Agilyx has launched a new business venture to source and supply plastic waste feedstock for the European chemical recycling industry.
Called Plastyx, the company is a 60:40 joint venture between the US-based chemical recycler and Circular Resources, a Luxemburg-based company founded by former Plastic Energy CEO Carlos Monreal.
The company’s near-term goal is to source and execute memorandums of understanding for 200,000 tonnes of plastic waste by the end of 2025.
The partners said Plastyx is designed to offer the European chemical recycling industry reliable, high-quality feedstock for food-grade and other high-performance packaging applications.
"I am excited to start this new phase,” said Carlos Monreal. “After developing advanced recycling facilities as chairman and CEO of Plastic Energy and investing in recycling collection programs through my investment in GreenDot, the natural, next step is to focus on feedstock sourcing. Partnering with Agilyx provides a unique opportunity to scale our joint vision.”
Monreal stepped down as CEO of UK-based chemical recycler Plastic Energy in March 2024, after 13 years in the role. He remains the company’s chairman. Through Circular Resources, he fully acquired Germany’s Green Dot group of waste management and recycling companies in 2022.
Agilyx and ExxonMobil formed Cyclyx International, a plastic waste feedstock management company, in 2021. LyondellBasell has also joined the joint venture as a founding member. Cyclyx is building a circularity centre to in Houston, Texas, with capacity to produce around 136,000 tonnes of plastic feedstock for chemical and mechanical recycling, with ExxonMobil and LyondellBasell holding offtake rights. That first facility is expected to start operations in mid-2025, with plans for a second centre in the works.
The new venture marks Cyclyx’s entry into the European market.
“Agilyx is committed to building an international sourcing platform to support our interests in Cyclyx,” added Ranjeet Bhatia, CEO of Agilyx. "Carlos is a leader in our field and has unparalleled understanding of the [chemical] recycling industry. By linking Cyclyx's industry-leading feedstock management capabilities with Plastyx, through Agilyx's shared ownership interest, we are launching an exciting first mover in this critical market segment.”
Agilyx has developed a propriety pyrolysis technology for polystyrene called Styrenyx. The technology is deployed in a PS chemical recycling plant in Japan, operated by Denka and Toyo Styrene.
Together with US-based AmSty, Agilyx operated the world’s first commercial-scale chemical recycling facility for PS in Tigard, Oregon, between 2019 and 2024. The joint-venture, called Regenyx, shut down in March 2024 after having lost $4.5 million since 2021.