Founded in 2019 by Maxime Lepinay, Crymirotech fits naturally into the vast field of materials recycling and the circular economy. The company’s founder, an experienced engineer with a background in Airbus and Lactalis, has worked in process engineering and optimization from the outset. His experience with major international groups has given him a global vision of waste management and recovery, in the context of CSR policies and low-carbon strategies. His experience in product lifecycle analysis (LCA) has enabled him to build up a methodology and a benchmark for LCA in order to quantify the environmental impacts of the products analyzed during all phases of their lifecycle, from the extraction of raw materials to end-of-life disposal, via the distribution and use phases. Its primary objective has always been to transform materials according to the concept of green chemistry. Often confronted with technological obstacles or processes that still had too great an impact on the environment, he turned his attention, in the spirit of a circular economy, to the development of new chemical catalysts, without the need for pyrolysis. This is where Crymirotech’s genesis came into being, moving from the ideation phase to conceptualization and then prototype. After winning a number of innovation awards and obtaining substantial funding from the Haut de France region and BPI, this support enabled Crymirotech, in just 5 years, to develop a patented solution, unique in the world, for new-generation thermolysis based on ionic liquids.
This new industrial process will revolutionize the waste management sector, providing a disruptive solution for converting all types of non-inert waste into primary raw chemiclas, i.e. monomers. Crymirotech’s basic MELTA-1 solution is particularly effective and interesting for avoiding the incineration and landfilling of plastic waste. It can transform 40 tonnes of all types of waste per day into useful monomers for industry (e.g. ethylene, propylene, etc.).
Crymirotech is the first company in the world to produce a carbon-free primary material from the circular economy.
Even if our depolymerization technology can treat any industrial waste or waste from sorting plants, our priority is to treat plastic, of which only 23% is currently recycled in France and 9% worldwide, the rest being incinerated, landfilled or dumped in open dumps, some of which ends up in the oceans.
If we look at the linear production cycle of plastics, from oil extraction to incineration or landfill to the production of polyethylene (PE), the environmental impact of Crymirotech’s circular cycle is unquestionable.
Per tonne of linear PE produced, the tonne of PE recycled by Crymirotech saves up to 65% of energy, 2.2 tonnes of water and avoids up to 4 tonnes of CO emissions2 .
In view of the continuing growth of the plastics market (+200% over the next 30 years), our aim is to limit its impact, while enabling an unlimited circular process to be set in motion to produce a “decarbonized primary material”, thus avoiding the constant extraction of oil to produce ethylene, which has a high environmental impact.
Growth in this market is strong due to the following factors:
- No other material can replace it,
- The world’s population continues to grow, as does life expectancy,
- Many developing countries are going through an industrial revolution, and access to better living conditions is correlated with the use of plastics (health, agri-food, various industries).
Even if new European policies aim to limit the use of plastics in packaging and promote greater use of mechanical sorting for recycling, this will not compensate for the growth in global demand.
On a European level, the issue of plastic waste recovery/recycling is set to become even more important as a recent EU law finally prohibits the shipment of our waste to countries outside the EU, while directing their systems towards short-circuit recycling.
The end of plastics is not yet in sight, as there is no conversion solution, but mitigation is possible, and some experts envisage a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of between 6% and 5% over 30 years, which would limit the annual production of plastics to 1 billion tonnes in 2060 instead of the 1.2 billion envisaged.
That’s why part of our range is dedicated to the production of low-impact, decarbonized ethylene, but we’re also going to produce solutions for sequestering carbon, or producing high-value-added chemical intermediates, while separating out critical additives or metals.
Thanks to Crymirotech, waste becomes a strategic resource, enabling local authorities and manufacturers to reduce their impact, and governments to limit their dependence on imports by producing new, low-carbon primary materials locally, as part of the circular economy.
The world is suffering from its growth, its impact and its dependence on plastic, and Crymirotech is going to help improve it with its new-generation thermolysis.
