Brightmark Energy Announces Major Investment in Nation’s First Commercial-Scale Plastics-to-Fuel Plant
New technology offers sustainable use for post-use plastics,
diverting from landfills and litter
Brightmark Energy, a San Francisco-based renewable energy development
company, has acquired a majority interest and invested $10 million in a
groundbreaking plastics-to-fuel technology company, RES Polyflow, while
committing to an additional $47 million investment in the first
commercial-scale plant to utilize this technology, which will be located
in Indiana.
Brightmark has partnered with RES Polyflow, the Ohio-based energy
technology company that innovated the process for converting plastics
directly into transportation fuel and other products, on the creation of
a platform for developing future plastics-to-fuel projects.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to combat a major environmental ill
and create positive economic incentives in the process,” said Bob
Powell, President and CEO of Brightmark Energy. “We look forward to
developing additional plastics conversion facilities both across the
United States and globally over the next several years.”
RES Polyflow’s plastics-to-fuel process sustainably recycles waste that
has reached the end of its useful life – including items that cannot
readily be recycled, like plastic film, flexible packing, and children’s
toys – directly into useful products, like fuels and wax.
Brightmark Energy Chief Development Officer Zeina El-Azzi said: “This
sustainable technology directly addresses an acute problem facing the
United States: more than 91% of the 34.5 million tons of plastic
domestically produced each year is not recycled. These products end up
sitting in landfills for thousands of years or littering communities and
waterways. We’re excited to help bring an economically viable solution
to the marketplace.”
The facility will be located in Ashley, Indiana. It will convert 100,000
tons of plastic waste into 18 million gallons of ultra-low sulfur diesel
fuel and naphtha blend stocks and five million gallons of wax per year.
That’s more plastic than the weight of 5,400 tractor trailers or seven
Brooklyn Bridges.
“The RES Polyflow plastics-to-fuel process allows post-use plastics to
be utilized in an environmentally friendly way, offering a productive
end-of-life solution for this material,” said Jay Schabel, President of
Brightmark’s new plastics-to-fuel development subsidiary, BME Renewable
Polyfuels. “Simply attaching a positive and predictable market value to
this segment of the waste stream incentivizes the use of materials that
would otherwise end up in a landfill or as litter.”
A total of 136 full time manufacturing jobs will be created in Northeast
Indiana when all phases of the facility are operational. BP will
purchase the fuels produced by the facility, which will be distributed
in the regional petroleum market. The Ashley plant will also produce
commercial grade waxes for sale to the industrial wax market, which will
be purchased by AM WAX.
ABOUT BRIGHTMARK ENERGY
Brightmark Energy develops, owns and operates waste and energy projects.
Brightmark employs technology solutions including combined heat and
power, biogas, and waste to energy that are specifically tailored based
on customer needs. Brightmark Energy’s mission is to create significant
long-term value and a positive global impact by delivering waste and
energy solutions. Learn more at http://brightmarkenergy.com.
ABOUT RES POLYFLOW
RES Polyflow designs, manufactures and implements commercial scale
energy recovery systems that offer a responsible end of life solution
for non-recycled waste plastic. The company’s patented process
complements current recycling efforts by converting low value co-mingled
plastic waste into marketable petroleum blend stocks and wax on a
continuous and profitable basis. RES Polyflow is a founding member of
the Plastics-To-Fuel and Petrochemistry Alliance based in Washington,
D.C. To learn more about RES Polyflow’s innovative process, visit http://respolyflow.com.
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