Agilyx recycles retirement residence’s polystyrene items

Agilyx Corporation (Agilyx),Tigard, Oregon, a leader in chemical recycling of post use plastics back into polymers, chemicals and low carbon fuels, has announced the collaboration with Beaverton Lodge, Beaverton, Oregon, to recycle polystyrene (PS) foodservice items. Beaverton Lodge, a retirement residence, recently implemented a PS foodservice program to reduce the potential for exposure of residents and staff to the COVID-19 virus.

The Beaverton Lodge, which on average serves 200 meals per day to their 150 residents, had previously provided most of their meals through a community dining room with delivered meals provided for residents if needed. In January, the residence implemented a new program in response to initial concerns for the safety of its residents. To limit the transmission of COVID-19, the community dining room was closed and replaced with a direct meal delivery program using Dart Container PS foodservice containers. PS was chosen for the new program because of the need for insulated, cost-effective, single-use items to transport prepared meals from the kitchen to the residents.

After starting this new program, Beaverton Lodge began collecting the used foodservice items and delivering them to Agilyx. The collected PS items will be recycled to new products through Agilyx’s joint venture with Americas Styrenics and Regenyx. Beaverston Lodge’s recycling efforts are helping to divert foodservice items from being landfilled and helping to create polystyrene items with up to 70 percent less greenhouse gas generation (GHG) as compared with virgin materials. To ensure the safety of Agilyx employees, materials that are received from this program will be quarantined for three days to mitigate any potential transmission while preparing the feedstock.

“Agilyx is proud to be working with an organization that is pioneering new, environmentally sustainable projects, meeting zero-waste goals and maximizing the well-being of their residents and staff,” says William Cooper, senior vice president of corporate strategy at Agilyx Corp. “We hope that programs like this can help educate others in the industry about the benefits and circular recyclability of single-use plastics.”

“We have always strived to be green and established recycling at our facility early on, before most places like ours had recycling,” says Ian “Louie” Paul, executive director of Beaverton Lodge. “It has been a challenge adapting to the ‘new normal’, but our residents and staff have all gone above and beyond to make sure everyone stays healthy. Together, we can get through this.”