AmSty Uses Recycled Polystyrene in Styrene Production - Big Step Toward PolyUsable™ Recycling
The Woodlands, Texas– April 10, 2019 – In keeping with its plan to develop a long-term sustainable model for plastics recycling, AmSty, a leading U.S. based producer of polystyrene, is taking a big step. The company is now using recycled polystyrene, known as recycled styrene monomer (RSM), converted from solid polystyrene products by Agilyx, as feedstock for its world-scale styrene production facility in St. James, Louisiana.
This step marks the first time a plastics producer has successfully produced high-purity ASTM styrene from polystyrene discard. AmSty President and Chief Executive Officer Brad Crocker remains optimistic about the recycling process and its future applications, “This is yet another successful milestone in our PolyUsable™ process to ensure no single-use items made from AmSty polystyrene ever need to be landfilled,” he said.
AmSty signed a letter of intent to form a joint venture with Agilyx in November 2018, which is still in-process and is expected to finalize sometime in the second quarter of 2019. The material delivered from Agilyx to the AmSty facility in St. James, Louisiana, is in accordance with an offtake agreement between the two companies. Once the RSM is processed, it will go to an AmSty polystyrene production facility to be converted into polystyrene pellets, the building blocks for both solid and foam products used in food service packaging such as cups, plates, take-home containers and many other innovative products.
Joe Vaillancourt, Chief Executive Officer of Agilyx, said, "This is another major milestone for the advancement of the circular economy. Our partnership with AmSty remains a great example of how we can come together to help change the waste and recycling industry to dramatically improve the recyclability of plastics, particularly polystyrene, with a favorable environmental profile.”
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Contacts
Mr. Joshua Want, 844-512-1212
Communications Manager
About AmSty
AmSty is a leading integrated producer of polystyrene and styrene monomer, offering solutions and services to customers in a variety of global markets. AmSty is a member of the American Chemistry Council and its Responsible Care initiative, and is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas. AmSty is a joint venture equally owned by Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP and Trinseo LLC.
About Agilyx
Agilyx is an environmental technology and development company located in Tigard, Oregon that extracts value from difficult-to-recycle mixed waste plastic streams. The Company has developed the first full-circle system capable of recycling post-consumer polystyrene (packaging materials, foam cups, etc.) into styrene monomer, which is then used to make new polystyrene (“PS”) equal in quality and composition to the original product. The company has also commercialized a technology that converts mixed plastics to high quality VGO crude. Agilyx is working with waste service providers, municipalities, refiners, and private and public enterprises to develop closed-loop industrial solutions for mixed waste plastics.
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