Plastic into fuel

Construction workers in the US have started works on the country’s first commercial-scale plastics-to-fuel plant.

Out of Ashley, Indiana, the new plant will utilize a state-of-the-art plastics-to-fuel process that sustainably recycles waste that has reached the end its use– including items that cannot readily be recycled, such like plastic film, flexible packing, Styrofoam and toys – directly into new, useful products, like fuels and wax.

Brightmark Energy, the San Francisco-based waste and energy development company responsible for the plant, say that the products of this technology could also be used to produce the feed stocks necessary for manufacturing plastic again and again, creating the world’s first truly circular economy technology for plastics.

“This sustainable technology directly addresses an acute problem facing our nation: more than 91% of the 33 million tons of plastic produced in the U.S. each year is not recycled,” he said.

“These products end up sitting in landfills for thousands of years or littering our communities and waterways. This technology offers a tremendous opportunity to combat a major environmental ill and create positive economic value in the process.”
Brightmark CEO Bob Powell

This facility will be converting approximately 100,000 tons of plastics into over 18 million gallons a year , and turn it into ultra-low sulfur diesel and naphtha blend stock. Also, nearly 6 million gallons of commercial grade wax will be produced each year. Brightmark closed a $260 million financing package for the construction of the plant, which includes $185 million in Indiana green bonds, to secure funding.

“Brightmark plans to develop dozens of additional plastics-to-fuel facilities across the United States, and these new locations will all be anchored by the facility we’re breaking ground on today here in Northeast Indiana. We’re pleased to have this opportunity to offer a solution to the complex problems our nation faces around plastic pollution,”
Jay Schabel, President of Brightmark Energy’s plastics division