$2 Billion Invested In Polypropylene (PP) Recycling Expansion!

According to Chemical & Engineering News, polypropylene recycling company PureCycle recently announced the launch of a $2 billion global expansion plan, with the goal of building multiple plants in Asia, Europe, and North America by 2030. This is aimed at further enhancing polypropylene recycling capacity to meet the global market demand for plastic recycling. The company had previously achieved commercial production in Ohio, USA, and successfully secured $300 million in financing.

PureCycle's recycling technology originates from a license granted by Procter & Gamble. It uses a supercritical butane solvent system to dissolve used polypropylene products (such as films, automotive parts, containers, etc.) and purifies the polymers to levels close to that of virgin materials. This technology overcomes the limitations of traditional mechanical recycling in terms of purity, providing critical support for the high-value utilization of polypropylene. According to the latest financial report, the company's first commercial plant located in Ohio achieved an operating rate of nearly 90% in the first quarter of this year, with revenue of $1.4 million, marking a key breakthrough in the technology's transition from laboratory to commercial application.

In the newly announced expansion plan, Pure-Cycle Company intends to build three new plants in Rayong, Thailand (located within the IRPC petrochemical complex), Antwerp, Belgium, and Georgia, USA, with a total investment of $2 billion. The plants are expected to be commissioned between 2027 and 2029. The annual production capacity of the Thailand and Belgium plants will each be 60,000 tons, while the Georgia plant will have an annual production capacity of 140,000 tons. The company plans to increase its global total production capacity to 450,000 tons per year by 2030, with an expected annual pre-tax profit of approximately $600 million.

Despite recent challenges faced by the plastic recycling industry, such as the bankruptcy of Brightmark's pyrolysis plant in Indiana and Braskem's exit from the recycling business in the Netherlands, PureCycle is moving forward with its expansion plan based on long-term policy and market assessments. Around 2030, Europe is expected to implement stricter regulations on recycled material content, which may continue to drive demand for recycled polymers. Bain & Company noted in its report that scaling chemical recycling has become a trend, and companies need to position themselves strategically within the value chain. Additionally, the increased investment by companies like Eastman Chemical in the depolymerization of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) further confirms that chemical recycling is becoming a consensus in the industry.