Cyclyx, ExxonMobil and LyondellBasell are teaming up to address what they see as ‘a critical missing link in the plastic waste supply chain’. The three companies have announced that they have signed an agreement to establish a new plastic waste sorting and processing facility in the Houston area. The Cyclyx Circularity Center will connecting community recycling programmes with a wider range of recycling technologies than conventional sorting centers are able to, producing feedstock for both mechanical and advanced recycling.
“With our capability to accept and process a wide range of waste plastics based on their chemistry profile which we custom blend to the needs of our customers, we are creating a new set of recycling options for difficult-to-recycle waste plastics that today are sent to landfill,” said Joe Vaillancourt, CEO of Cyclyx.
The circularity center will be located in the Greater Houston area, with commercial start-up expected in 2024.
“With this new facility, we are making a substantial investment in plastic waste sorting infrastructure to accelerate our advanced recycling efforts in Baytown and along the Gulf Coast,” said Dave Andrew, vice president of new market development at ExxonMobil.
The facility will be designed to produce 150,000 metric tons or 330 million pounds of plastic feedstock per year, supplying ExxonMobil and LyondellBasell advanced recycling projects as well as mechanical recycling markets. Total investment for the first circularity center is estimated to be $100 million, contingent upon a final investment decision in early 2023. Additional circularity centers are under consideration on the Gulf Coast and other locations, according to Vaillancourt.
“We are growing our global recycling capacity and actively pursuing opportunities to help capture more plastic waste from landfills in order to make it suitable for recycling,” said Yvonne van der Laan, executive vice president of circular and low-carbon solutions at LyondellBasell. “This agreement is a perfect example of how collaboration across the value chain can help close the gaps to make a circular economy possible, such as access to plastic waste feedstock.
Cyclyx International, LLC is a post-use plastic innovation company working with industry participants to develop innovative recycling solutions for all types of post-use plastics. Cyclyx was founded by Agilyx Corporation, a leader in advanced chemical recycling, together with ExxonMobil. Cyclyx has been formed to be a consortium-based entity and since its founding there have been a growing number of companies joining its membership.