New recycling capacity in France : the impact of the A.D.I.VALOR ecosystem

AUTHOR : Ronan VANOT, General Director, A.D.I.VALOR & Florian CATANIA, Development and recycling, A.D.I.VALOR

What is the point of collecting plastics if they are not recycled? This question, vital for the future use of agricultural plastics, requires a pragmatic and exhaustive study of industrial recycling capacities in Europe, and in France in particular. Aware of this structural weakness, which is difficult and time-consuming to correct, the agricultural world and its suppliers have come together with A.D.I.VALOR to encourage industrial investment. Ronan Vanot and Florian Catania, managers of the eco-organisation, describe this success in detail.

In 2018, the ban on the export of plastic waste to China highlighted the lack of recycling capacity in Europe and in particular in France. While the political will for a circular economy was becoming more and more prevalent, plastic waste managers, including A.D.I.VALOR, found themselves in an almost insoluble situation and the sustainability of the system was at risk, due to the basic question: «What to do with the collected waste?»

Mulching films

A.D.I.VALOR has the particularity of not being an isolated company and the strength of the collective has always been the source of its success, through its shared governance between the different links of the system.

A strategic reflection on the different types of plastic waste and on the role that the A.D.I.VALOR sector could play in the creation of recycling capacities for those wastes, was carried out by mobilising all the stakeholders of A.D.I.VALOR, farmers, distributors and industrialists, obviously starting with the shareholders representing these professions.

Let’s start with the case of mulching films, plastic films made of low density polyethylene (LDPE) used by farmers for market gardening and which reduce the need for water or the use of phytosanitary products. These films are naturally heavily soiled, and their treatment for recycling involves specific cleaning operations. In 2018, the situation in China was compounded by the closure of the SOPAVE plant, which historically processed this waste stream for France. The treatment of these films thus found itself in competition with industrial films. Those films were far less soiled and initially exported to China, but also to recycling units in France or Europe where capacity was not sufficient to meet all the needs.

A.D.I.VALOR, supported by the industrialists through the Comité des Plastiques Agricoles (CPA), issued a call for expressions of interest in 2018 to develop a French unit capable of pre-cleaning those heavily soiled films so that they can find local recycling outlets. The application submitted by the company Europlastic was selected. Since then, with the support of the entire industry, a commitment to supply from A.D.I.VALOR and the investment of the A.D.I.VALOR team (through its Logistics and Recycling division, which includes a Research sector), the project has become a reality and Plasticlean will soon open a unit with an innovative process for treating and cleaning those heavily soiled films.

Silage bale wrap films

If we take the case of livestock films, the use of silage bale wrap, made of linear LDPE, is constantly increasing in France. Their use allows farmers to more easily ensure the conservation and supply of fodder to the animals. This has been particularly valuable this summer, in a record drought situation where grazing was challenging.

As the collection rates of these films were increasing, their processing capacity in France was becoming insufficient. A.D.I.VALOR, once again supported by the CPA, therefore issued a new call for expressions of interest in 2020 for a recycling unit for those films. The application submitted by Les Recycleurs Bretons was selected, and the company Neoplast was born, with which A.D.I.VALOR works closely. This recycling unit should see the light of day by 2024.

Discussions are also underway with a long-standing partner, the Suez group, which is planning to increase its recycling capacity for that type of film, which would bring capacity closer to needs due to the high tonnages collected.