PHOENIX, AZ—7 February 2012—GlyEco, Inc. today announced it has signed an asset purchase agreement to acquire certain assets of Recycool, Inc. Recycool is the dominant recycler in the Minneapolis, MN area and has been collecting and processing waste glycol -- primarily used antifreeze -- into high quality recycled antifreeze since 1995.
Recycool was founded by Marty Rosauer, Kurt Rosauer and Dennis Scott, early pioneers of the antifreeze recycling industry. Today, the company services nearly 400 customers in and around the Twin Cities metro area and will report 2011 revenues of approximately $430,000. The company's customer base is focused on vehicle dealers and repair shops, quick lube facilities, and governmental entities.
The founders and Recycool recycling team will continue to operate the Minnesota plant.
"We are very excited to have the entire Recycool group join forces with our team," stated John Lorenz, Chairman and CEO of GlyEco, Inc. "They produce high quality recycled antifreeze and have a tremendous customer service ethic. Their depth of industry experience makes the business a great asset in our growth strategy."
This purchase marks the beginning implementation of GlyEco's strategy for rapid growth through the acquisition of existing profitable recyclers. The acquired facilities will be upgraded with patent-pending GlyEco Technology™, improving production capacity, product quality and profitability. The company expects to expand its customer base and geographical reach at each location.
GlyEco Technology™ is a breakthrough green chemistry solution for recycling used glycols. This is the only process that can cleanse all five major types of waste glycols to a superior level of purity allowing our customers to utilize recycled glycols as a more sustainable resource. GlyEco Technology™ gives our customers a way to reduce waste while caring for the environment at no additional cost to them.
GlyEco Technology™ ensures consistently clean, uniform quality recycled glycols with independent lab testing to document results. Our recycled materials are proved to meet or exceed ASTM purity standards.
Glycols are a liquid petrochemical produced in massive quantities and used primarily in five industries: HVAC, Textiles, Automotive, Airline and Medical. In the United States, these industries create approximately 700 million gallons of hazardous waste glycol each year. Although most of this waste could be recycled into useable products, over 85% of this liquid waste is disposed of in our surface waters -- which can have devastating results for aquatic life.
World-wide consumption for refinery produced ethylene glycol is over 5 billion gallons per year, with growth expected to exceed 350 million gallons every year for the next decade (Source: ICIS Chemical News). Demand in China exceeds supply and currently tops 2.1 billion gallons each year. The United States consumes over 700 million gallons of ethylene glycol each year. The man-made liquid chemicals are derived from crude oil and natural gas and produced from unrenewable and limited natural resources. As a base chemical, they are produced in massive quantities and used in many industrial applications.
Demand continues to exceed supply for ethylene glycol, largely because of explosive growth in poly fiber manufacturing to make clothing, plastic containers and plastic beverage bottles. This growth trend is expected to continue well into the future.