Technological watch

New Product from Agilyx Makes Fully Recycled Plastic Production a Commercial Reality

Agilyx recently announced that they have expanded their circular plastic recycling capabilities to include feedstock for crackers useful in producing ethylene and propylene building blocks of virgin plastics. This achievement--enabling production of new plastic from waste plastic – is an efficient circular method for manufacturing feedstocks used for the production of polymers and brings a durable carbon cycle within commercial reach. In short, Agilyx's new product greatly expands the amount of waste mixed plastics that can now be diverted from landfills, further driving the circular economy for plastics and polymers.

“This expansion of our production capabilities is a significant step in addressing environmental issues associated from the evolving plastics industry,” says Joe Vaillancourt, Agilyx's chief executive officer. “Agilyx has spent many years combining a differentiated technology, demonstrating deep expertise in the chemical characterization and conversion of a wide variety of waste plastics and polymers into a broad set of fuels and chemical substrates. The company has made significant strides in producing a lower carbon footprint set of products and creating advancements to economic circular solutions. We are eager to provide sustainable and economic alternatives to the petrochemical industry and our growing set of strategic partners.”

Agilyx is an environmental technology and development company located in Tigard, Oregon, that extracts value from difficult-to-recycle mixed waste plastic streams. Fourteen years of research, waste plastic materials management, and commercial operations have led them to develop a broad set of new chemical recycling pathways capable of producing fuels and chemical substrates from waste plastics. As a result, its products average a 40 to 70 percent lower carbon footprint than traditional manufacturing for the same products. Beginning with its initial commercial product—a TSCA-registered synthetic crude produced from a broad range of difficult-to-recycle mixed waste plastics—Agilyx has continued to expand its technical platform to produce styrene oil. This included their building of the first commercial-scale facility capable of recycling otherwise non-recyclable polystyrene waste into a styrene monomer appropriate for manufacturing virgin polystyrene products, creating a true circular pathway for plastics otherwise destined for landfills.

Elsewhere at Agilyx, the company appointed David Aardsma and Graeme Burnett to its board of directors.

Aardsma is a seasoned waste and environmental industry executive with over 35 years of experience managing both core operations and driving new innovations. He most recently served at the executive general manager of Australia's largest waste management company, Cleanaway. Prior to this role, Aardsma served as chief sales and marketing officer at Waste Management, Inc.

“I am thrilled to be involved with Agilyx,” says Aardsma. “They are leading the way and making a real difference by creating a lower carbon footprint set of products while creating truly circular economy solutions for waste plastics and polymers.”

Burnett currently serves as senior vice president of fuel management for Delta Air Lines and is the chairman of Delta’s refinery subsidiary Monroe Energy. He is the former chief executive officer of Total Petrochemicals & Refining USA and was a former Agilyx board member when the company’s primary focus was on fuels. Agilyx is thrilled with Burnett's decision to rejoin their board now that they offer a comprehensive product line targeting low carbon fuels and chemical substrates.

"I'm excited to be associated with one of the first companies to develop a viable conversion process for recycling waste plastic," says Burnett. "Waste plastic is a problem on so many levels, so I'm proud to be part of the solution, helping Agilyx grow and improve the environment in a meaningful way.”

“I am pleased about the additions of David and Graeme to our Board,” says Joe Vaillancourt, Agilyx's chief executive officer. “As we advance and scale our platform, their collective expertise in the waste and recycling industry as well as the petrochemical industry will be invaluable to our growth. Both professionals share deep domain expertise and success in their respective fields. We are very excited that they have joined us in our journey.”

Publication date: 24/09/2018

Plastics Engineering

This project has been co-funded with the support of the LIFE financial instrument of the European Union [LIFE17 ENV/ES/000438] Life programme

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Last update: 2022-01-31