PureCycle Technologies has opened a new plant at in the US state of Ohio, which will use technology patented by P&G to produce recycled plastics.
The facility will allow consumers to purchase more products made from recycled plastic. It uses P&G's recycling method to eliminate odor, contaminants, and color from one of the world's most common plastics.
The new technology has been be developed at P&G’s R&D facilities and has been licensed to PureCycle, a portfolio company Innventure.
At the new plant, PureCycle will test and calibrate the polypropylene (PP) recycling process. Operations at the plant are expected to start in early 2018 and the full-scale plant will open in 2020.
PureCycle was founded in 2015 and is claimed to be the only that possesses technology to be able to meet the demand of polypropylene recycling.
According to a report by Transparency Market research, the global PP market is presently valued at $80bn and is expected to reach $133bn by 2023.
PP can be found in several products ranging from automobile interiors, food and beverage packaging, consumer good packaging, electronics, construction materials, home furnishings, and many other products.
PureCycle Technologies CEO Mike Otworth said: "This is a case where a hundred-billion-dollar industry required new technology to meet a compelling, unmet need. Both manufacturers and consumers have signaled a strong preference for recycling plastics, which otherwise pollute oceans, landfills, and other natural places.
“Until now, recycled PP had limited applications. We're single-handedly removing those limitations and giving companies the choice to use more sustainable, recycled resins."
P&G chief technology officer Kathy Fish said: "Our approach to innovation not only includes products and packaging, but technologies that allow us and others to have a positive impact on our environment.
“This technology, which can remove virtually all contaminants and colors from used plastic, has the capacity to revolutionize the plastics recycling industry by enabling P&G and companies around the world to tap into sources of recycled plastics that deliver nearly identical performance and properties as virgin materials in a broad range of applications."
