About Purecycle technologies
PureCycle Technologies: Revolutionizing the Plastic Recycling Industry
PureCycle Technologies is a company that has been making waves in the plastic recycling industry. Their innovative process offers a solution to one of the biggest challenges facing the industry today - how to recycle polypropylene (PP) plastic waste into high-quality, virgin-like resin.
The problem with PP recycling is that it is difficult to remove all impurities from used plastics, resulting in lower quality recycled materials. This has led to a situation where only about 1% of PP waste is recycled globally, with most of it ending up in landfills or oceans.
PureCycle's breakthrough technology changes this by using a proprietary solvent-based purification process that removes color, odor and other contaminants from post-consumer and post-industrial PP waste. The result is a pure white resin that has equal properties to virgin PP and can be used for any application where virgin material would be used.
What makes PureCycle's process unique is its ability to achieve this level of purity without using water or producing any hazardous waste. The closed-loop system recovers and recycles all solvents used in the process, making it both environmentally friendly and cost-effective.
The company was founded by Mike Otworth in 2015 after he saw an opportunity to apply his experience as an engineer at Procter & Gamble (P&G) towards solving the plastic waste problem. P&G became an early investor in PureCycle and has since signed on as a customer for their recycled resin.
Since then, PureCycle has attracted significant attention from investors and customers alike. In April 2021, they went public through a merger with Roth CH Acquisition II Co., raising $435 million in gross proceeds. They also announced plans to build their first commercial-scale plant in Ohio which will have an annual capacity of 105 million pounds of recycled PP resin.
The potential impact of PureCycle's technology on reducing plastic waste cannot be overstated. According to estimates by McKinsey & Company, if all global PP waste were recycled using PureCycle's technology instead of being sent to landfills or incinerated, it could reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to taking over two million cars off the road each year.
In addition, there are significant economic benefits associated with increased recycling rates such as reduced dependence on fossil fuels for new plastics production and job creation within the recycling industry itself.
Overall, PureCycle Technologies represents an exciting development for both environmentalists concerned about plastic pollution and investors looking for opportunities within sustainable industries. With their innovative technology poised for commercialization at scale, they are well-positioned to become leaders within the circular economy movement - completing the cycle by turning what was once considered "waste" into valuable resources once again.
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