Brightmark Receives ISCC PLUS Certification

(Brightmark) Certification ensures compliance with high ecological and social sustainability requirements, greenhouse gas emissions savings, and traceability throughout the supply chain -- Brightmark, LLC the global waste solutions provider, today announced that its Ashley, Indiana Plastics Renewal Facility has been ISCC PLUS (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification) certified. The certification is provided by SCS Global Services, a pioneer and leader in the field of sustainability standards and third-party certification, working across the economy in the natural resources, built environment, food and agriculture, consumer products, and climate sectors.

ISCC PLUS certifications are conducted by independent third-party Certification Bodies cooperating with ISCC. Competent and trained auditors, evaluating compliance with the ISCC sustainability standard, conduct the audits. ISCC certification ensures that biomass is not produced on land with high biodiversity and high carbon stock, good agricultural practices protecting soil, water, and air are applied, human rights, labor, and land rights are respected, sustainable material is traceable throughout international supply chains and that greenhouse gas reduction targets are met.

“Brightmark is proud to receive ISCC PLUS certification for our flagship Ashley, Indiana plastics renewal facility,” said Bob Powell, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Brightmark. “SCS Global Services has worked hard for decades to recognize companies striving to advance sustainability, and this certification serves as an additional proof point of Brightmark’s commitment to Reimagining Waste while ensuring environmental responsibility throughout our operations.”

SCS Global Services has established programs and services designed to recognize the outstanding achievements of companies, institutions, and organizations who are meeting the highest levels of performance in environmental protection, social/ethical responsibility, product safety, and quality, and stimulate continuous improvement on the path toward sustainability. In this undertaking, they employ a life-cycle framework, state-of-the-art science, proven analytical methods, performance metrics, and professional expertise.

When fully operational, Brightmark’s Ashley 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. Through a breakthrough proprietary process, Brightmark has the unique ability to recycle all types of plastic (1-7) – including the difficult to recycle plastic types 3-7 which cannot readily be recycled, like plastic film, styrofoam, flexible packing, car parts, toothbrushes, and children’s toys – directly into useful materials. The Ashley facility is anticipated to achieve fully operational status in 2022. Brightmark utilizes the technology of its subsidiary company Res Polyflow, LLC in the plastics conversion process. READ MORE

Excerpt from Brightmark: Now, a new peer-reviewed analysis has demonstrated how Brightmark’s plastics renewal technology processes help decarbonize petrochemicals, even as we continue to strive for the development of fully circular plastics. Our team commissioned the Georgia Institute of Technology and Environmental Clarity, Inc. to conduct a complete peer-reviewed lifecycle analysis of our proprietary, pyrolysis-based plastics renewal technology. The study revealed that the plastics renewal process produces 39%-139% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than equivalent products made from virgin materials.

Our technology’s carbon footprint benefit is further affected by how much incineration is used for waste disposal in a given region. For example, in Europe, where 50% of plastics are incinerated, Brightmark’s plastics renewal’s carbon footprint improvement jumps to 139% compared to equivalent virgin products. That’s one reason why we recently announced an exploratory effort to deploy our technology in communities in Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium.

The report also finds that plastic renewal provides 82% energy use savings and 46% water use savings. In other words, products created by plastics renewal require 17% usage of fossil fuels and only 54% usage of water—which is much less than if the same products were made from virgin petroleum. These are tremendous savings, and we are very proud of the Brightmark team for accomplishing this impeccable milestone.

Much of what is proven by this analysis confirms what common sense tells us is that plastics renewal is a world-changing technology. It keeps our natural resources in use via the circular economy, provides a productive use for materials that would otherwise be landfilled, littered, or incinerated, reduces our need for new fossil fuel extraction, and slashes climate change emissions—all at once. READ MORE