RES Polyflow enters into agreement with BP

RES Polyflow, a Chagrin Falls, Ohio-based manufacturer of plastics-to-fuel energy recovery systems, has announced it has entered into an off take agreement with BP, with U.S. headquarters in Denver, for the fuels produced by its first commercial production facility.

Located in Ashley, Indiana, the RES Polyflow plant is designed to convert 100,000 tons of plastic scrap and waste into 16 million gallons of what it calls ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel and naphtha blend stocks per year. The project is expected to begin processing in 2019. The facility also will produce commercial grade waxes for sale to the industrial wax market.

Under the terms of the agreement, BP will purchase all the diesel fuel and naphtha blend stocks produced by the RES Polyflow facility for distribution in the regional petroleum market. 

“As a global energy business, BP is focused on the dual challenge of meeting society’s needs for more energy, while at the same time working to reduce carbon emissions,” says Carey Mendes, head of BP’s Global Oil Americas marketing and trading business in Chicago. “Agreements like this one highlight our commitment to helping drive the transition to a low-carbon future, which is embedded in the core of our business strategy.”

RES Polyflow CEO Jay Schabel says the offtake relationship with BP demonstrates the company’s plastics-to-fuel process delivers a viable business model for energy recovery in North America. “We provide communities with an alternative to traditional methods of plastic disposal that complement current recycling practices,” he says. “In addition to creating permanent manufacturing jobs, a reduced carbon footprint associated with the production of high demand petroleum products can be realized for the first time at commercial scale.” 

The RES Polyflow process converts comingled plastic into a hydrocarbon liquid on a continuous and highly efficient basis. Once online, the Ashley facility is expected to create a new market for the growing stream of complex plastic film, flexible packaging and other low value, nonrecycled plastic that typically ends up going to landfills. 

The company plans additional plastics-to-fuel facilities for surrounding Midwestern states. The new locations will be anchored by the Indiana facility as the primary postprocessing site for the BP offtake agreement. A total of 136 full time manufacturing jobs will be created in northeast Indiana when all phases of the project are implemented.