MOSCOW (MRC) -- PureCycle Technologies, Inc., the innovative recycled polypropylene (PP) producer, has reached an agreement with The Augusta Economic Development Authority to build its first US cluster facility to produce ultra-pure recycled polypropylene (rPP) from waste PP, according to BF.
The 200-acre location in Augusta Corporate Park will create over 80 manufacturing jobs with an initial USD440 million investment to primarily fund three lines of 130 million pounds of capacity during Phase 1 of the project. Augusta-Richmond County was selected based on feed and product delivery supply-chain efficiencies, community support, a skilled labor market, and Georgia’s business-friendly environment.
“We’re delighted to be working with the Augusta Economic Development Authority to establish our next polypropylene purification facility,” said PureCycle CEO Mike Otworth. “Demand for high quality recycled polypropylene is continuing to outpace supply as brands seek sustainable materials for their products. Our Augusta operation will be pivotal in our quest to help solve for the plastics waste crisis.”
PureCycle uses licensed proprietary technology to recycle waste PP into ultra-pure recycled-PP for applications spanning consumer goods, automotive, building and construction, and industrial uses. The company can process a wide range of waste PP with varying levels of contamination.
The Augusta plant will enhance PureCycle’s ability to deliver product at scale with a robust process designed to produce 130mm pounds per year, per processing line, with expansion capacity to construct up to 5 processing lines within Augusta Corporate Park. The company plans to reach one billion pounds of production across its network by 2025, where it will produce virgin-like rPP from PP.
Construction of the company’s flagship Ironton, OH recycling facility is well underway and has already pre-sold more than 20 years of output.
As MRC reported earlier, in May 2020, Total has signed an agreement with PureCycle Technologies to develop a strategic partnership in plastic recycling. As part of the agreement, Total undertakes to purchase part of the output of PureCycle Technologies’ future facility in the United States and to assess the interest of developing a new plant together in Europe. PureCycle Technologies uses an innovative, patented technology to separate color, odor and any other contaminants from plastic waste feedstock to transform it into virgin-like rPP. The company, which was to begin construction on its first plant in Ohio (USA) last year, will produce 48,000 tons of rPP.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 607,8900 tonnes in January-May 2021, up by 33% year on year. Shipments of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas deliveries of PP random copolymers decreased.
MRC