The two companies will test the conversion of hard-to-recycle plastic into food-grade quality plastic.

Ineos Olefins & Polymers Europe, which is based in Switzerland, and Plastic Energy, London, have announced that the two companies will work together on a trial to convert hard-to-recycle plastic material such as flexible packaging into food-grade quality plastic for use in food packaging and other high hygiene standard applications. The two companies say they have a shared goal to create a circular economy value chain in advanced recycling, also known as chemical recycling, to drive circularity for the next generation of food-grade recycled-content packaging.

According to a news release from Plastic Energy, the two companies plan to launch a preliminary trial on this recycling process in the first quarter of 2022 at the Ineos Grangemouth facility in Scotland. Plastic Energy uses its advanced recycling process to convert postconsumer plastic through a pyrolysis process into a liquid raw material called TACOIL for reuse in plastic production.

Petroineos, a refining and energy trading joint venture between PetroChina International London and Ineos, also is a partner in the project. The preliminary trial will use existing refinery operations to process TACOIL supplied by Plastic Energy, which already operates two recycling plants in Spain. Petroineos will supply recycled raw material to Ineos Olefins & Polymers Europe to be transformed into certified circular plastics.

The project is complementary to the existing use of mechanically recycled plastic by Ineos, according to Plastic Energy. The company reports that this preliminary trial and the evolution of the policy environment in the United Kingdom will determine whether the groups develop a large-scale advanced recycling plant in the U.K.

“We are pleased to announce this trial in Scotland, which exemplifies a strong partnership between companies working together to take big strides to reduce plastic waste in the U.K.,” says Carlos Monreal, founder and CEO of Plastic Energy. “Working with Ineos, we are pleased to see our advanced recycling technology being used as a core component to improve the circularity of packaging.”

Peter Grant, business director at Ineos Olefins & Polymers Europe, adds, “Turning end-of-life plastic into new food-grad quality packaging products makes environmental and commercial sense. This innovative trial is a further positive step towards eliminating waste and makes circular economy solutions possible. Advanced recycling adds to the existing initiatives within our product portfolio to make greater use of postconsumer material, while ensuring that sustainable solutions meet all safety, quality and performance in-use standards.”

Gov. Beshear says the aluminum producer will spend $167 on upgrades in Lewisport, Kentucky.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has announced Commonwealth Rolled Products Inc. will invest more than $167 million in its Lewisport aluminum rolling mill. That decades-old plant, currently owned by New York-based American Industrial Partners (AIP), includes a sizable cast house and melt shop as part of its 2.3 million-square-foot complex.

“This is an exciting time for the company, our customers, employees and the local community,” says Commonwealth CEO Mike Keown. “The investment will allow us to complete the over $750 million investment program we started in 2015 to make the Lewisport facility the most modern and cost-competitive automotive and common alloy sheet plant in the United States. I want to thank our owners, American Industrial Partners, the State of Kentucky and Hancock County for their support.”

Commonwealth Rolled Products was established in December 2020 following the acquisition of the Lewisport facility by AIP. The aluminum rolling mill, which most recently operated as Aleris Corp., was founded in Lewisport in 1966 as Harvey Aluminum. The facility produces aluminum rolled products for the automotive and industrial markets.

According to the governor’s office, Commonwealth’s investment “builds on the state’s existing 230-plus metals-related operations, which employ approximately 25,000 Kentuckians. In 2021, Kentucky’s metals industry has spurred over $1.1 billion in planned investment and more than 1,700 planned new jobs for Kentucky residents.”

The Commonwealth investment will entail expenditures on new equipment and building upgrades to modernize the operation and better position Commonwealth to support automotive and industrial customers, according to the news release issued by the governor’s office.

In the sustainability section of its website, Commonwealth says it is continually “increasing the use of recycled content in our products.”

Kirk Sander has been selected to serve on OSHA’s National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health Heat Injury and Illness Prevention Work Group.

The National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA), Arlington, Virginia, has announced Kirk Sander, chief of staff and vice president of safety and standards at NWRA, was selected to serve on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (NACOSH) Heat Injury and Illness Prevention Work Group. 

According to a news release from the NWRA, NACOSH selected Sander because OSHA recognized NWRA and its efforts in improving the health and safety of waste and recycling workers.

“Waste collection workers operate in all conditions, everywhere. This is an important issue to us and our industry,” says Darrell Smith, president and CEO of the NWRA. “I am pleased that Kirk will help advise OSHA and Labor Secretary Martin Walsh on issues that will help reduce injuries and illness related to heat for our workforce.”

The NWRA says the work group will provide recommendations to the secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor on heat injury and illness prevention guidance and rulemaking. The first meeting will be in early 2022. 

Waste collection workers spend several hours working outside. In its weekly safety newsletter, NWRA devoted the month of May to remind industry employees of the dangers of working in the heat and how to prevent injuries and illness from doing so.

The investment will fund the company’s global expansion to meet growing demand.

UBQ Materials, a thermoplastic developer based in Tel Aviv, Israel, has announced a $170 million funding round led by TPG Rise, TPG's global impact investing platform based in San Francisco. The company’s investment was made through TPG Rise Climate, its climate investing fund, and The Rise Funds, its multisector impact investing fund. 

According to a news release from UBQ, the investment will fund the company’s global expansion to meet growing demand. This includes building a large-scale facility in the Netherlands to be operational by the end of 2022. Funds from the round will also go into UBQ's continued research to advance certifications, research and development of new products.

TPG says the financing round also included participation from existing investors, Battery Ventures, and others such as M&G's Catalyst strategy, a U..K-based investor. Additional terms of the transaction were not disclosed. 

UBQ’s conversion process uses the entire unsorted household and municipal waste stream.  The waste runs through multiple stages of automatic refinement, removing small particles of metals and minerals, which are sent to the correct recycling facilities. The material is then cleared as feedstock for a reactor, which causes a chemical reaction in the waste, breaking down the organic elements to their basic particulate components. This includes lignin, sugar, cellulose and various fibers. These components are reconstituted with melted plastics to create UBQ.

The process is compatible with materials like polypropylene, polyethylene and polystyrene. UBQ says its product can be used on its own and in conjunction with conventional oil-based resins to offset the overall carbon footprint of end products in industries including construction, automotive, logistics, retail and 3D printing.

"In addition to converting municipal waste into functional thermal plastics, UBQ's material solution is energy efficient, uses no water and produces no effluents," says Steve Ellis, co-managing partner of The Rise Funds. "UBQ can be utilized in a broad array of industrial and consumer applications. We're excited to be partnering with management to scale the business globally."

UBQ says more than 2 billion tons of municipal solid waste are produced every year globally, more than 70 percent of which end up in landfills or openly dumped. Landfills are the third-largest human source of methane, a greenhouse gas 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide over 20 years. 

"Waste is not the end, it is only the beginning," says Jack Bigio, co-founder and co-CEO of UBQ Materials. "This financing round enables us to widen the reach of our patented conversion technology and novel material, bringing us closer to a functioning circular economy worldwide."

HDPE and PP scrap prices have softened in the fourth quarter after reaching record highs earlier this year.

In the last year, recovered polyolefin plastic prices made considerable gains, with high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP) reaching previously unseen levels. However, as the year drew to a close, those prices had softened. 

“Bale prices for both natural and mixed-color HDPE have seen very significant and rapid declines in a short period of time during October and November,” says Roberto Fontanillas, vice president and general manager of Envision Plastics, which has locations in Reidsville, North Carolina, and Chino, California, though he is based in the Atlanta area.

Some sources Recycling Today spoke with in late summer of 2021 said they felt a plateau or correction would be imminent for polyolefin scrap grades, with one reprocessor noting that pricing already was moving sideways in August.

During the fourth quarter, as virgin capacity disruptions that affected HDPE and PP were corrected and more prime material was available, pricing for recycled material took a hit.

Fontanillas also says HDPE scrap availability appears to be more plentiful than it was earlier in 2021.

Demand for postconsumer resin (PCR) remains generally healthy, however. Fontanillas says demand for Envision’s natural HDPE, its color-specific Prisma line and its food-contact EcoPrime is strong. “We are seeing some seasonal end-of-year demand softness, but we expect demand to revert to the long-term growth trend line in the new year,” he said in mid-December.

PCR pricing also remains higher than its virgin equivalents, he says. “We have seen historic spreads between the two this year, and we see the potential for the two to decouple as society and markets increasingly value recycled plastic as a more sustainable material.”

While he says challenges always are present as are reasons for excitement, Fontanillas adds, “On balance, we are super excited about the future for recycled plastics and look forward to continuing our work to be a leader in differentiated recycled polyolefins plastics to help brand owners and converters grow their businesses by helping them achieve their sustainability goals.”

In the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) sector, a reprocessor based in the Northeast who deals exclusively with deposit material says 2021 was “one heck of a year” in terms of pricing and demand. “There is big demand for high-grade clear flake from fast-moving consumer goods companies and the consumer packaged goods companies,” he adds.

The reprocessor says export demand also is growing, with buyers offering strong prices.

While he says the first quarter of the year is generally the worst for pricing, he is not anticipating the associated decline in demand, therefore, “Pricing will maintain where it is,” he adds.