NOVA Chemicals to develop its first mechanical recycling facility

NOVA Chemicals Corporation will develop its first mechanical recycling facility in Connersville, Indiana. The facility will process post-consumer plastic films to produce the company's SYNDIGO recycled polyethylene (rPE) at a commercial scale as early as 2025, delivering over 100 million pounds of rPE to the market by 2026. NOVA Chemicals plans to expand its recycling footprint over the next several years to help it reach its 2030 ambition of 30 percent recycled content as a share of its total polyethylene sales.

The company's 2030 Roadmap to Sustainability Leadership plans include anticipated investment of between U.S. $2 to $4 billion by 2030 to expand its sustainable product offerings, decarbonize its assets, and build a mechanical recycling business while exploring new advanced recycling technologies.

The facility will employ approximately 125 people. Connersville was selected because of its access to feedstock supply of post-consumer films from nearby metropolitan areas and an easy-to-access rail service for distributing SYNDIGO rPE. The facility will be operated by Novolex Holdings. The collaboration will increase the speed with which NOVA Chemicals ramps up its supply of SYNDIGO rPE.

"Indiana has long been a hub for sustainability, innovation, and business," said Novolex Chairman and CEO, Stanley Bikulege. "The new plant will build on our experience of operating both our North Vernon plastics recycling facility in Indiana and our recycling plant in Wisconsin as well as accelerate our commitment to support recycling and the circular economy."

"Plastic products play an essential role in our daily lives and will continue to be a valuable resource in establishing a lower-carbon and sustainable world. They are an invaluable resource for furthering the North American circular economy," said Greg DeKunder, vice president of NOVA Circular Solutions.