PureCycle Reaches Major Milestone in Advanced Recycling Journey

PureCycle Technologies has achieved what it is calling a major milestone — the first run of Ultra-Pure Recycled (UPR) resin from post-industrial recycled material at commercial scale. It’s the first step in operating the flagship polypropylene (PP) purification facility in Ironton, OH, said PureCycle.

The run of post-industrial material allowed PureCycle's manufacturing team to test the core technology concepts across various operating conditions. Once fully operational, the Ironton facility is projected to have an annual production capacity of 107 million pounds of UPR resin.

PureCycle's technology is designed to purify waste polypropylene, regardless of the shape or size of the recyclate or the contaminants it may contain. The resulting UPR resin, according to PureCycle, has properties similar to virgin material and is 100% recyclable. The Ironton facility is projected to use 79% less energy than is typically consumed in the production of virgin PP resin. It's also estimated to release 35% fewer carbon emissions than new PP manufacturing.

"This is a momentous achievement for all of the stakeholders that believed in us, for PureCycle, and most importantly, our planet,” said CEO Dustin Olson in announcing the commercial-scale run. “No one here today will ever forget the feeling when the commercial scale pellets were produced for the first time. With this major milestone complete, we have demonstrated that the fundamental technology works as expected, and at scale. This is another important step in our mission toward helping to solve the plastic waste crisis. We will now build upon this accomplishment to optimize our process in order to demonstrate our technology across a variety of operating conditions and feedstocks."

Documentation of the milestone will be submitted to the site's independent construction monitor for formal certification of completion. The certification is required to achieve a key milestone in connection with PureCycle's Ironton financing.