Republic Services Aims for Vertical Integration with Planned Plastics Recycling Facility

Development plans for an integrated plastics recycling facility are underway at major hauler and recycler Phoenix-based Republic Services, Inc. The new Republic Services Polymer Center, scheduled to open in 2023, is said to represent the first time a U.S. company will manage the plastics stream through an integrated process from curbside collection of recycled material to production and delivery of high-quality recycled content for consumer packaging.

The company’s first Polymer Center will process plastics-- from Republic's recycling facilities in the West, where legislation is driving increased demand for recycled content. The move  directly supports Republic's long-term sustainability goal to increase the recovery and circularity of key materials by 40% by 2030, and will help consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands meet their own sustainability goals.

Rigid plastics collected from residential and commercial customers and sorted at local recycling facilities will be delivered to the Polymer Center for processing, including shredding and hot washing or sorting by color. The facility is expected to produce more than 100 million lb/yr of recycled plastics, including 100% PCR PET flake delivered to the food-grade marketplace to enable bottle-to-bottle circularity. In addition, HDPE and PP packaging such as detergent jugs, which today are collected in multicolored bundles, can be separated by plastic type and color, allowing, for example, an orange jug to be recycled into another orange jug.

Brands continue to make voluntary sustainability pledges to increase the use of recycled content in consumer packaging, while states such as California and Washington are requiring the use of recycled content in single-use plastic containers. Republic says, that despite this growing demand, there is not enough high-quality recycled plastic for manufacturers to use in consumer packaging. The Polymer Center will help bridge the gap between curbside collections and manufacturers' needs, providing a reliable supply of domestically sourced recycled plastics. Moreover, Republic anticipates opening two to three more centers to provide national coverage and further drive circularity.

Said Republic’s president and CEO Jon Vander Ark, "Packaged goods manufacturers have set ambitious targets to use more post-consumer content in their products, but the current supply of recycled plastics falls short. The Republic Services Polymer Center will help meet the increasing demand for a reliable, high-quality supply of recycled plastics, assisting brands in achieving their sustainability goals. This is a critical step forward in solving the plastics circularity challenge. As a leader in the environmental services industry and one of the nation's largest recyclers, Republic is uniquely positioned to support the circular economy."