ByFusion Global Inc. is moving ahead with an expanded facility in Tucson, Ariz., that will turn hard-to-recycle plastics into an alternative building material.
On Jan. 15 the Gardena, Calif.-based company broke ground on a 10,000-square-foot facility in Tucson that is expected to be complete in the third quarter of 2025 and operational in early 2026.
The new facility will focus on creating ByBlocks, 22-pound reusable blocks that can be used for landscaping, wall applications and utility projects. ByBlocks are designed with interlocking features where the block below fits into the block above, like Lego. The blocks are also designed to be held together with threaded rebar.
ByFusion got involved with Tucson originally through a pilot program in 2022.
"The pilot was to see how the community would embrace a landfill alternative to the nonrecyclable plastic waste," said Heidi Kujawa, CEO of ByFusion "We take everything that doesn't go in the blue bin, like we're trying to keep that blue bin clean and decluttered and more efficient."
The pilot lasted a couple months and received a positive response from the community. The goals that the company was hoping to reach during the pilot were hit very early on.
"We initially thought we were going to try to capture about 20 tons in three months, and we captured 20 tons in about half the time, with a single drop-off location, which was pretty extraordinary," Kujawa said.
Now the company has expanded the program through a service agreement with the city.
"We are bringing green jobs, bringing capabilities and manufacturing jobs, to the community and as well as keeping things out of the landfill," Kujawa said. 'It is a big win, and I'm really excited to get to Tucson on a larger scale and show the world how you can do it."
With the expansion, ByFusion expects to reprocess 200 tons of material per month, focusing on hard-to-recycle plastics including films, multilayer containers, food packaging, coffee cup lids, straws and rigid packaging. Processing 200 tons a month will put the company's production at 20,000 to 24,000 units a month and about 280,000 units a year.
During this transitional period from pilot to market, ByFusion has been exceeding volumes of collection for the company's current capabilities. To deal with the volume, the company has reached out Hefty for support.
Residents purchase and fill Hefty orange bags with hard-to-recycle materials and drop them off at one of the five locations. ByFusion plans to continue this system even after the expansion.
"The whole idea is that we're able to maximize the efficiency of a blue bin with the Hefty bag," Kujawa said. "Eventually, the target and the goal for the city is to enable the Hefty bag to go into the blue bins."
The pilot was originally supported by City Councilman Steve Kozachik, but with this new system Kozachik sees this as a more complicated process that is encouraging residents to use more plastic bags.
Kozachik told the local media that he opposed "having people buy a plastic bag made by one of the polluters to participate in the program."
According to ByFusion its technology doesn't need the collected material to be cleaned or sorted. The process doesn't add any filler, additives or glues to the material and is zero emissions, zero waste and carbon neutral process.
"We're not changing the chemical makeup of what we're putting in it. We're not reducing it, pelletizing, melting it," Kujawa said. "We're literally taking this chip bag, or some of the more difficult things and different plastic streams, and we're repurposing it into a building material. The benefits that we see across the board are exceptional."
The ByBlocks all differ between each piece, ByFusion refers to them as "snowflakes" to highlight how each one is unique. It is a steam-based process that uses a proprietary shredder. By using steam, ByFusion has more control over the material and the material is sanitized in the process. After the material is shredded and sanitized it is then compressed into the block.
"You eat your lunch, throw it in the machine, make a block and stick it in the wall. It's really that simple," Kujawa said.