Blue Polymers LLC broke ground Sept. 25 on a major new recycling plant in Buckeye, Ariz.
Officials with Blue Polymers in Orlando, Fla., said in a news release that the new plant will support sustainable packaging manufacturing throughout the Western U.S. The 162,000-square-foot facility will create more than 60 jobs when it opens in the second half of 2025.
The new plant will specialize in polyethylene, commonly found in milk bottles and laundry detergent bottles, and polypropylene used in consumer packaging, such as margarine tubs and yogurt cups.
Officials said these plastics will be processed and formulated into high-quality, drop-in recycled plastic solutions for the packaging industry. Blue Polymers is a joint venture between Ravago Group, a global materials distributor, compounder and recycler based in Luxembourg, and Phoenix-based Republic Services Inc., one of the largest solid waste firms in the U.S.
"Blue Polymers was created to meet the need for high-quality recycled plastics for use in consumer packaging and other applications," Republic Senior Vice President Tim Oudman said. Oudman also is a member of Blue Polymers' board of directors.
Republic is developing a network of regional plastics recycling facilities. These centers will produce high-quality, color-sorted recycled plastics directly from Republic's national curbside collection operations. Each Republic recycling center will be paired with a Blue Polymers location.
Blue Polymers previously announced a site in Indianapolis. A groundbreaking was held at that site in November 2023.
The new Blue Polymers plant in Buckeye will process materials from Republic's Las Vegas recycling center, which opened late last year. Blue Polymers officials said demand is rising for domestically sourced, high-quality recycled plastics from both voluntary sustainability commitments and state legislation.
They added that many consumer-packaged goods companies are pledging to use more recycled content in their packaging designs. Five U.S. states also have implemented minimum recycled content requirements for single-use packaging.
Blue Polymers was formed in mid-2023. At that time, a Republic spokesperson said that four Blue Polymers facilities are planned to open over the next four years, beginning in late 2024. Combined, those plants are expected to produce 300 million pounds per year of recycled plastics.