Today the team at Algix was opening a new facility for their subsidiary Solaplast in Meridian, Mississippi that will use state-of-the-art compounding equipment to convert algae into bioplastics.
Meridian is surrounded by aquaculture operations that can be a ready source of the algae, duckweed and other organisms that Algix transforms into useful plastic resins, including those that are biodegradable.
The $8.5 million facility is expected to create 100 jobs and produce 200 million pounds of product annually.
The story by WTOK out of Meridian offers this quote from Algix CTO Ryan Hunt on why algae is such a potent resource for bioplastics:
“One advantage of algae is not only its ability to treat waste water, but it’s also not a food product,” Hunt said. “It doesn’t compete with the food stream, so we can grow algae at very high growth rates on non arable land. We can produce a feed stock that can be economical, it can be high in protein and can be turned into a variety of different products for the commercial sector.”
A great example of algae technologies creating jobs, providing products we all need, and creating a positive environmental impact!
More coverage in the Mississippi Business Journal.