
York will be the site of a new factory capable of converting difficult-to-recycle plastic waste into a new concrete additive known as RESIN8, CRDC Global announced Friday.
CRDC Global’s site lists it as “a disruptive building materials company that creates apricating value from the world’s plastic waste.” Since its founding in 2018, CRDC has rapidly scaled operations from Costa Rica to the U.S., South Africa, United Kingdom, Australia, Mexico, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Samoa.
CRDC will have the support of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (Alliance). The first in the U.S. and second in the world, this 14,000-square foot production plant uses a process that transforms York’s unwanted plastic waste into RESIN8 at a rate of approximately one ton of plastic per hour.
The collaboration allows CRDC to expand its footprint in North America. It will also scale up its existing production plant in Costa Rica. The two facilities combined will be able to process nearly 24,000 metric tons of plastic waste per year. Accepted will be all types of mixed plastic waste that would have been sent to landfill or be incinerated to instead produce RESIN8.
RESIN8 is suitable for numerous applications including concrete blocks and pavers, pre-cast concrete, ready-mix concrete, mortars, and hot mix asphalt. The resultant material is up to 15% lighter or stronger depending on its usage, with up to 20% better insultation properties than traditional concrete. RESIN8 has been used by Habitat for Humanity to build social housing in Latin America.
“We need the sort of innovation that CRDC brings, and we welcome any solution that makes our city more sustainable,” City of York Mayor Michael Helfrich said. “I’m very proud of how our York community has embraced CRDC’s presence and has already started bringing their plastic waste directly to the factory.
“To facilitate the collection of this plastic waste, I’m pleased to announce that we’re establishing three sites for the collection of plastics in different areas of York.”
Any type of plastic waste (resins 1-7) can be accepted as raw material and transformed into RESIN8, due to CRDC’s unique approach. The building material was designed by and for the construction industry and has been tested extensively and shown to enhance the integrity of concrete and asphalt. A viable commercial solution for unwanted plastic waste is thus created, keeping it out of landfills and the environment.
CRDC CEO Donald Thomson said the specific benefits of RESIN8 in concrete include improvements to insulation, strength, and fire resistance as well as reduction of weight.
“The greatest appeal of RESIN8 lies in its ability to provide both an environmental benefit and commercial benefit,” he said. “So, while we’re helping to clean up plastic waste, we’re also providing a product that stands on its own in terms of its performance and commercial viability.
“RESIN8 has a positive impact on both the plastics and the construction industries as a functional example of zero waste. We spent years on research and development to ensure we have a process that can be rapidly scaled.”
A global non-profit organization with a mission to end plastics waste in the environment, the alliance has supported since last year the scaling up of CRDC Global’s operations in the U.S. and Costa Rica.
“The alliance believes that plastic waste is a resource with value that can be unlocked with the right technologies and solutions,” said Steve Sikra, Vice President and Head of the Americas at the alliance. “RESIN8 is one such example with the potential to be replicated globally. From the time we began working with CRDC Global, they have made tremendous strides in improving their process and perfecting their new technology. We are proud to be journeying with them to scale up technology around the world.”
Marc Forman, President of Georgia-Pacific Recycling, a partner of CRDC Global, said it’s important innovative solutions like RESIN8 move forward to help improve reuse of plastic waste and that Georgia-Pacific is pleased to play a supporting role.
“At Georgia-Pacific, we actively engage in continuous improvement and exploration of innovative solutions that benefit society as part of our business strategy and success measures,” he said. “Our partnership with CRDC Global to provide logistical support and plastic feedback for their operations is a great example of how we do that.”