ExxonMobil has joined Agilyx Corp., a chemical recycling company based in Tigard, Ore., to become a founding member of Cyclyx International. Launched by Agilyx in January, Cyclyx aims to increase plastic recycling.
Cyclyx will aggregate and preprocess collected plastic to prepare it for further recycling, aiming to meet the technical requirements of recycling processes while ensuring a reliable supply of feedstock. According to the release, the company’s goal is to transform the current supply chain and help grow the chemical recycling industry by connecting companies looking for difficult-to-recycle plastic solutions with customers working on recycling initiatives.
The joint venture brings together ExxonMobil’s large-scale petrochemical manufacturing network and technological expertise with Agilyx’s expertise in chemical recycling. Under the agreement, ExxonMobil will invest $8 million for a 25% equity interest in the new company and in return, Cyclyx will help supply plastic feedstocks for ExxonMobil’s chemical recycling projects.
Cyclyx invites other interested companies to become members of the venture, in order to better connect those with a supply of collected plastic material with mechanical and chemical recyclers. New members may include brand owners, waste-management companies, petrochemical producers, and municipalities. The company plans to develop systems that can collect and sort 300,000 tons per year by 2025. (Cyclyx did not specify if the figure is in short tons or metric tons.) By 2030, Cyclyx aims to process 3 million tons per year of recycled plastic around the world.
Image credit: Neil Merton, flickr.com.
