Cleveland, Ohio based Vadxx Energy has closed on financing for its first commercial-scale, plastic waste to energy facility.

Global private equity firm, Liberation Capital, has entered into an agreement with Vadxx to fund the first unit, and additional commercial units, while Rockwell Automation is the procurement and construction contractor and will manufacture and commission the facility.

The company said that the first unit will be implemented in Akron, Ohio and is scheduled to come on-line in early 2015.

The regional facility is expected to divert around 60 tons (55 tonnes) per day of waste plastics from landfill and process it using the company's technology which 'cooks' the waste to produce synthetic oil, natural gas and char.

Technology

According to Vadxx, its  proprietary process is run in proven, off-the shelf equipment such as an extruder, boiler, condensers, and closed piping.

The 'cooking' is said to be performed in a heated closed vessel where solid plastic melts and turns into a vapour that that is routed through pipes to another closed vessel where it is cooled and condensed back into a liquid. The liquid is then piped to a storage tank and ready for pick up by a tanker truck.

The company explained that the system utilises common exhaust to manage the hot air produced by all of the processing units, while a wet scrubber ensures that the system meets the most stringent air quality requirements.

Vadxx claimed that whatever of the mix of plastics used as a feedstock, there will only ever be a small amount of nearly clear, odourless emissions from the facility - around the same as would be generated by a large building boiler over the course of a year.

Furthermore, the company noted that the Ohio EPA has issued a final permit for the plastics to energy facility, which it has designated as a true minor emitter, the agency's lowest possible emissions rating. #

Vadxx added that it has operated a 1/50th scale pilot facility for several years, working to optimize its process, test future plastic feedstocks, and educate investors, and has received significant support from Northeast Ohio economic development entities and the state of Ohio.

According to Jim Garrett, Vadxx CEO, the company is focused on successfully implementing its first commercial unit in Akron as an important first step toward global expansion.

For more of this week's news on waste plastics check out WMW's Weekly Newscast below

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Waste to Oil Firm Brings in Contractor to Refine Process
Vadxx Energy LLC has engaged control systems specialist, Rockwell Automation Global Solutions to provide process engineering solutions and services to refine its waste to oil process.

Plastic to Oil Capability for Planned Ohio Recycling Facility
Vadxx claims that its system recovers synthetic crude oil with a lower sulfur content than found in any naturally occurring oil.

CEO Backs Waste Plastic to Oil Firm with Further $2m in New York
New York state based waste plastic to oil specialist, JBI (OTCQB: JBII), has secured an additional $2 million from debt financing through the sale of a secured promissory note.

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