Brightmark Recognizes America Recycles Day With Landmark Recycling Milestone

Internal "Bin 99" program has successfully gathered over 10,000 pounds of recyclable plastics from Brightmark staff

ASHLEY, Ind.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Brightmark, the global waste solutions provider, recognizes America Recycles Day by announcing it has collected over 10,000 pounds of recyclable plastics through its internal "Bin 99" program. On America Recycles Day, the importance and impact of recycling is recognized due to its contribution to American prosperity and the protection of our environment.

"Bin 99" is a program in which staff at Brightmark's Ashley, Indiana Plastics Renewal Facility donate plastic waste generated by their households for conversion into ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel, naphtha blend stocks and wax. Given that plastic waste cannot be donated to the company from non-staff members, this milestone represents a deep-seeded dedication to sustainability from Brightmark's team.

“10,000 pounds of plastic waste is a remarkable number, and Brightmark is proud to convert this waste into sustainably-made, useful end-products," said Mike Dungan, Brightmark Feedstock Development Director and Co-Champion of the "Bin 99" program. "The fact that all these recyclable materials–mostly comprised of general household packaging, food containers and old toys came from less than 40 employees living less than 10 miles away from the facility shows that communities of any size can truly make a difference in reimagining waste."

"When Bin 99 kicked off in July of 2020, we had no idea that we would ever reach such a milestone," said Esther Steffen, Finance Controller at Brightmark and Co-Champion of the "Bin 99" program. “It is spectacular to know it was entirely complied in a little over a year by our own staff which shows the company-wide dedication to sustainably renewing plastic waste and pursuing a circular future.”

When fully operational, Brightmark's Ashley, Indiana Plastics Renewal Facility, now in pilot phase, will divert 100,000 tons of plastic waste each year from landfills and incinerators and convert it into 18 million gallons of ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel and naphtha blend stocks and 6 million gallons of wax – this is more plastic than the weight of 5,400 tractor-trailers or seven Brooklyn Bridges. The facility is anticipated to achieve fully operational status in 2022.

ABOUT BRIGHTMARK

Brightmark is a global waste solutions company with a mission to reimagine waste. The company takes a holistic, closed loop, circular economy approach to tackling the planet’s most pressing environmental challenges with imagination and optimism for the future. Through the deployment of disruptive, breakthrough waste-to-energy solutions focused on plastics renewal (plastic waste-to-fuel) and renewable natural gas (organic waste-to-fuel), Brightmark enables programs specifically tailored to environmental needs in order to build scalable project solutions that have a positive impact on the world and communities in which its stakeholders live and work. For more information, visit www.brightmark.com.