The American Chemistry Council (ACC) has formed a group to promote plastics-to-oil technology, which a number of firms have been exploring to monetize material, including e-plastics, that would otherwise be sent to landfills.
Housed inside ACC’s Plastics Division, the Plastics-to-Oil Technologies Alliance will work to support public policy and awareness efforts within the plastics-to-oil landscape. The group’s founding members include Agilyx Corporation (of Beaverton, Oregon), Cynar Plc (London) and RES Polyflow (Akron, Ohio).
Those companies and others have been investing in methodologies that convert plastics into petroleum-based energy sources. E-plastics, which can be problematic to recycle due to the presence of brominated flame retardants, could emerge as an ideal fit for the technology.
“Used plastics are a valuable resource that should be recycled whenever possible,” Steve Russell, vice president of plastics for the American Chemistry Council, said in a press release. “But when recycling isn’t an economically or environmentally feasible option, there is enormous potential to transform used plastics into energy to help power America’s homes, businesses and communities.”
The plastics-to-oil concept has grabbed the attention of many in the waste and environmental sectors in recent years, but it’s also struggled to prove profitable. One firm, JBI, closed an Ontario facility last summer in a cost-cutting effort.
Last week Ohio-based Vadxx Energy announced it had secured financing for a facility in Akron that will have a plastics-to-energy capacity of 60 tons per day. The site is scheduled to begin operation in 2015.