As part of its “Reciclex” project, Spanish energy and petrochemicals group Repsol (Madrid; www.repsol.com) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with two waste management companies, plastics recycling and recovery specialist Acteco Productos y Servicios (Alicante / Spain; www.acteco.net) and the authorised vehicle treatment facility Autodesguaces El Choque (San Martín del la Vega / Spain; www.elchoque.com), to recycle plastics from end-of-life vehicles. Repsol said the agreement will guarantee it a supply of homogeneous materials for trials with developing and commercialising polyolefins that contain a share of recyclate. Plans call for the polymers to be marketed for new applications, among other uses in Repsol’s polymer range supplied to the automotive industry.

The ultimate goal of the project aligned with the “Pact for a Circular Economy”, which Repsol entered in October 2017 with the Spanish environment and economy ministries and other industrial players, is to create a closed circular economy model for plastic waste within the country – see Plasteurope.com of 14.03.2018. The group said it “remains constantly focused” on the new economic model, also as part of its voluntary commitment to the “Plastics 2030” initiative of the European plastics manufacturers’ association PlasticsEurope (Brussels / Belgium; www.plasticseurope.org).