Company hits crowdfunding goal for product designed to convert plastic to oil

Just 10 percent of plastic that is produced globally is recycled, the rest ends up in landfills, is incinerated or is lost in the environment, including our oceans. With demand for plastics growing exponentially, there is a pressing need to rapidly increase plastic recycling capability, according to Recycling Technologies.

Swindon, England-based Recycling Technologies has developed and patented a plastics recycling machine called the RT7000 that can convert end-of-life plastics back into oil from which new plastics can be made, the company notes in a news release. Because of the chemical nature of the recycling process, the RT7000 is able to recycle plastics currently considered unrecyclable, such as plastic film, laminated food pouches and black plastics, the company says. 

To expand its operations and start the build of its first commercial machine to be installed in Scotland, Recycling Technologies launched a crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube, a British investing website, Feb. 16, 2018, with an aim to raise $1.68 million. On Feb. 19, 2018, the company announced that the crowdfunding has already exceeded the $1.82 million level and remains open for overfunding.

“We want to thank our new investors; it is thrilling that there is so much interest in supporting our solution to the problem of plastic waste,” Adrian Griffiths, CEO of Recycling Technologies, says. “Plastic waste is a valuable resource that has no place in landfills and our oceans. Waste site operators are crying out for attractive alternatives to the landfilling and incineration of mixed plastics, which today cost them $125 to $182 per ton for disposal. The RT7000 machine enables waste site operators to turn this plastic waste liability into a product, Plaxx, which has a value of [$420] per ton. There is a growing pipeline of waste site operators interested in the RT7000. By the end of 2023, we are targeting sales of over 300 machines with revenues of around $616 million. Each machine will provide its owner a payback in less than three years.”

“We all want to stem the flow of plastics into our oceans and recycle more. Crowdfunding enables everyone to be part of the Recycling Technologies’ solution,” Howard Lack, chairman of Recycling Technologies, says. “We are delighted to have already attracted significant support, enthusiasm and backing from our growing community of investors. The crowdfunding will underpin our growth and the building of our first commercial RT7000 machine in Scotland this year.”

Recycling Technologies’ RT7000 is modular and will be mass-produced, enabling a low-cost and rapid roll-out of plastic recycling machines anywhere in the world, according to the company. It will begin its operations in the U.K. providing a scalable solution to dealing with this country’s plastic waste. In the next 10 years, the company says it plans to build capacity to recycle 10 million tons of plastic globally each year.