Boston-based Lux Research has listed plastic recycling as one of the three top “emerging technologies to watch in 2021,” in its annual list of what it predicts will be “transformational technologies.”

The research and analysis firm says its “Foresight 2021” report ranks technologies and trends “that will change the world over the next decade.”

Along with autonomous vehicles and natural language processing, Lux lists plastic recycling as one of its top three such technologies, writing, “Concern about plastic waste is nothing new, but major consumer product companies have made commitments to increasing recycling rates and innovations that can convert [scrap] into higher value products. Over the past decade alone, 155 startups addressing plastic [recycling] have been founded.”

An executive summary posted to the Lux Research website includes a comment from Lux’s Charles Willard noting that securing supplies of plastic scrap will be key to many recycling efforts. Writes Willard, “Engage with waste collection to secure inputs for recycling facilities – find opportunities to take advantage of plastic [scrap] as a distributed feedstock source and to play in new stages of the value chain.”

The summary also posits that while not all nations or regions have fossil fuels as a resource, all have plastic scrap to use as a resource. Lux Research also points to involvement in extended producer responsibility systems as creating new opportunities for some firms, as could responding to design for recycling efforts.

Rotterdam-based LyondellBasell and Paris-based Suez have announced the acquisition of Tivaco, a plastics recycling company based in Blandain, Belgium.

According to a joint news release from LyondellBasell and Suez, the acquired company will become part of Quality Circular Polymers (QCP), the companies’ existing plastics recycling joint venture. With this transaction, QCP will increase its production capacity for recycled materials to about 55,000 metric tons per year.

“This latest investment in QCP supports LyondellBasell’s ambition to produce and market 2 million tons per year of recycled and renewable source-based polymers by 2030. Extending the plastics life cycle through recovery, recycling and reuse not only eliminates waste but also produces a product with a lower CO2 footprint,” says Richard Roudeix, senior vice president Olefins and Polyolefins, Europe, LyondellBasell.

Jean-Marc Boursier, Suez Group chief operating officer, adds, “With the new acquisition, we will together speed up the use of quality circular polymers in Europe and support industrial manufacturers' efforts to reach their environmental targets.”

The Tivaco facility operates five production lines capable of processing 22,000 metric tons of recycled plastic per year. LyondellBasell and Suez say this acquisition builds on their 2018 acquisition of QCP, a plastics recycling company in Geleen, the Netherlands, which is capable of processing about 35,000 metric tons of material per year. Today, recycled materials from QCP can be found in consumer products, such as Samsonite’s S’Cure ECO luggage collection.

At QCP, Suez uses its technology solutions in sorting and recycling to improve the preparation of materials to be recovered, while LyondellBasell applies its plastic production technology and experience in product development, the companies say. 

Agilyx Corp., Tigard, Oregon, has appointed Mark Barranco as its senior vice president of engineering and execution to help drive the acceleration of the company’s global expansion.

According to a news release from Agilyx, Barranco has more than 30 years of experience in the petrochemical industry as well as a variety of experience in technical and business roles spanning basic chemical products, such as olefins, aromatics or derivatives, such as polymers and resins.

Prior to joining Agilyx, he was senior strategy advisor at ExxonMobil Chemical Co.

In his new position, Barranco will provide technical oversight and a customer-focused approach to delivering the company’s multiple projects on target. Agilyxy says his focus will be to meet the global need for circular pathways set by sustainable development goals and legislation through the development of advanced recycling facilities that use Agilyx’s technology.

“We are excited to welcome Mark who brings a deep understanding of chemical industry processes to Agilyx’s advanced recycling technology at a crucial time in the company’s growth,” says Tim Stedman, CEO of Agilyx. “Mark’s addition to the team is vital in developing strategies to meet the ever-increasing demand for our technology.”

Phoenix-based recycling and waste company Republic Services Inc. has issued a report describing its plastic collection and recycling activities. It also highlights the actions required to increase plastics recycling at the national level. The report was produced following the filing of a shareholder proposal by As You Sow.

Waste Management, Houston, produced a similar report earlier this year, also at the request of As You Sow, Berkeley, California.  

“This report provides some initial insight into ways to expand recycling and improve plastics end markets,” Conrad MacKerron, senior vice president of As You Sow, says. “But overall, it missed an opportunity to provide a detailed discussion on the kinds of factors that would induce it to invest more in plastics recycling and examples of successful business models to boost development of end markets. This is disappointing, given that it acknowledges it collects some plastics for which there are limited or no end markets.”

Republic Services’ report states that recycled content standards for plastics are imperative to creating durable end markets. The company says it supports minimum recycled content legislation, such as California’s recently passed AB 793, which mandates 50 percent postconsumer content by 2030. The company adds that it supports the tiered implementation of recycled content standards, as is the case in California’s law. Such mandates could help to increase bale prices and expand end markets, the company says.

“Without mandated recycled content in packaging, recovered materials need to compete with inexpensive virgin plastics, primarily produced from natural gas,” the report notes.

Republic says it processes roughly 6 million tons of recyclables annually, making it one of the largest processors of recovered residential and commercial recyclables in the world. The company says it seeks to process all the recyclables it collects, but adds that as much as 12 percent of the plastics collected (Nos. 3, 4, 6 and 7) “have limited or no end markets” and could be landfilled.

Republic says it has invested nearly $63 million in the last four years in projects designed to improve the recovery of plastics and other recyclables in 26 of its material recovery facilities.

The company says only 59 percent of U.S. households have direct access to recycling collection programs, adding that to increase recycling more consumers must be able and willing to participate.

Republic Services states that it eliminated the export of plastics to all overseas markets in 2019 and gives qualified support to extended producer responsibility systems to finance recycling improvements.