The Spanish energy and petrochemicals company is investing €26 million in the additional line, which will manufacture high-density and low-density polyethylene, with a recycled content of 10% and 80%. The plastics will be used to make rigid and flexible packaging for non-food uses, such as containers for cleaning products or sacks. 

The project is aligned with recent European and Spanish regulations that set a target of 30% recycled content for plastics packaging by 2030.

In addition, Repsol will start up a polyurethane foam recovery plant at Puertollano this year. The facility will be first of its kind in Spain and the Iberian Peninsula, the Madrid-based group said. 

Repsol has initiated several circular economy initiatives in recent years. One of these is a project with integrated waste management and recovery company Acteco to raise capacity for recycled polyolefins at the latter’s plant in Alicante, as well as another with Enerkem and Agbar to build Iberia’s first waste-to-chemicals plant in Tarragona.

The Spanish project, called Ecoplanta, will process about 400,000 t/y of non-recyclable municipal solid waste and produce 220,000 t/y of methanol, which will be used as feedstock to produce circular materials or advanced biofuels. The plant is scheduled to go into operation in 2025. Repsol acquired a minority stake in Canada’s Enerkem last April.

Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist