A new startup company plans to help reduce some of Pueblo’s waste plastic and reuse it in a product that makes roads stronger and less expensive.
Ecologic Materials Corp. is setting up shop at 1107 S. Santa Fe Ave. in a 1950s building that has sat vacant for some time. The company is currently recycling shrink wrap plastic that is used to secure products to pallets during shipping.
Several Pueblo-based industrial partners are baling the shrink wrap which they have not been able to sell to China since 2017. Marie Logsden, one of five cofounders of the business said a lot of industrial businesses “were stockpiling it or it was going directly into the landfill, unfortunately.”
“That’s happening in cities all over the world and there hasn’t been a real high-volume recycler, so we are hoping to be that solution,” Logsden said.
Simply put, the company uses the plastic to make a modifier for asphalt binder that improves its performance. The modifier reduces cracking and rutting of the asphalt and makes the road more heat tolerant than the traditional asphalt.
The product will reduce asphalt costs by 5-to-10%, Logsden said.
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Tons of plastic wrap already have been processed
During the first week of operation, the company took in 25 tons of plastic wrap and already has processed several tons. Another 50 tons of Pueblo’s plastic wrap is ready to be shipped over to the Ecologic Materials Corp. site.
“We are very excited. The idea that you could save a city money and space in their landfill and also improve road performance and make them a little bit cheaper would be an incredible accomplishment,” Logsden said.
“That’s what we are after.”
She said she can’t disclose the asphalt companies they are working with yet. But the first road project will be in Arizona and there are several in the works in Colorado which will be announced when details are finalized.
The company is committed to Pueblo as a home base, thanks to its convenient location on Interstate 25 which makes it easy to transport its product to road projects in New Mexico, Utah, Kansas and Arizona.
Pueblo also offers plenty of industrial partners that want to recycle plastic wrap and is home to a warm welcoming committee of staff in Mayor Nick Gradisar and the Pueblo Economic Development Corp. offices who came up with incentives to entice the company to make Pueblo its home.
“We have offered $375,000 from the (voter-approved) half-cent sales tax in rent reimbursement, so once they get ramped up, if they have the full number of jobs they promised, they will get a reimbursement on rent they’ve already paid. They are earning as they go,” said Jeff Shaw, PEDCO president and chief executive officer.
Up to 20 Pueblo jobs are planned
Ecologic Materials plans to hire local workers. Two full-time employees already are working and the company is recruiting an administrative assistant and a plant supervisor.
“We anticipate having up to 15-to-20 working employees at this facility over time,” Logsden said.
“It is not a large number of jobs but it is a good company to bring in for primary jobs. It is exciting to see a company with a passion for using recyclable materials, put them into other products and if it can improve road systems that’s even better,” Shaw said.
“Hopefully it is going to be used throughout the region and perhaps we will put it in the roads in Pueblo as well.”
The asphalt binding process, which has been 30 years in the research and development phase, can prevent six tons of plastic per mile of road from ending up in oceans and landfills.
Founders met in college class during an international trip
The company is run by Chief Executive Officer Brendan Lundy, Laura Borgelt, Matt Buckstein, Chris Wacinski and Logsden. Most of the group met through an executive masters of business administration program at the University of Colorado.
They crossed paths with Logsden on an international travel trip learning about entrepreneurship in Israel, Greece, South Africa and Jordan. Even at that time Lundy was “playing around with researching technology,” and talking to others in his quest to find a high-volume use for recyclable plastic that goes beyond clothing and shoe products available today, Logsden said.
At the end of that trip, they stayed in touch and when Lundy was able to put the technology together, he brought all the partners together.
Back in the 1980s when a huge hole was discovered in Earth’s ozone layer, people across the world began to work to improve the health of the environment. While there are many environmental issues still plaguing the world, progress has been made.
Logsden said that makes her hopeful that those issues can be helped as well.
“We came up with a solution collectively, modified our industrial processes and our consumer habits and we made a change that was good for the planet. That gives me hope on climate change and what we are doing with our trash,” Logsden said.
“For plastics, this feels like a very serious solution on par with what we were able to do with healing the ozone layer. Pallet shrink wrap keeps products in place as they are shipped so it is an irreplaceable part of the supply chain.
“For us recycling it into the roadways is a solution that we are hoping can help put a dent into it.”
Although the company does not currently have plans to accept single-use waste plastic from the public, its founders are hopeful they will be able to do that in the future.
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Chieftain reporter Tracy Harmon covers business news. She can be reached by email at [email protected] or via Twitter at twitter.com/tracywumps.
