When Agilyx LLC and Americas Styrenics announced in February that they were closing their polystyrene chemical recycling joint venture, Regenyx LLC, by the end of April, they called it a "success," saying it had achieved its objectives.
But Sustainable Plastics, a sister publication of Plastics News, has uncovered details showing Regenyx suffered millions of dollars of losses since 2021, as well as reports suggesting its partners weren't convinced of the venture's "success."
Regenyx opened in Tigard, Ore., in 2019 as the first commercial-scale, closed-loop chemical recycling for PS in the world.
Agilyx's 2022 annual report and 2023 half-year financial results report reveal that Regenyx suffered a loss of $948,272 in 2021, $2.5 million in 2022, and nearly $1.1 million as of June 30, 2023. Its losses total up to more than $4.5 million.
The company's reports also show Agilyx and AmSty recognized the joint venture was fully impaired as of the start of 2021. Impairment occurs when a business asset suffers a depreciation in fair market value in excess of the book value of the asset on the company's financial statements. Those assets are considered "impaired" and must be listed as a loss on an income statement.
"Due to the projected negative cash flows and the unique nature of the underlying plant, it was determined that the recoverable amount was 0 under both the value in use and fair value less cost to sell methodology therefore the investment in Regenyx has been fully impaired since Jan. 1, 2021," the Agilyx reports said. "Subsequent capital investments by Agilyx led to impairments for both balance sheet periods presented, on the basis that the recoverable amount using the value in use and fair value less cost to sell methodologies would lead to a fully written-off investment."