Work is beginning on Freepoint Eco-Systems LLC's chemical recycling facility in Hebron, Ohio, the company said.
The project, dubbed Freepoint's flagship recycling facility, will use pyrolysis to covert plastic waste into oil that will then be shipped to Louisiana to be used by Shell Chemicals to make new plastics.
About 200 construction jobs will be created to build the facility in 2023 and there will be about 70 full-time workers once the site begins commercial operations, said Freepoint, which just turned the first shovels of dirt at the site.
"Breaking ground on Freepoint's flagship facility in Ohio marks the next big step in expanding our advanced recycling footprint in the United States and across the globe. From construction to the launch of operations and beyond, the facility will have a positive impact both broadly and in the Ohio community through plastic recycling, job creation and greenhouse gas reductions, said Jeff McMahon, managing director of Freepoint, in a statement.
The Hebron location will be on a 25-acre site and will use an existing 260,000-square-foot building. Freepoint expects to be able to recycle about 90,000 tons per year.
Oil created by the used plastics in Ohio will go to a Shell energy and chemicals complex in Norco, La.
"The pyrolysis offtake will make a valuable contribution to Shell's strategy to deliver more of the circular chemicals our customers demand and is a great example of the collaboration needed to grow this value chain," said Phil Turley, general manager of plastics circularity at Shell, in a statement.
Freepoint expects to begin commercial operations during the first half of 2024.
The company also previously announced plans for or another plastics recycling facility in Texas using chemical recycling, sometimes also called advanced recycling. "We do not have an update on Freepoint Eco-System's planned Texas location at this time," a company spokeswoman said in a Dec. 16 email.