The U.S. Department of Energy鈥檚 Loan Programs Office(LPO) announced a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee of up to $182.6 million to IRG Erie, Inc. (IRG Erie) to finance the construction of a plastics recycling facility in Erie, PA, and an injection system tower at a steel manufacturing facility in northwest Indiana. The new recycling facility will mechanically recycle polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and polypropylene (PP) polymers, converting approximately 160,000 tons per year of post-consumer waste plastic into approximately 100,000 tons per year of recycled plastic materials that will be used to replace virgin plastics. The facility will also produce about 20,000 tons per year of CleanRed鈩� from residual plastic output.
The project will create 334 construction jobs, including 304 jobs at the Erie plant site and 30 jobs to build the injection system at the steelmaker鈥檚 site in Indiana. The project will also create 221 operations jobs in Erie and northwest Indiana.
CleanRed鈩� can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the steelmaking process by replacing a portion of coking coal used in blast furnaces or anthracite coal used in electric arc furnaces. The CleanRed鈩� produced by the facility will be used by an integrated (i.e., with a blast furnace) steel manufacturer in its site in northwest Indiana. IRG Erie will be the first company in the United States to produce and sell a plastic-waste-based iron reducing agent to a domestic steel manufacturer, helping to solidify America鈥檚 position as the global leader in low-carbon iron and steel products.
The U.S. steel production industry accounts for 7% of national GHG emissions. Reducing coking coal usage in the steelmaking process will significantly lower emissions. Assuming a 14% replacement rate of coking coal used in blast furnaces, using CleanRed鈩� will result in a 24% reduction in GHG emissions from this process鈥攈elping move the steel sector toward net-zero emissions.
Recycled plastic production uses 50% less energy than traditional plastic production from fossil fuels, and the increased recovery rate of the plastics at this facility will result in further avoided virgin plastics production. Plastic production currently accounts for roughly 2% of total U.S. energy consumption. In total, IRG Erie is expected to avoid up to 555,000 metric tons of CO2e annually as a result of avoided virgin plastics production and emissions reductions in the steel production process. This emissions reduction is equivalent to about 190,000 tons of waste being recycled instead of landfilled each year.