PureCycle Technologies

PureCycle Technologies uses a patented recycling process to convert waste plastic into virgin-like plastic, called “recycle polypropylene (PP)”—the second-most used plastic substance in the world. The company operates as a portfolio company of Innventure (a global open-architecture venture platform). The company has a license to use a proprietary technology developed by Procter & Gamble to separate contaminants and odor from waste plastic; after which, it recycles them into a pure form of plastic. The company states its key strength is in its purification processes, which decontaminates and decolorizes recycled PP. Furthermore, this process produces pure recycled PP with 60%–85% less energy, compared to the energy required to produce virgin-PP.

Following PureCycle’s business combination with Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) Roth CH in March 2021, it became a listed company and began trading on Nasdaq. 

Upon its Q4 2021 update, the company noted that it had a pipeline of demand for its ultra-pure recycled (UPR) PP and was in active discussions to provide 164 million lbs across existing and new markets. As of Q1 2022 , the company reported that capacity at its Plant 1 and 75% of two out of five lines in its Plant 2 were already sold out. 

PureCycle began to build its first production facility in Ohio and intended for it to be commercially operational by April 2023 , with an annual installed production capacity of 107 million lbs. The company targeted having five and 18 operational plants in 2023 and 2027, respectively, as well as expanding installed capacity to nearly one billion lbs by the end of 2025. As part of its global growth strategy, the company announced plans in January 2023 to build its first PP recycling facility in Europe , located in the NextGen district of Belgium. The initial phase for the construction of the plant was slated to launch in 2024. The company’s focus was to expand in the US, followed by Europe.

To ensure smooth production of its UPRP, PureCycle was also planning to build three feedstock pre-processing (PreP) facilities in California (10 million–25 million lbs/year, Q2 2022), Central Florida (75 million–150 million lbs/year, Q3 2022), and Northeast (75 million–150 million lbs/year, 2023). To build these plants, PureCycle partnered with New Jersey-based Koch Modular Process Systems LLC, a modular reaction and mass transfer systems provider, to receive supply of the latter’s modular recycling systems for PureCycle’s plastic recycling facilities .

Key Customers and Partnerships

The company has partnered with players like Nestlé (2019), Total (2020), Aptar (2021), Berry Global (2021), and Winpak (2021) to use its recycled PP for consumer and industrial applications. PureCycle introduced its first product made out of recycled PP in November 2021—a sustainable plastic shower dispenser, developed for EC30 . To further expand its “PureZero” waste program (which focuses on diverting plastic waste occurring at stadiums and entertainment venues), PureCycle also partnered with Jacksonville Jaguars and Cincinnati Bengals . In March 2023, the company partnered with iSustain Recycling to source and divert up to 10 million lbs of PP plastic waste from landfills and waterways.

PureCycle has also partnered with SK Geo Centric (previously SK Global Chemical) (Ulsan, South Korea) and Mitsui (Japan) to expand its plastic recycling business beyond the US and Europe. To further expand its business in Asia, PureCycle also received an investment of USD 50 million from SK Geo Centric.

To build its manufacturing plants, PureCycle extended its partnership with New Jersey-based Koch Modular Process Systems LLC to continue to receive supplies of the latter’s modular recycling systems for PureCycle’s second facility in Augusta. The company made Formerra the primary authorized US distributor of PureFive, PureCycle's UPR PP resin and began shipments in November 2023.

Funding and Financials

As of June 2023, the company had not yet generated sales, expecting to start later in 2023 following  its Ironton facility making its first shipments. It estimated EBITDA to reach USD 100 million in 2023 and approximately USD 1.38 billion by 2027. 

In Q4 2022 , the company also secured a USD 150 million revolving line of credit for general working capital purposes and was looking to raise additional capital to improve its financial position. In August 2023, the company announced the upsize and pricing of its private offering of USD 215 million in aggregate principal amount at maturity of 7.25% green convertible senior notes due 2030. The company intended to use the net proceeds to finance and refinance eligible green projects in the US.