Page 22 - Plastics News April 2020

Clariant starts monthly production of 2 million Indy Nonprofit to Fuel Plastics-to-Fuel Plant
litres of disinfectant in Germany
alifornia-based Brightmark Energy, which is
lariant has started monthly production of 2 million Ccurrently building a $260 million plastics-to-fuel
Clitres of disinfectant at its facilities in Gendorf, facility in northeast Indiana, is partnering with an
Germany. This disinfectant is then directly or via Indianapolis nonprofit to supply materials to be
repacking partners provided to regional hospitals and recycled at the plant. The facility, located in the
other vital institutions in Bavaria, who are currently
Steuben County town of Ashley, will initially have the
facing limited availability of this critical product
capacity to convert about 100,000 tons of plastics into
during the COVID-19 outbreak. At its facility in
more than 18 million gallons of ultra-low sulfur diesel
Gendorf, Clariant is able to use its available
fuel and naptha blend stocks, as well as 6 million
infrastructure to blend the necessary ingredients into
gallons of commercial grade wax each year. As part of
disinfectant at a large scale. This allows the company
the agreement with Indy-based Recycle Force, the
nonprofit will supply mixed-plastic materials for
recycling. Recycle Force says it will be able to provide
Brightmark with up to 1,700 tons per month of mixed
plastics that come from a variety of products, such as
televisions, computers, car seats, and others. Recycle
Force President Greg Keesling says the deal will create
a way to offload materials that the organization
previously couldn't do anything with. "Increasingly, we
have been stuck with what to do with the plastics off of
toothbrushes, hairdryers, knock-off tablets, medical
devices, you name it, and it's very difficult to find
buyers for this mixed plastic," said Keesling. "The
biggest issue is these plastics are different types and
to fulfill close to two-thirds of the monthly target there's not a market for mixed plastic, or there's not
demand of the Bavarian State, which aims for a total of very much of one." Keesling says the Ashley plant will
10 million litres of disinfectants to be produced over be able to take every kind of plastic Recycle Force
the next three months. Costs associated with this sends and process it into the new materials. He says
program are financed by a crisis fund set up by the the process will benefit the nonprofit in multiple ways.
State of Bavaria, Clariant offered its contribution at
cost price. “At times like this, it is vital that everyone,
be it individuals or companies, contributes in every
way possible to reduce the spread of the virus. We at
Clariant have the capability to support those working
the hardest to protect all of us. Therefore, our
employees acted decisively to ensure it was done”,
said Hans Bohnen, Chief Operating Officer of
Clariant.In order to realize the production of such
large volumes of disinfectant, Clariant has cooperated
with several other companies such as Crop Energies AG.
The total of 10 million litres would represent
approximately 750 ml. of disinfectant for every
resident of Bavaria.

APRIL 2020 19 Plastics News