Plastic that can’t be taken in the Mat-Su Borough’s regular recycling program usually gets tossed in the trash. But Alaska Plastic Recovery had been collecting those misfit plastics at various locations, including Talkeetna’s Transfer Station, through last summer. By then, APR had accumulated a stockpile of plastic and had brewed a fresh idea about how to use it.
The US Department of Agriculture Small Business Innovation Research Grant is providing $600,000 to cover the costs of a new venture for the plastics specialists.
Prior to this new funding, APR developed Grizzly Wood, which can use plastics with a number 2, 5, and sometimes 4. Those numbers refer to the type of plastic the item is made of. Grizzly Wood makes use of those plastics to create dimensional lumber. APR’s Patrick Simpson says the number 1 plastics, or P-E-T don’t play well with those others.
“The melt point for PET is quite a bit higher. So you can just do PET, but it’s a little bit brittle and doesn’t make a good lumber.”
Simpson says they have about 50,000 pounds of P-E-T plastic and needed to find a good use for it. And they found it in bricks.
“We did some analysis and found that not only was it a good brickmaking plastic, but if you added recycled glass to it, which we do, 50 percent by weight of powdered glass. It looks just like flour. You actually get a 50 percent improvement in compressibility, which for a brick is a very important characteristic.
Simpson says they need to build the equipment and expect to have that complete this fall. The equipment will be tested in Palmer, but it’s mobile so, then it will go to Homer. By the end of 2026, Simpson says they’ll be selling Grizzly Bricks.
He says APR expects to take the equipment to other locations as well because the freight costs to ship plastics just don’t pencil out. The company has already worked with about 20 communities in Alaska.
The funding will also help APR to build a specific form for the bricks, but they want public input about what the best brick shape would be.
“So there’s kind of your standard red bricks you see. Or should it be something along the lines of a construction brick? Or should it be a paver? Maybe it should be an octagonal paver. Or a square paver.”
Simpson says APR will begin collecting all the misfit plastics again in Talkeetna on Earth Day weekend and will continue through the end of fall.
