IRONTON, OH / ACCESSWIRE / June 3, 2024 / PureCycle Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:PCT), today, announced that the Company's flagship purification facility in Ironton, Ohio is demonstrating improved reliability and product quality since resuming operations.
The Ironton Facility initially resumed operations the week of May 20. On May 22, severe storms across the Midwest, caused an area-wide power outage that impacted the Ironton Facility. Prior to the power outage, the Company began with feed rates of 2,500 pounds per hour and reached rates of 5,500 pounds per hour right before the storm.
Operations again resumed on May 30 after needed equipment repairs were completed. The Company restarted with feed rates at 2,500 pounds per hour and has subsequently reached rates of up to 6,000 pounds per hour. The Ironton Facility has produced approximately 265,000 pounds of pellets since operations resumed on May 30.
During the restarts there have been operational interruptions to address minor maintenance items, calibration of digital upgrades, and utility rebalancing for continuous operations.
PureCycle CEO Dustin Olson said, "We spent April and early-May making more than 100 improvements to the facility and despite the unforeseen circumstances with the power outage, it's been great to see the positive early results. I'd like to thank every member of our team and all the contractors that worked tirelessly to complete the planned outage." Olson added, "There is still more work to do, but we have made significant progress and I'm both confident and excited about the future of our flagship facility."
The improvements to the Ironton Facility were made to enhance reliability and drive more consistent product quality. The near-term operational focus is to maximize facility uptime, but the PureCycle team will continue to increase rates in the future.
The Company restarted the Ironton Facility with a feedstock low in co-product two (i.e. lower concentrations of polyethylene and ash). Feedstocks with higher percentages of co-product two will be introduced in the near future to determine the impact of the upgrades to the co-product two system.
PureCycle will provide additional updates prior to the end of the fiscal second quarter.
About PureCycle Technologies PureCycle Technologies LLC., a subsidiary of PureCycle Technologies, Inc., holds a global license for the only patented solvent-driven purification recycling technology, developed by The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G), that is designed to transform polypropylene plastic waste (designated as No. 5 plastic) into a continuously renewable resource. The unique purification process removes color, odor, and other impurities from No. 5 plastic waste resulting in an ultra-pure recycled (UPR) plastic that can be recycled and reused multiple times, changing our relationship with plastic. www.purecycle.com
Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements about the financial condition, results of operations, earnings outlook and prospects of PCT. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or PureCycle's future financial or operating performance and may refer to projections and forecasts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by future or conditional words such as "plan," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "outlook," "estimate," "forecast," "project," "continue," "could," "may," "might," "possible," "potential," "predict," "should," "would" and other similar words and expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions), but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking.
The forward-looking statements are based on the current expectations of PureCycle's management and are inherently subject to uncertainties and changes in circumstances and their potential effects and speak only as of the date of this press release. There can be no assurance that future developments will be those that have been anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in each of PureCycle's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 and PureCycle's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, those discussed and identified in other public filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission by PureCycle and the following: PCT's ability to obtain funding for its operations and future growth and to continue as a going concern; PCT's ability to meet, and to continue to meet, applicable regulatory requirements for the use of PCT's ultra-pure recycled ("UPR") resin in food grade applications (including in the United States, Europe, Asia and other future international locations); PCT's ability to comply on an ongoing basis with the numerous regulatory requirements applicable to the UPR resin and PCT's facilities (including in the United States, Europe, Asia and other future international locations); expectations and changes regarding PCT's strategies and future financial performance, including its future business plans, expansion plans or objectives, prospective performance and opportunities and competitors, revenues, products and services, pricing, operating expenses, market trends, liquidity, cash flows and uses of cash, capital expenditures, and PCT's ability to invest in growth initiatives; the ability of PCT's first commercial-scale recycling facility in Lawrence County, Ohio (the "Ironton Facility") to be appropriately certified by Leidos, following certain performance and other tests, and commence full-scale commercial operations in a timely and cost-effective manner or at all; PCT's ability to meet, and to continue to meet, the requirements imposed upon it and its subsidiaries by the funding for its operations, including the funding for the Ironton Facility; PCT's ability to minimize or eliminate the many hazards and operational risks at its manufacturing facilities that can result in potential injury to individuals, disrupt its business (including interruptions or disruptions in operations at its facilities), and subject PCT to liability and increased costs; PCT's ability to complete the necessary funding with respect to, and complete the construction of, (i) its first U.S. multi-line facility, located in Augusta, Georgia; (ii) its first commercial-scale European plant located in Antwerp, Belgium and (iii) its first commercial-scale Asian plant located in Ulsan, South Korea, in a timely and cost-effective manner; PCT's ability to establish, sort and process polypropylene plastic waste at its plastic waste prep facilities; PCT's ability to maintain exclusivity under the Procter & Gamble Company license; the implementation, market acceptance and success of PCT's business model and growth strategy; the success or profitability of PCT's offtake arrangements; the ability to source feedstock with a high polypropylene content at a reasonable cost; PCT's future capital requirements and sources and uses of cash; developments and projections relating to PCT's competitors and industry; the outcome of any legal or regulatory proceedings to which PCT is, or may become, a party including the securities class action and putative class action cases; geopolitical risk and changes in applicable laws or regulations; the possibility that PCT may be adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors, including rising interest rates, availability of capital, economic cycles, and other macro-economic impacts; turnover in employees and increases in employee-related costs; changes in the prices and availability of labor (including labor shortages), transportation and materials, including inflation, supply chain conditions and its related impact on energy and raw materials, and PCT's ability to obtain them in a timely and cost-effective manner; any business disruptions due to political or economic instability, pandemics, armed hostilities (including the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the current conflict in the Middle East); the potential impact of climate change on PCT, including physical and transition risks, higher regulatory and compliance costs, reputational risks, and availability of capital on attractive terms; and operational risk.
