ORANGE COUNTY, Florida. – The mission of PureCycle Technologies is simple: to create an infinitely sustainable planet.
PureCycle Technologies is a company focused on recycling polypropylene plastics and is looking to start operations at a new facility in Winter Garden.
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According to the recycling company’s CEO, Dustin Olson, the type of plastics that PureCycle processes produce the most worldwide are found in auto parts, food packaging, building materials, film and fiber, among others.
“There’s no recycling company like us in the world,” Olson said. “We have unique technology that allows us to purify the (polypropylene) to a level that no one else can.”
However, residents of Winter Garden have complained about PureCycle’s facility, citing concerns about pollution, traffic and waste.
Addressing those concerns, Olson said the allegations were misleading.
“We don’t burn plastic. We don’t drain water. We don’t produce microplastics,” Olson said. “We just sort the plastic.”
Olson told News 6 that the company is trying to collect plastic from tourist spots, resorts, cruise ships and other places with a lot of human traffic.
After the plastic is collected, it is sorted at the Winter Garden center before being shipped to Augusta, Georgia for cleaning.
Regarding traffic, Olson said trucks will be coming to the facility, although they will be limited to daytime traffic only.
Olson said the reason the company is eyeing Winter Garden is the lack of other suitable locations. The warehouse that PureCycle wants to use has been empty for years.
“There just aren’t a lot of empty storage space in the state. When we saw that this had been vacant for a couple of years, we looked at it and said, ‘Hey, this is a good operation, let’s see if it will work. ‘” he said.
In addition to creating a sustainable resource system, Olson said the facility will provide jobs and education to the community.
He added that residents have every right to feel the way they do, but he hopes they can come to an agreement.
“Our job – our role – is to be a good citizen, and you can’t do that unless you’re willing to listen and be open to change,” he said.
The PureCycle team said they have reached out to One Winter Garden, a winter garden advocacy group, on a number of occasions in hopes of meeting with members of the group.
“We’ve reached out to One Winter Garden many times and offered to meet and speak with them, and whenever their schedule becomes available, we’d love to sit down with them and discuss everything fully,” Olson said.
The company is still in the process of building parts within the conservatory facility. Olson expects the facility to be operational by December.
Around 30 employees will work at this location, which will be operated during the day from Monday to Friday. Olson said it won’t be 24/7 operations.
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