Plastics and recycling company Loop Industries selects site in France for first European Infinite Loop facility

Montreal-based plastic recycling firm Loop Industries Inc. plans to build a factory in northern France with French waste management company Suez SA, and the two companies have secured exclusive rights until June 2022 to purchase a 130,000-square-meter parcel of land in Port-Jérôme-sur-Seine, in the region of Normandy.

The purchase price for the land is approximately 1.3 million euros, Loop officials said in a Jan. 16 news release, and the plant will focus on manufacturing recycled PET and polyester fiber.

According to the news release, the site is strategically located for waste plastic feedstock transportation via the Seine River from the Paris region and is well located to service the large French CPG brand companies. “Port-Jérôme was selected after an extensive review of several dozen potential sites across Europe,” the news release said. “The Normandy region offers a skilled labour pool, favorable logistics and a supportive regional government which has articulated a clear vision of a more sustainable future focused on the circular economy.”

The capital investment required for the project is expected to be 250 million euros and the project is expected to create 180 full-time manufacturing and engineering jobs. The next major steps for the project include permitting, finalizing customer offtake agreements and financing, including support from the French government, Loop said.

Following the completion of permitting, construction of the facility is expected to begin in 2023, with commissioning approximately 18 months later.

“The Infinite Loop manufacturing model is designed to produce 70,000 tonnes of PET resin made from 100 per cent recycled content per year,” the news release said. “The facility will provide an opportunity for global CPG brands based in France to accelerate the achievement of their sustainability objectives by gaining access to locally produced virgin-quality PET plastic and polyester fiber made entirely from waste material.”

At full capacity, Loop said, the facility is projected to save over 255,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually, when compared to virgin PET resin made from fossil fuels. “This CO₂ reduction is comparable to the emissions from over 108 million liters of gasoline or over 1 billion kilometers driven by an average passenger vehicle,” the company said. “The majority of the incoming waste plastic feedstock for the facility is currently not recycled and contributes to the waste plastic pollution problem.”

According to Loop, the Infinite Loop France manufacturing facility will create circularity in plastic packaging for leading global consumer brands based in France, including Danone, L’Oréal and L’Occitane, and help them hit their targets for using recycled plastic content.