Brightmark seeks communities for plastics recycling facilities

Brightmark Energy, a San Francisco-based waste and energy development company, has announced that it is launching a nationwide search for U.S. locations suitable for its next set of advanced recycling facilities. The company reports in a news release that it hopes these additional facilities will help to “convert hundreds of thousands of tons of postconsumer plastics into new products, including fuels, wax and other products.” According to Brightmark, a search for potential facilities will kick off on Nov. 19 with a webinar and formal indication of interest submission for interested communities.

Brightmark expects to make investments of about $500 million to $1 billion at each site location, and the company plans to create more than 100 jobs in each host community selected through this process, with additional indirect economic activity expected to occur in each chosen community as a result of the projects. 

“The United States is facing a major plastics recycling shortfall,” says Brightmark CEO Bob Powell. “Imagine a world without plastic waste. We’ve got a proven, market-ready solution, which we will be scaling up nationally to meet this demand. Communities are struggling with a deluge of contaminated plastics, much of which ends up in incinerators or landfills. We have a viable, profitable alternative that solves many of the challenges historically associated with plastics recycling.”

The company’s plastics renewal technology takes mixed plastics and converts that into an ultra-low sulfur diesel, naphtha and wax. The process also is capable of creating building blocks for new plastics, the company reports in the news release.

“Our team has successfully developed billions in power and energy plants, and we’re ready to go big on our next plastic conversion sites,” adds Zeina El-Azzi, chief development officer of Brightmark. “We’ve built a tremendous partnership with the folks in Steuben County, Indiana, and we’re now searching for other communities where we can put down roots and work hand in hand to expand local recycling infrastructure and create jobs.”

Brightmark says it is seeking to work with communities that can provide strong local, regional and state support for project development through incentives and improved plastic recycling programs; access to at least 200,000 tons per year of commingled plastic waste (Nos. 1-7); access to 30 to 100 acres of suitable land with excellent access to rail and highways; and natural gas and electric utility support for such a project. Other criteria will be detailed in a forthcoming request for proposal. The company anticipates completing a site selection by the second quarter of 2020. 

Click here to learn more about the company’s webinar Nov. 19.