Los Angeles-based Circularix, a producer of food-grade post-consumer polyethylene terephthalate (rPET), said it has started production at its plant in Hatfield, Pa.
The Hatfield plant is one of five recycling facilities across the country, expected to have a total production capacity of more than 275 million pounds of rPET pellets per year.
“We are operational at our Hatfield facility and on schedule to complete our U.S. expansion,” said Leon Farahnik, chairman and CEO of Circularix. “Our commitment is first and last to helping companies meet their sustainability goals as together we contribute concretely and responsibly to a sustainable future.”
In June of last year, Circularix announced the formation of a joint venture with Macquarie Group. The venture, consisting of HPC Industries LLC in Los Angeles and Macquarie Group’s Commodities and Global Markets, combined HPC’s bottle-to-bottle (PET) recycler CarbonLite, and Australia-based Macquarie’s investment to form Circularix, which will produce rPET.
Leon Farahnik, CEO of Circularix, said at the time the 100,000-square-foot facility near Allentown will have the capacity to produce 55 million pounds of rPET pellets from flake instead of bottles. The flake, he said in June, will be purchased from within a 250-mile radius of the plant.
Company officials expect the next plant to be operational will be in Florida sometime during the second quarter of 2023. Another plant will open every six months, Farahnik said in June, with the remaining three located in Texas, Arizona, and the Pacific Northwest.
“Consumer brands are struggling to meet their sustainability goals as current rPET supply is unable to scale as needed,” Farahnik said in the news release. “Our move into rPET production is the beginning of a major and much-needed capacity expansion in the United States, and we are excited to continue playing an important role in the plastics recycling industry by uniting our experience with Macquarie’s.”