An established chemical recycling company broke ground on its first facility in the U.S. The upcoming plant will be capable of recycling 200 million pounds of post-consumer PET each year.
German company revalyu Resources plans to spend $200 million on the project, located in Statesboro, Ga. The facility will make use of glycolysis, a process that uses enzymes to break down material.
The terms “chemical recycling” and “advanced recycling” generally refer to a wide array of processes that use heat, pressure and solvents to break down the molecular chains of polymers into liquids or gasses that can then be processed into fuels, oils, waxes, new plastics or other chemical products.
The technology has already been used to process 6 billion bottles in India, a press release noted.
The project, first announced in December of 2022, was initially billed as a $50 million investment, according to a local news report.
Jan van Kisfeld, managing director of revalyu, said the company plans to recycle 25 million plastic bottles per day at the Georgia facility when it comes on-line in the third quarter of 2025.
“Our first plant in the U.S. is a very important step for the expansion of our company,” van Kisfeld said in the press release. “Our existing and future U.S. customers have a huge demand.”
