The US circularity centre planned by Cyclyx International for the port of Houston, Texas, is not only getting delayed, but is also turning out to be way more expensive. The commissioning – originally planned for 2023, but postponed to 2024 – is now not likely until mid-2025. At the same time, the project, in which LyondellBasell (LYB, Houston, Texas; www.lyondellbasell.com) and ExxonMobil (Irving, Texas; www.exxonmobil.com) are significantly involved, now stands at an investment of USD 135 mn (EUR 125.8 mn), instead of the USD 100 mn initially planned.

Cyclyx has now set up a collection programme with various local authorities and schools in the Houston area to filter plastics waste from the household waste stream – including refuse that is not mechanically recycled. These are later to be fed into the company’s own sorting and processing plant. A rather moderate 200 t are said to have been collected in this way so far. However, the project is probably intended more as a test to have a functioning material flow when the plant is commissioned.

Related: LYB enters JV with ExxonMobil, Cyclyx to build US waste sorting facility

ExxonMobil said it plans to use pyrolysis to convert the plastics waste into raw material for crackers. The rest of the value chain includes packaging manufacturers such as Sealed Air, Ahold Delhaize, Berry Global, and Amcor, with whom ExxonMobil has already concluded purchase agreements.