PureCycle partners with Cincinnati Bengals in plastics recycling effort

PureCycle Technologies Inc., based in Orlando, Florida, has partnered with the Cincinnati Bengals to implement its PureZero plastics recycling program geared toward stadiums and entertainment venues, which will divert items like souvenir stadium cups and food containers from being landfilled.

The Bengals are the third NFL team to partner with PureCycle. In November last year, the Cleveland Browns became the first team to implement the PureZero recycling program, and the Jacksonville Jaguars teamed up with PureCycle in July with a goal to divert more than 500,000 pieces of polypropylene (PP) from TIAA Bank Field.

Generally, PP mostly goes unrecycled because it is difficult and costly to recycle, according to the company. The PureZero program’s processing technology, developed by Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble, removes impurities from PP to create what it calls an ultra-pure recycled (UPR) plastic that can then be recycled again and again.

“We are thrilled to work alongside the Cincinnati Bengals to help stop plastic waste from entering the local environment throughout the year,” PureCycle CEO Dustin Olson says. “PureZero is a game-changing program that can help sports teams, entertainment venues, retail and even major office employers level up their sustainability goals.”

Olson continues, “The partnership will also engage fans in a variety of ways to reduce their own plastic waste footprint. Our goal is not only [to] recycle your gameday plastic waste but to engage communities on the importance of sustainability.”

PureCycle says its partnership with the Bengals includes a multistep approach to reducing the amount of plastic waste generated at Cincinnati’s 10 home games at Paycor Stadium. The company also will help stock concessions with PP products to create what it says is a truly circular recycling system and implement an innovative sustainability plan for the team.

In Jacksonville and Cleveland, concession-generated PP recycling was the focus of the teams’ initiatives, and the Jaguars deployed a marketing campaign during the season geared toward engaging and educating fans on the program and sustainability efforts through in-stadium video and signage.

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“We are proud to work with PureCycle on the PureZero program to help reduce plastic waste pollution and keep our region beautiful,” Bengals Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Brian Sells says. “With their purification facility located in Ohio, we can help them tackle the plastic waste issues within our own backyard.”

The flagship PP recycling facility in Ironton, Ohio, is in the final phases of construction as the company announced in August it expected the site to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year and initial pellet production to being by year-end. The $363 million plant will be 185,000 square feet at the former Dow Chemical plant in Ironton.