This Upcoming IPO May Finally Provide a True Solution To Allegedly Unrecyclable Plastic Bags
Alkemy, to be listed in Toronto (TSXV:AKMY.V), has developed and operates a highly profitable and unique process to recycle 'dirty plastic' that was deemed economically non-viable until today
By Josh Horowitz •
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Since the 1960s, plastics have been a ubiquitous feature of our lives. Unfortunately, plastic bags, wrappings and disposable cups are wreaking havoc on the environment, given their high concentration of petroleum, tendency to interfere with wildlife and inability to decompose in landfills.
The statistics on the massive growth in plastic are grim. Half the plastics ever made have been produced in the past 15 years and the number is expected to double by 2050. If a solution isn't found, plastics will wreck natural habitats, choke streams and pollute groundwater.
The solution for a sustainable way to use plastics seems to be recycling. However, at present, only 9 per cent of plastics are recycled. Israel-based Alkemy (www.alkemy.solutions) is a company that has made it its business to change that. Their unique "waste-to-product' process addresses the recycling of plastic bags, a usual non-starter for most recycling companies in the world. Plastic bags recycling is economically non-viable and global plants won't touch it despite government incentives. Alkemy has both solved the economics equation and made it extremely profitable to use their recycling process for "dirty plastics'. In fact the process is so efficient that Alkemy's plant undertakes both recycling and the production of finished products from the plastics they salvage. The unique vertically integrated structure solves the problem of finding companies that will manufacture items from recycled plastics and saves the planet in the process.
Alkemy's one-step process and approach to recycling and manufacturing saves time, labor and expenses. At the company's facility in Israel, Alkemy melts the plastic down and manufactures plastic items with it, requiring only one cooling period and reducing the need to transport raw materials. This one-step process requires less filtering out of impurities. The resulting products are made from 100 per cent recycled polyethylene extracted from domestic and agricultural products.
Recycling and manufacturing processes are located at the same plant, which makes recycling more profitable than it has in the past because it creates low-cost raw materials directly on the premises.
Alkemy, which is owned by the renowned global business entrepreneur Lenny Recanati via Sullam Holdings and Tedea, indicates that the R&D will stay in the Israeli plant but Alkemy plants will be established globally, preferably over plastics dumping sites.
The company has vetted the process in an extremely successful test-run in Israel, recycling plastics bags into durable plastics for the construction industry. In just two years, Alkemy gained 70 per cent market share of the domestic construction protective layers and sealing applications.
The company is developing a wide range of applications and products for its recycled plastics. Reduced costs and global concern about the environment and the priority placed on recycling are expected to increase demand for Alkemy's recycled plastics.
The company is being advised by A-Labs Advisory and Finance investment bankers who closed Alkemy's pre-IPO ahead of its introduction on the Toronto Stock Exchange Ventures. According to sources, the proceeds from the IPO are expected to be used for establishing additional Alkemy plants in France and Germany.
With little to no competition in this space, Alkemy just may be the company awaited for by the sustainability supporters and institutional investors. If less plastic bags find their way into the seas, this will be a game changing play for both sea turtles and human investors alike.
