Sustainable Development Goals
PROJECT INFORMATION AT A GLANCE:
Project Status:
Feasibility and project-development assignment completed
Organizations Involved:
Dow Chemical, Flexible Packaging Association, Republic Services, Agilyx, Reynolds Consumer Products, American Chemistry Council, City of Citrus Heights, California
Services / Equipment:
Detailed Feasibility Studies, Due Diligence, Supply Chain Management
Dow’s own technology reference confirms the commercial substance behind our work in US plastic recovery. Following a plant visit organised by Klean, Dow documented a Japanese facility with 50 metric tonnes per day of mixed-plastic processing capacity, more than a decade of operating history, 4 MW of electricity generation and recovered oil fractions sold to Japan Energy. Dow then expressed its desire to continue evaluating North American facilities with Klean, including potential integration at a Dow operating site.
In its signed reference letter, Dow confirmed that “the technology you offer is already in commercial use at the Sapporo City facility.” — Jeffrey J. Wooster, Sustainability Leader, Plastics North America, The Dow Chemical Company.
That written recognition gives this case its commercial weight. We brought a major chemical producer direct access to an operating recovery process, established product uses and the experience needed to evaluate deployment in another market.
The opportunity was to recover value from packaging and other plastics outside established mechanical recycling programmes. Dow’s wider recovery strategy recognised that different waste streams require different routes, with material recycling, chemical transformation and energy recovery contributing to a more complete system.
The commercial task was to connect suitable waste plastics with a process that could operate consistently and deliver products with an industrial use. That required evidence of plant performance, a practical feedstock supply chain and a clear destination for the recovered hydrocarbons.
Our work with Dow addressed the technology and development opportunity. The later Citrus Heights Energy Bag pilot supplied complementary evidence about collecting suitable household plastics through existing municipal infrastructure.
We began working with Dow in 2009 and arranged the 2010 visit to the Toshiba-owned facility in Sapporo, Japan. Dow’s follow-up letter described the visit as an important milestone in evaluating the technology for commercialisation.
The reference facility demonstrated an integrated recovery model:
These details show why the reference mattered. The plant connected mixed-plastic treatment with power production and oil sales, demonstrating useful destinations for different product fractions. Dow could evaluate that operating system directly through Klean.
Advance from technology evaluation to development collaboration
Dow’s letter linked the site visit to its existing letter of intent with Klean and a desire to evaluate one or more North American facilities. It specifically identified the possibility of locating a unit at a Dow operating site and invited further discussions with Dow’s project team.
The companies subsequently extended their three-year letter of intent to combine proprietary technologies, knowledge and resources. In the public announcement, Dow’s Jeff Wooster described our technology as “a leader” after years of reviewing technologies and visiting facilities internationally.
For Klean, this was a substantive development achievement: commercial reference experience had supported a documented relationship with a global chemical producer and a defined basis for exploring industrial integration.
Test the collection system needed to supply recovery facilities
The 2014 Citrus Heights Energy Bag pilot examined a different part of the same commercial challenge. Dow, the Flexible Packaging Association, Republic Services, Agilyx, Reynolds Consumer Products and the city collaborated on a three-month programme offering approximately 26,000 households purple bags for plastics outside the local mechanical recycling programme.
Residents placed the bags in their existing recycling bins. Republic Services collected them through its regular service; staff at the Newby Island material recovery facility separated them during pre-sort. The material was consolidated and sent to Agilyx for conversion using its pyrolysis technology.
The programme reported nearly 8,000 bags, approximately 6,000 pounds of material, equivalent to three US short tons, and 512 US gallons of synthetic crude oil. The case record also reports 16.5% contamination and 58% oil-conversion efficiency for the pilot feedstock.
The pilot demonstrated that an additional plastic stream could move from households through collection, sorting and conversion. It also identified practical requirements for expansion: clear instructions, sustained participation, suitable material quality, sorting labour, storage space and sufficient ongoing volume.
Our Dow relationship produced more than interest in a recovery concept. It established direct technology evaluation, a signed reference confirming commercial use and a collaboration framework for examining North American deployment.
The strongest achievements were:
The wider industry reflects the same commercial priorities
Dow’s later partnership with Mura Technology connects hydrothermal plastic recycling with circular feedstock offtake for chemical production. KBR supports Mura as its exclusive global licensing and preferred engineering partner. In a separate alliance, KBR works with Klean to license and deliver TyreNova tire-recycling technology.
These relationships illustrate the importance of connecting technology, engineering capability and industrial markets. Our early work with Dow demonstrates experience with that development model; its KBR alliance extends the approach into end-of-life tires. For project owners, the lesson is to evaluate the complete route from available waste to a qualified product market.
1. Dow supplied direct commercial validation.
Its signed reference confirmed the technology we offered was already in commercial use, supported by a 50-tonne-per-day facility and more than a decade of operating history.
2. The reference demonstrated value beyond waste treatment.
Electricity generation and oil sales to Japan Energy showed how recovered product fractions served industrial uses.
3. Commercial development connects the entire supply chain.
Our Dow collaboration, the US collection pilot and the wider industry’s licensing and offtake partnerships show why technology, feedstock and product markets must be developed together.
These are selected achievements and lessons. Further technical and commercial insights are available through an engagement with Klean.
Bring your plastic recovery opportunity to a team with documented experience connecting commercial technology, global industrial partners and recovered-product markets.
We can help evaluate your feedstock, select an appropriate recovery configuration and develop the technical and commercial case around the intended products. Its experience with Dow shows the value of examining an operating reference and the complete industrial application when defining a new project.
For new equipment developments, the paid Detailed Equipment Quotation (DEQ) establishes the proposed configuration and preliminary investment basis. A Detailed Feasibility Study (DFS) develops the technical and commercial case, followed by Front-End Engineering Design (FEED). Advisory assignments can be scoped to the particular technology, supply-chain or integration decision.
Develop Your Plastic Recovery Project with Klean >> GO.
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ABOUT THE INFORMATION PRESENTED
This case draws on Dow’s historical technology reference, our collaboration records and the completed Citrus Heights pilot. Sapporo operating figures and US pilot results describe their respective facilities and programmes. The Mura and KBR discussion provides wider industry context, with each technology and relationship identified separately. Further project records, technical findings and commercial information are available within an agreed engagement and appropriate confidentiality arrangements.
