Aduro Clean Technologies Inc. (ACT-CN) has forged a partnership with French petroleum and energy giant TotalEnergies (TTE-N), to test a new recycling technology on difficult-to-recycle plastic waste.

London, Ont.-based Aduro has developed Hydrochemolytic Technology (HCT), which breaks down long carbon chains in water through chemical catalysts. It can be used to turn plastics that are currently difficult to recycle into a liquid form, and produce fuels from bitumen or vegetable and animal fats.

Following technical evaluations by TotalEnergies the two companies will enter a research and development collaboration phase, according to a release. The focus will be on a wider range of waste plastics, particularly those with higher concentrations of contaminants such as metals, polyurethane and polyolefins.

The tests will seek to set parameters to manage the waste, optimize the process design and operating conditions, accelerate technology development and lay the foundation for commercialization. HCT could, for example, be integrated into refining and petrochemical platforms.

TotalEnergies will provide financial and technical support.

Sustainable Biz Canada reached out to Aduro for additional comment, but did not get a reply.

“Our collaboration with TotalEnergies represents a significant milestone in developing a practical and scalable commercial process for converting plastic waste into valuable feedstocks. This aligns perfectly with our strategic goal to work with global industry leaders towards a commercial process,” Ofer Vicus, CEO of Aduro, said in the release.

Helping TotalEnergies’ sustainability targets

TotalEnergies, headquartered in the Paris suburb of Courbevoie, is an oil supermajor and was one of the largest public companies in the world in 2023 according to Forbes.

In its 2024 sustainability and climate report, TotalEnergies says it has set targets to:

• reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from energy it supplies to its customers by 25 per cent by 2030 compared to 2015;
• valorize over 70 per cent of its waste; and
• produce one megatonne of circular polymers per year in 2030.

Other aims include increasing the percentage of circular feedstocks (food wastes such as used oils and animal fats) used in its biofuel production to over 75 per cent by 2024, and producing 1.5 megatonnes of sustainable aviation fuel per year by 2030.

Aduro’s other relationships within the oil and gas industry include working with Prospera Energy Inc. on a pilot project for bitumen, and being selected by the Shell GameChanger program to produce sustainable naphtha cracker feedstock from waste polyethylene and polypropylene.