All types of plastic recycling – mechanical, chemical, advanced is gaining momentum with
increased collaboration across the value chain between various stakeholders. This monthly blog
summarizes some of the major announcements and developments in this space in North
America so far in 2025.

– Braven Environmental plans to build a chemical recycling facility in Texarkana, Texas
with an investment of $145M. Texas is shaping up to be a hot bed for plastic recycling as
ExxonMobil had recently announced $200 investment to expand its advanced recycling
operations near Houston. While Cyclyx (a JV of Agilyx, EOM and LYB) will be building a
new facility in Fort Worth to provide 300 mmlb/y of waste plastic to the industry for
recycling.

– Resynergi, an advanced recycling start-up raised $18M capital to pursue development of
a commercial recycling facility in California. Resynergi has partnered with Lummus to
develop microwave assisted, small, modular units that can be set-up next to waste /
recycle sorting facilities to convert waste plastic into petrochemical feedstock.

– In Canada, Emissions Reduction Alberta will be investing in Merlin Plastics’ recycling
technology to repurpose PET clamshells into pellets for reuse in new packaging.

– Polystyrene Recycling Alliance (PSRA) was formed in partnership with Plastics Industry
Association to bring together industry and stakeholders to make PS and EPS widely
recyclable.

Significant investments and initiatives like above underscore the growing commitment to
building a circular economy for plastics. As new avenues of plastics recycling such as chemical
and advanced recycling become available, it’s going to be essential to step up the investment in
collection, sorting and supply chain for making waste plastic readily available for recycling. In
recent years, brand owner commitments and government mandates for recycled content
(especially in EU), have tightened the supply of recycling feedstock. That, combined with
fragmented supply chain and low virgin prices could make investment thesis bit challenging.
That is where scale can be a game changer both for addressing the plastic waste and creating
new economic growth.