The two firms aim to increase the chemical recyclability of all post-use plastics to more than 95%
Image: Agilyx and GE to jointly advance circular economy for plastics. Photo: courtesy of RitaE from Pixabay.
US-based post-consumer plastics recycling company Agilyx has signed an agreement with General Electric (GE) to advance the circular economy for plastics.
The agreement will combine Agilyx’s deep domain experience in chemical recycling with GE’s experience in the application of industrial Artificial intelligence (AI).
The work aims to improve chemical recyclability of all post-use plastics to more than 95% from the current 10%.
Agilyx said that the announcement follows a one-year project involving assessment of GE Research-developed advanced modelling technology and its applicability to the Agilyx’s 15-year database of chemical conversions of post-use plastics.
Agilyx chief executive officer Joe Vaillancourt said: “The main challenge to scaling solutions is effectively managing the variability and complexity of the materials and contaminants within diverse waste streams. This is certainly true for plastic feedstocks for chemical recycling technologies.
“The Agilyx team has developed deep domain expertise and built the industry´s largest database of chemical recycling characterizations analyzing the relationship between thousands of plastic waste sources, processing parameters and end products. By leveraging GE’s expertise in AI, ML and PM, we are deploying a toolset for global use.”
Agilyx, GE to implement AI technologies to boost the plastic recycling rate
The partnership is expected to improve recycling rates by implementing a set of AI technologies, including machine learning (ML), predictive modelling (PM) and optimisation tools, together with other supply chain innovations.
GE Licensing president Pat Patnode said: “Armed with GE’s digital technologies, Agilyx will add the critical pieces they need to turn plastics into a sustainable, dependable carbon source.”
GE Research software research vice-president Colin Parris said: “Across GE’s diverse set of industries in aviation, energy and healthcare, we have successfully developed and applied Industrial AI and machine learning solutions to create hundreds of millions of dollars in new business value by improving the efficiency and performance of our assets and manufacturing processes.
“Together with Agilyx, we can do the same for the Plastics industry by integrating Agilyx’s deep industry domain knowledge with our AI, machine learning and modelling techniques to bring recycling almost entirely full circle.”
Recently, Germany-based styrenics supplier INEOS Styrolution has teamed up with Agilyx for the construction of a polystyrene (PS) chemical recycling facility in Channahon, Illinois.
The new facility will be equipped to process 100 tons of post-consumer PS per day and convert it into a styrene material, which can be used in the manufacturing of new polystyrene products.