FAQ

There are many ways to get plastic. One of the most reliable source is from companies. Plastic not usable by companies are normally not considered waste until they enter the waste management system. From the waste management system, it can be directly bought as co-products. This is one very effective way of maintaining the waste reduction goals adopted by most companies.

We've been asked on multiple occasions where the non-recyclable plastics we recycle come from and what they are. 70% of the plastics waste that are passed through recycling facilities still go to the landfill, costing between $40-120/ton plus transportation. A typical example of product that passes through this process is the sheet plastic from post commercial and post-industrial operations. Normally, the material comes clean, without food or chemicals, hence its very light weight and undesirable due to its low density. Another valid example is waste plastic from the paper recycling process. The plastic floats when the paper and cardboard fibers are suspended in water. Currently, the example facility hauls between 140-160 tons to the landfill everyday and of course, floating plastics are ideal for fuel production.

Most times, plastics are glued to paper or cardboard, or are mixed with other non-plastic fillers, as well as some organics (wood, paper, etc...). If not checked properly, these materials may end up being mixed in what would be processed with the plastics. For this reason, we are permitted to reject some materials. We are currently exploring solid replacement fuel products for plastics, using these "other materials".

Though we sell further downstream than crude to refineries, currently, the possible US market is valued at about $800 billion annually based on $60/BBL WTI pricing. It is however expected that by 2020, the US Gulf Coast low sulfur renewable marine products would have been driven by the international demand for low sulfur renewable marine fuels from the current 6% refinery output to an estimated 20%. The increasing demand for low sulfur marine fuels will have direct impact on the NHE market demand.

Four floating plastics (Type 2 - HDPE, Type 4 - LDPE, Type 5 - PP, Type 6 - PS) all make great fuel. These four types of plastic are worth 3-4 times more as fuel than as scrap. The other three types of plastics (Type 1 -PET, Type 3 - PVC, and Type 7 - Other [ABS]) are not floatable. Hence the non floating plastics are not good for the production of fuel due to their high level content of oxygen and chloride.

ABS will normally turn to glass when subjected to very high temperature, so it is not suitable for fuel.

There's currently no special regulations for non-recyclable plastics, other than regulations guiding normal trash, although they are still banned from landfills in many cases, but that is changing.

Plastic processing happens in different ways, entirely depending on types, size, mixes, etc. We have developed proprietary processes to get it prepared for our chemical recycling reactors.

We have a proprietary distillation process, through which we fracture hydrocarbons to the correct lengths of fuel we intend to create.

We have proprietary treatments of the liquid fuel depending on the petroleum product we are making.

Our entire system is a closed system. We want to capture all the hydrocarbons we can, and not let them escape as gas. Syngas, a hydrocarbon rich gas, is produced in the process, and we recapture it and feed it back into our burners for our reactors, this reduces our need for natural gas.

Virtually none. We produce paraffin useful to chemical companies, asphalt suitable for road construction, and a very small amount of synthetic bio-char we can use for the production of solid fuels.

We hold final patents that cover our technology. We have our own fabrication group that builds our heat exchange vessels, and we only issue licenses to plants where we are the operating company of record.

We evaluate materials with the whole cycle in mind, Standardize components, design products to Last.

• Design for easy end of life sorting
• Reuse of products and materials 
• Consider use of by-products 
• Pre-plan repair, reuse and recycling
• Plan for continuous process improvement to approach zero waste

If you have clients that have post industrial waste plastic that cannot be recycled in a mechanical way, we can chemically recycle it into a petrochemical input your client can use as feedstock. Yes, we may be able to help close the loop on both ends.