing Polylactic Acid (PLA) from sugar cane.