Avangard Innovative (AI) makes a splash early in the year with a trifecta of announcements that undoubtedly position the company as the leader in Circular Economy solutions in America. With the expansion of its PCR production facilities, the announcement of new environmental agreements and the appointment of its Natura PCR President, Avangard Innovative doubles down in its efforts to grow exponentially over the next decade.
Late last year, AI finalized the purchase of a ~200 acre property in Waller, TX which includes a facility with existing infrastructure to streamline the expansion of additional capacity to produce LDPE and LLDPE PCR. Once installed, the new total capacity will exceed 100 million pounds of post-consumer resin annually. Installation is underway and is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Additional expansion plans already include new plants in Mexico and Nevada.
The expansion of capacity responds to the high demand for Natura PCR products, as new environmental partnerships continue to materialize. In an exclusive agreement, Avangard Innovative will supply post-consumer resin plastic film pellets to Dow (NYSE:DOW), a significantaddition to Dow’s plastic circularity portfolio that is aligned with the company’s goal to advancethe circular economy for plastics and minimize waste in the environment.
Similarly, an agreement with Hi-Cone Corporation (Hi-Cone), a leading supplier of plastic-based multi-packaging systems, is creating incremental demand of PCR pellets to be used for Hi-Cone’s new ring carriers, made from +50% post-consumer recycled material, and supplied by Natura PCR. The new six-pack rings are called RingCyclesTM and will hit the shelves later this year.
“The collaboration between Avangard Innovative and our environmental partners goes muchfarther than supplying PCR materials,” said Rick Perez, Avangard Innovative CEO. “Ourstrategic partnerships are spearheading the standard in Circular Economy processes, where wecomplement each other’s strengths to turn waste streams into valuable, high-quality, recyclable materials. By using AI’s tracking technology, managing and optimizing collection and sorting, and finally transforming reclaimed materials at end-of-life, we are enabling true Circular Economy.”
In order to manage the exponential growth of demand for Natura PCR products, Avangard Innovative has promoted Jon Stephens to President, Natura PCR. Mr. Stephens brings more than 22 years of experience in recycling and waste management operations and has been one of the main strategists behind Natura PCR’s explosive growth.
“I’m honored to accept the position as President for Natura PCR, but most importantly, I’m fullycommitted to drive the expansion of our PCR production capacity and providing the industry’shighest technically performing PE film PCR,” said Mr. Stephens. “The partnerships we have established from key stakeholders are building blocks to advance plastics film recovery with the increased PCR demand.”