Skip to main content

Start-up nears for AERT’s film recycling project

United States – US-based plastics recycler Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies, Inc. (AERT) says the first phase of its world-class plastics recycling facility is almost completed.
Under construction near Watts in Oklahoma, the venture is scheduled to start up in the first quarter of 2010. In its initial phase, it will focus on recycling low-end, highly-contaminated polyethylene films into bulk plastic feedstocks for AERT’s composite manufacturing plants in Arkansas.

Upon start-up of the facility, the company will promptly move into the second stage of construction whereby additional storage and equipment will be installed to allow recycled polyethylene plastics to be blended and re-formulated into resins which will be sold to third party manufacturers.

Only around 7% of the polyethylene in the USA’s waste stream is recycled, according to 2008 statistics from the Environmental Protection Agency. The polyethylene recycled at AERT’s new facility during its first year of operation will save an amount of energy equal to over 2.1 trillion Btu or the equivalent of the fuel consumed in more than 23 000 passenger vehicles, it is claimed.

The Watts recycling facility was funded by Allstate Investments with additional financial support from the Cherokee Nation, the State of Oklahoma, Adair County, local government entities, and the US Departments of Commerce and Energy which helped provide site infrastructure support including road and sewer improvements. AERT anticipates that this will be the first recycling facility in Oklahoma to be certified under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) programme.

Don't hesitate to contact us to share your input and ideas. Subscribe to the magazine or (free) newsletter.

You might find this interesting too

MacroCycle ready to scale up plastic scrap solution
Fibre-to-fibre a hit in Scandinavian fashion

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Subscribe now and get a full year for just €169 (normal rate is €225) Subscribe