Sector News

Plastic has a problem; is chemical recycling the solution?

October 30, 2019
Energy & Chemical Value Chain

Business is taking off for Agilyx. Eighteen months ago, the small company opened a plant in Tigard, Oregon, that uses pyrolysis to break down about 10 metric tons (t) per day of polystyrene waste into its starting material, styrene.

Big chemical companies have since been beating a path to Agilyx’s door. Ineos Styrolution plans to use Agilyx’s technology to build a plant in Channahon, Illinois, that will process 100 t of polystyrene waste per day.

And the Tigard plant itself is now part of a joint venture with the polystyrene maker Americas Styrenics. The two firms are close to announcing a new plant, with 50 t per day of capacity, in the western US. Trinseo and Ineos Styrolution are planning yet another Agilyx depolymerization plant in Europe.

“This last year and a half has been very frenetic,” says Joseph Vaillancourt, Agilyx’s CEO. “Lots of opportunities; very exciting. There is still a lot coming that we haven’t disclosed yet.”

Agilyx, Vaillancourt says, is working with 30 companies in total on projects at various stages of development, including efforts in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and acrylic depolymerization. He plans to unveil three new polystyrene depolymerization plants in the coming months.

> Read the full article on the Chemical & Engineering News website

By Alexander H. Tullo

Source: Chemical & Engineering News

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