Technip Energies, Alterra and Neste Launch Nerea™ — Standardized Modular Solution for Plastic Chemical Recycling
Paris, June 29, 2026 — Technip Energies (PARIS:TE), Alterra and Neste today announced the commercial launch of Nerea™, a new type of industrial offering designed to accelerate the deployment of chemical recycling projects for plastic waste worldwide. By transitioning from bespoke engineering to a standardized product model, Nerea™ enables waste operators, project developers, refining and petrochemical players to scale circular plastic production with enhanced predictability.
The Challenge: Scaling Chemical Recycling
Global plastics production has nearly doubled over the past two decades, reaching approximately 431 million tonnes in 2024. Circularity rates are not keeping pace with continuing consumption growth, resulting in significant volumes of plastic waste still ending up in incinerators, landfills or released into the environment. Meanwhile, regulatory developments in Europe and elsewhere are driving stronger demand for recycled and circular feedstocks.
The Nerea™ Solution
Nerea™ builds on the collaboration agreement signed by the three partners in November 2024, bringing together:
- Alterra’s thermochemical liquefaction technology — demonstrated over more than five years of continuous commercial operation, processing real-world plastic waste streams
- Neste’s chemical recycling expertise — including the world’s largest upgrading unit by capacity at the Porvoo, Finland refinery
- Technip Energies’ engineering, project delivery and modularization capabilities
Key Advantages of the Standardized Modular Approach
| Benefit | Description |
|---|---|
| Minimized pre-investment | Standardized design reduces upfront engineering costs |
| Reduced project complexity | Pre-engineered modules simplify execution |
| Cost & schedule certainty | Predictable CAPEX/OPEX and timeline |
| Rapid deployment | Modules designed for various industrial environments |
| Proven technology base | 5+ years of Alterra’s commercial operation data |
The Nerea™ plant converts heterogeneous and hard-to-recycle plastic waste into high-quality feedstock for the petrochemical industry.
Executive Quotes
Julie Cranga, SVP Carbon Capture & Circularity Product Line at Technip Energies:
“With Nerea™, we are bringing together with our partners a proven technology, feedstock expertise and industrial delivery in a standardized offering, ready to deploy at scale. We are now pleased to offer Nerea™ to our customers, and provide them with greater predictability and performance in development, investment and operations phase, helping to accelerate chemical recycling worldwide.”
Fred Schmuck, Chief Executive Officer at Alterra:
“Nerea™ reflects a shared vision among our three companies: making circular solutions easier to deploy at industrial scale. By combining proven technology, industrial expertise and a standardized delivery model, we’re helping reduce the barriers that have traditionally slowed the growth of chemical recycling. Together with Technip Energies and Neste, we’re creating a more predictable and scalable pathway for transforming difficult-to-recycle plastics into valuable feedstocks for a circular economy.”
Lars Peter Lindfors, Senior Vice President Technology & Innovation at Neste:
“Neste’s recently started upgrading unit in the Porvoo, Finland refinery is the world’s largest by capacity. We know how to turn low-quality raw materials into high-quality solutions and look forward to supporting industry scale-up with robust and easy-to-deploy technology to meet our own and others’ increasing demand for liquefied waste plastic.”
Resources
About the Companies
Technip Energies is a leading engineering and technology company for the energy transition, with leadership positions in LNG, hydrogen, ethylene and circular solutions.
Alterra solves plastic pollution through Infinitely Renewed Plastics™, converting plastics back into their original building blocks at their Akron, Ohio showcase facility.
Neste creates solutions for combating climate change and accelerating a shift to a circular economy, refining waste, residues and innovative raw materials into renewable fuels and sustainable feedstock.
Source: Technip Energies press release, June 29, 2026