PureCycle Technologies has signed an agreement for the supply of its Ultra-Pure Recycled Polypropylene (UPRP) to French personal care company L’Oréal.
Image: PureCycle Technologies will supply recycled polypropylene to beauty company L’Oréal. Photo: courtesy of brunamereu from Pixabay.
The agreement will lead to the full subscription of PureCycle’s Ohio plant’s capacity, as well as provide an option to L’Oréal to be one of the first purchasers of volume out of the company’s first European facility.
PureCycle’s UPRP is generated from a breakthrough technology, which uses waste polypropylene, often enters landfills, to produce virgin-like polypropylene.
The company’s patented recycling process, developed and licensed by Procter & Gamble (P&G), isolates colour, odour, and other contaminants from plastic waste feedstock to convert it into a virgin-like resin.
PureCycle Technologies CEO Mike Otworth said: “We continue to see an increasing global need for a recycled resin with virgin-like properties. With our first plant in Ohio already being sold out more than two years before the plant will be producing commercial scale volumes, this showcases the intense demand resulting in an accelerated build out of our next plant in Europe.”
L’Oréal will also serve as a strategic partner to PureCycle to help meet consumer demand for a recycled resin.
PureCycle is constructing its first facility in Lawrence County of Ohio. Expected to commence operations in 2021, the facility will have the capacity to recycle 119 million pounds of polypropylene and produce more than 105 million pounds per annum.
The company is planning a second facility in Europe to meet the demand from the customers. It is currently involved in assessing locations within Europe.
L’Oréal Group packaging and development vice president Philippe Thuvien said: “For L’Oréal, the agreement represents a strategic next step in our sustainable packaging strategy, designed to accelerate the transition to the circular economy.
“L’Oréal ambition is that by 2025, 50% of the plastics used in our packaging will either be bio-sourced or of recycled origin, which encompasses all plastic types, polypropylene being a major milestone.”
PureCycle is claimed to be the first company to solely focus on recycling and reintegrating polypropylene upstream into sensitive consumer product applications, including food and beverage packaging, consumer good packaging, automobile interiors, electronics, home furnishings, and multiple other products.