NOVA Chemicals plans its first mechanical recycling facility

NOVA Chemicals will build out and equip a portion of the 1.7 million-square-foot facility on 186 acres at 4747 N. Western Ave. in Connersville to process post-consumer plastic films to produce SYNDIGO recycled polyethylene (rPE) at commercial scale.

Connersville was strategically selected because of its access to abundant feedstock supply of post-consumer films from nearby metropolitan areas, and easy-to-access rail service.

The facility will clean, chop and remelt plastic film into small plastic pellets used to make new products, such as packaging for food and drink, e-commerce, heavy-duty sacks, shrink wrap, and more. It is going to employ approximately 125 people and will be one of Connersville’s largest private employers.

The new facility in Connersville is expected to begin operating as early as 2025, delivering more than 100 million pounds of rPE to the market by 2026.

Collaborating with Novolex will increase the speed with which NOVA Chemicals ramps up its supply of SYNDIGO rPE to the market. The easy-to-access rail service in Connersville ensures efficient distribution of products to NOVA Chemicals’ customers.

NOVA Chemicals recently revealed its 2030 Roadmap to Sustainability Leadership aspirations, including its anticipated investment of between US$2-4 billion by 2030 to expand its sustainable product offerings, decarbonize its assets, and build a state-of-the-art mechanical recycling business while exploring new advanced recycling technologies.

The company plans to expand its recycling footprint over the next several years to help it reach its industry-leading 2030 ambition of 30% recycled content as a share of its total PE sales.