Page 65 - Plastics News July 2018

teChnoLogy

Loop Industries, Inc. activates 18-year-old’s company recycles

breakthrough Generation II plastic found on streets

technology
ack Fole y, an
J18-year-old from
oop Industries, Inc. announced that they have Rockville, Maryland,
Lsuccessfully activated the next generation of their has started ReYuze
waste PET and polyester fiber upcycling technology Cases, a company that
which now allows for the makes phone cases
continuous production of Loop™ out of 100 percent
PET products.“Our Generation II recycled plastic from
technology is a major step forward the streets, canals
in sustainable plastic,” says and landfills of Haiti.
Daniel Solomita, CEO & Founder, Recently, he broadened
Loop Industries, Inc. “It further his view and looked to
reinforces our confidence that a place that needed
upcycling waste PET and polyester his help in removing plastic and trash: Haiti. Foley’s
fiber will be cost effective, phone case design philosophy is sturdy and flexible
scalable and very efficient on a cases that accentuate the beauty and craftsmanship
commercial scale, which means we can help divert even of the modern phone. He compares the current phone
more waste plastic from landfill and help prevent it from case market to “buying a luxury car then putting a
ending up in our rivers and oceans.” Loop’s Generation II cover on it while driving down the road. It’s silly.”
technology is significantly more streamlined and efficient That’s why each ReYuze phone case is designed with
than the Generation I process, including a considerable a portion of the sides cut out. This provides a unique
reduction in energy use and the complete elimination of appearance without skimping on protection of all four
water indicating that it may be the most resource efficient corners, Foley says.Each case is $10 plus the cost of
process for upcycling PET and polyester fiber in the world. shipping and handling. Foley says he wanted to help
The most significant change introduced in the Generation II both his local community and the Haitian community
technology is Loop’s decision to produce a monomer from that collects the plastic. Therefore, he manufactures
which it makes Loop™ PET resin and polyester fiber from each case out of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) using
terephthalic acid (PTA) to dimethyl terephthalate (DMT). Xometry, Gaithersburg, Maryland.
“Producing DMT during depolymerization allows us to
streamline our technology and eliminate even more Kumar Aerosol Pvt. ltd.
resources, time and cost needed to yield PET monomers 3/12, 2nd Floor, Asaf Ali Road, New Delhi – 110 002
of the highest purity,” added Mr. Solomita. Loop’s short- Tel. No.: +91 11 23272323, 23275761
term priority will be large-scale commercialization of
this Generation II technology to respond to the demands Required
of brand owners who have committed to ambitious
sustainability targets, which can now be achieved through MOULD MAKER for
the use of Loop™ PET and polyester resin. This ground-
breaking technology decouples plastic from fossil fuels by 6ml PET BOTTLES
depolymerizing waste polyester plastic to its base building
blocks (monomers). The monomers are then repolymerized & Moulders PET & P.P. Bottles
to create virgin-quality polyester plastic that meets FDA
requirements for use in food-grade packaging. Loop™ For further details, please contact:
branded polyester resin allows consumer goods companies S.K. AGRAWAL
to meet and exceed their stated sustainability goals and Mob.: +91 9811065467
circular ambitions. Email: surendraagrawalsk@rediffmail.com

65 July 2018 Plastics News