Plastic 2.0

By Tayt Rule

We can’t live without it, but we can live with it.  Plastic supports our everyday life in countless ways and we often underestimate the important role it plays.  From the smallest component within the products you use daily, like your cell phone, to the more obvious items like trash cans, bags or cars, plastics are a crucial resource we’ve built our lives around. However,  single-use plastic is not sustainable for our planet. That’s why we exist. At PureCycle Technologies, we’re commercializing a solution to recycle polypropylene plastic waste bringing it to a near-virgin quality allowing us to close the loop on single-use plastic, and creating a product that truly can be used again, and again, and again.

To give you an idea of what the current landscape looks like, about 20% of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is commonly used to make plastic bottles and other consumer goods, is recycled.  By contrast, less than 1% of polypropylene is recycled, and it’s uses are extremely limited. We see an incredible opportunity to be the first to take on polypropylene waste and make it a valuable resource, working toward our goal of creating a pure planet.

Through current processes, polypropylene that is recycled is generally down-cycled to items like park benches or plant potters, as existing recycling processes are not able to remove color, odor and other contaminants, creating a resource that most companies do not want or cannot use for their products.  That’s where we come in. Our technology removes color, odor and contaminants, making recycled polypropylene plastic near-new, and food grade quality - something that has not been done - until now. PureCycle Technologies is the future.  And this is plastic 2.0.