Republic Services Polymer Center opens in Las Vegas

Phoenix-based waste and recycling company Republic Services Inc. has opened its Polymer Center in Las Vegas, which the company says is the first of its kind in North America.

Republic says the facility will enable greater circularity for plastics and will help meet growing demand for recycled material and is expected to produce more than 100 million pounds of recycled plastics each year for use in sustainable packaging and other applications.

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“The Republic Services Polymer Center will supply high-quality, domestically sourced recycled plastic to advance a critical need for more sustainable packaging,” Republic President and CEO Jon Vander Ark says. “As a leader in the environmental services industry, it’s our responsibility to challenge every truckload of material we collect. The Polymer Center is another example of our commitment to developing solutions that promote greater circularity and help customers achieve their sustainability goals.”

The Polymer Center will process plastic bottles, jugs and containers collected from homes and businesses to produce recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) flake and color-sorted high-density polypropylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP) ready for use in new packaging. Republic expects the new facility to significantly extend the lifecycle of plastic packaging and help turn plastic bottles into new bottles six to seven times.

“As brands commit to using more recycled content in their packaging and more states mandate the use of recycled plastic, supply is struggling to meet the growing demand," the company says in a news release. "By 2030, demand for rPET in the U.S. is expected to total 5 billion pounds, while the supply—based on current processes—will only reach about 2.5 billion pounds. The Polymer Center can help companies fill this urgent gap now.”

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Republic notes The Coca-Cola Co., one of the Las Vegas Polymer Center’s first customers, has committed to use at least 50 percent recycled material in its packaging by 2030. The Polymer Center is scheduled to supply rPET to Coca-Cola beginning in January 2024.

Republic's plans for a nationwide network of Polymer Centers are underway, with the second facility expected to open in Indianapolis in late 2024.