PureCycle Technologies, Inc. (PCT)

Company website 2021 Q2 Financial Report Stock Analysis

1^%

Recycling Rate

Less than 1% of polypropylene is collected and recycled today in the world

350

Tests

PureCycle has conducted 350+ tests over the last 7 years to evaluate their proprietary recycling technology

130

Million lbs

PureCycle's plants have the capacity to process 130 million lbs of feedstock

View Our Analysis

The Path to Drawdown: Industrial Recycling

Project Drawdown defines recycling as the increased recovery of recyclable post-consumer waste (like metals, plastic, glass, etc.) from the industrial and residential sectors of the economy. Recycling replaces the disposal of recyclable materials in landfills and reduces the need to use new material for production.

Waste from manufacturing, construction, restaurants, office buildings, schools and mines accounts for about half of all waste. All that is grouped together as “industrial and commercial waste.” Much of it, though not all, can be recycled, and a range of strategies can enhance recycling rates.

Some of these strategies include create marketplaces for secondary materials to facilitate the exchange of recyclable and reusable goods, innovation in conversion technologies to make more materials recyclable, and adopting circular business models to recapture “waste” as a valuable resource.

Recycling industrial and commercial material can reduce emissions because producing new products from recovered materials often saves energy. As one example, forging recycled aluminum products uses 95% less energy than creating them from virgin materials.

Project Drawdown estimates that, by 2050, a serious commitment to recycling can help avoid 6.02 gigatons of GHG emissions. To get there, recycling practices need to be adopted much more widely that they are now:

<::marker> In 2014, 27% of recyclable waste was recycled
<::marker> By 2050, 68% of recyclable materials should be recycled
<::marker> That’s 2.6% CAGR between 2014 and 2050

If we can achieve this 68% recycling scenario, we can avoid up to 6.02 gigatons of GHG emissions.

About

PureCycle Technologies LLC (stock ticker: PCT) produces recycled polypropylene. It uses a recycling process that separates color, odor, and contaminants from plastic waste feedstock into recycled polypropylene and converts waste plastic into virgin-like plastic. The company was founded in 2015 and is based in Orlando, Florida.

PCT's Role in Drawdown

PureCycle converts waste polypropylene (PP), often used in packaging and clothing, into virgin quality PP. They source plastic feedstock from both curbside and non-curbside plastic waste streams.

By converting waste plastic into virgin-like plastic, PureCycle closes the loop on the circular economy.

PCT: What We Like

PureCycle has been forging partnerships in both the US and abroad to expand their plastic recycling operations. In November 2021, PureCycle became the official plastic recycling partner of Cleveland Browns, and in September 2021 they began a partnership with Mitsui & Co. to support the Japanese government's goal to increase plastic recycling toward 2030 and enhance supply capability of recycled polypropylene resin.

What We Want to See Improve

Disclose Sustainability Metrics

As a relatively new company, PureCycle hasn't yet published any sustainability information. While we're excited about the core business that PureCycle offers - plastic recycling - we also need to know their own carbon footprint and energy use. So we urge PureCycle's executives to publish an annual sustainability report that includes key sustainability metrics like absolute greenhouse gas emissions, emissions avoided, level of energy use, and sources of that energy.

Set Clear Targets

Once they disclose sustainability metrics, we then would like to see PureCyle setting targets to cut emissions. These targets should include both short- and long-term goals for the company to work toward zero emissions by the end of this decade.

Related Metal Recycling Stocks in the Climate Index

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Allocated	Company	Description
1.02%	LKQ Corp (LKQ)	LKQ recycles thousands of used vehicles into salable parts, tires, fluids and oil - a circular economy model that reduces virgin material use and emissions
0.52%	IAA, Inc. (IAA)	IAA provides a digital marketplace where total-loss, damaged and low-value cars are bought and sold. It’s a valuable industrial recycling service
0.24%	Commercial Metals (CMC)	CMC buys scrap steel and other metals and recycles them into metal products for construction. This reduces virgin material use, energy use and emissions
0.10%	PureCycle Technologies, Inc. (PCT)	PureCycle sells technology that turns polypropylene into virgin-like plastic material. Industrial recycling conserves resources and cuts emissions
0.09%	Harsco Corporation (HSC)	Harsco recycles industrial materials from the metal, railways and energy sectors, which expands the circular economy and reduces virgin materials use
0.05%	Loop Industries (LOOP)	Loop recycles low-value plastics to create high-quality plastics - a circular economy business that reduces virgin material use and emissions
0.02%	Aqua Metals (AQMS)	Aqua Metals turns used lead acid batteries into pure lead and plastic chips. Now that’s a circular economy model