Business
New Partnership To Tackle Europe’s Plastic Waste
Clean Planet Energy has joined forces with investment group, Andera Partners, with a plan to create three new ecoPlants in France.
This is significant news in the battle against climate change, as the recycling rate for plastic has been recorded as just 32.5 percent in the EU, with France lagging even further behind this number at just 24.2%.
Recent law changes mean that France is seeking to reach a 100 percent circular economy for plastics by 2025. With the first of these ecoPlants planned to open mid-2023, this is a timely boost for the nation.
According to a statement detailing the deal, the CPE ecoPlants that are planned will “provide an innovative solution to capturing thousands of tonnes of non-recyclable waste plastics per year (which would otherwise enter incineration or landfill, or be exported and potentially end up in our oceans), and converting this toxic waste into ultra-clean fuels and commodities to support green transport and circular plastics.”
Bertie Stephens, Clean Planet Energy’s CEO, discussed the importance of this deal.
He said: “In France, we will be developing ecoPlants that each convert over 20,000 tonnes of plastic a year into ultra-clean circular fuels. Each barrel of fuel will prevent around 400 kg of CO2e emissions entering our atmosphere.”
“Compared to fossil fuels, that’s over a 75% reduction. Together, these ultra-clean circular fuels will be used in industries within the marine, aviation, petrochemical and refining sectors, where green alternatives (such as electricity) simply do not exist. It’s an immediate solution to the climate catastrophe, powered by removing waste plastics from the land,” Mr Stephens added.
Private equity investors, Andera Partners, manage over €2.8 billion in investments.
Meanwhile, Clean Planet Energy is already involved in the construction of ecoPlants in the UK.