Pyrolyx USA Indiana files for liquidation bankruptcy

Pyrolyx USA Indiana has filed for Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy with the US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. The 66,000sqft Terre Haute pyrolysis plant had not resumed operations since they were suspended in March, in part leading to its withdrawal from the Australian and German Stock Exchanges in September 2020. The factory cited the Covid-19 pandemic as the reason for its suspension. Upon completion, the company claimed the plant was the largest of its kind in the world.

The US factory of the Munich-based recovered carbon black firm was constructed in 2017. The firm signed an additional five-year mezzanine financing agreement worth five million euros in April 2018. The Indiana Tribune-Star’s Howard Greninger reported that the completed plant cost around $25 million, with bankruptcy filings listing $61.14 million in assets, and owing $49.40 million to a list of between 100 and 199 creditors. The factory went into liquidation after it defaulted on its bonds in April 2020.

Pyrolyx has a global five-year recycled carbon black supply agreement with tyre manufacturer Continental.

News of the liquidation comes as global companies seek innovative ways to recover materials from end of life tyres. Read more on this trend in our Tyre Recycling 2020 digital feature.