Ohio-based PureCycle announced pellet production at its Ironton polypropylene purification facility hits a new high in June.
The company produced more than 1.1 million pounds (around 499 tonnes) of pellets since it resumed operations on May 30. It produced more than 900,000 pounds of pellets in June, it said in a statement.
The company’s financing requires it to meet a 4.45 million pound output in a month, which it hasn’t yet achieved.
The Ironton plant started a planned shutdown in early April to undergo equipment repairs and improve resin quality. It then resumed operations the week of May 20, but severe storms caused a power-outage that forced the facility to stop production until May 30. The company faced similar problems in August last year, which affected its production requirements as part of the facility’s financing.
PureCycle restarted operations in late May with feed rates at 2,500 pounds per hour and has subsequently reached rates of up to 6,500 pounds per hour. Its pellet production rate reached a high of 8,300 pounds per hour.
"I'm encouraged by the improvements we have made at our Ironton Facility,” said PureCycle CEO Dustin Olson. “The stronger performance in June, which was our highest production month to date, has allowed us to further optimise our processes and equipment. We believe the changes will help us reach desired utilisation rates."
Since June 10, the company has shifted to using feedstock high in what it calls co-product two (CP2). CP2 is solid material consisting of plastics other than PP, as well as talcum powder, calcium carbonate, and other additives from when the material was originally processed, according to a company video. PureCycle uses solvents to remove these impurities from used PP, creating what the company brands as Ultra-Pure Recycled resin that mimics virgin material.
"I'm also encouraged by our progress with the co-product 2 system,” Olson added. “The changes we made during the outage have improved the removal process, and with a few minor upgrades, I believe we will reach higher targeted CP2 removal rates. We are also continuing our work to improve the product quality and consistency."
The Ironton plant, which cost about $361 million, is designed to produce 107 million pounds of recycled PP annually when fully functional. It produced its first batch of rPP resin in June 2023.
Courtesy : sustainableplastics.com
