Valoregen will collaborate with an American giant

Valuegen? It’s hard not to notice the name of this pioneering company imagined by Thierry Perez which has chosen to grow in the Damazan eco-park (the production unit will occupy 8,900 m2). An investment of 17 million euros, 45 direct jobs created, Valoregen has been making headlines in the circular economy world for several months.
It has the ambition to become the first plastics recycler with a carbon neutral footprint. It has developed an innovative technology for the recycling of flexible polyethylene by combining mechanical recycling and chemical recycling.
Valoregen is still in a construction phase. The teams were in Italy last week to recover the cars. “The start of mechanical recycling operations is scheduled for November 2023,” confides Thierry Perez when a collaboration with Zeolyst International, an American giant, is made public.

A new era

“Behind Zeolyst, Thierry Perez slips, there are oil companies like Shell and Ineos”. Zeolyst International is one of the world’s leading suppliers of catalysts.
Catalysts, what is aquò? Explanation of the founder of Valoregen: “Catalysts are used all over the world. In the petrochemical industry, they are used in oil refining and in the processing of various fuels. They are used to make plastic. And to underline the ongoing revolution: “Until now, in the petrochemical economy, these catalyst producers were very much oriented towards fossil fuels (auto fuel, jet fuel). And here, after years of R&D (Research and Development), they are entering a new era of preparing catalysts to deconstruct plastic to put it back into circulation as oil”. There is a technological prowess here at the level of assembling molecules.

“We will only do it with French funds”

The exclusive R-LowGen patented technology developed by Valoregen – consists of the production of plastic oils – uses catalysts. All the planets were therefore aligned for a collaboration to exist between Zéolyst and the Damazan company. The goal of this collaboration is to integrate next-generation catalysts into Valoregen’s disruptive technology. The market is nascent. “Valoregen technology is considered very promising for tomorrow’s market,” says Thierry Perez. Americans are interested in us. It is gratifying and it is good news for Lot-et-Garonne”.
This collaboration between Zéolyst and Valoregen is only an R&D and product development contract. “We refuse to take any stake in Valoregen because we are French, we want to remain so and we have been financed with public money, assures Thierry Perez. As long as I can, believe me, we will only do it with French funds”.

A decidedly attractive company

“We have a tremendous opportunity to help our customers meet the ever-changing needs of the global economy for clean energy and the circularity of plastics,” said Lucy Innes, vice president of sales and marketing at Zeolyst International. She added, “Our partnership with Valoregen is extremely exciting and we look forward to demonstrating the value of our Zeolite technology in their advanced plastic recycling process.” Valoregen is certainly an interesting company. A year ago it signed a commercial partnership with the American chemical company Dow, world leader in petrochemicals, for a material supply contract for up to 10 years. In fact, the new Valoregen plant will have a long-term processing capacity of 70,000 t/year of plastic waste that Dow will use to develop new circular plastics.