More than 25 years ago, I started Polyco with $400 and a napkin with the name inscribed on it in my pocket. I went from lab technician at a large corporation to CEO at a company of one (I was also chief janitor, R&D, customer service and sales). I’ve been very deliberate with our growth — taking it one step at a time, one person at a time, one customer at a time, one product at a time. As the company grew, it became clear to me that in order to compete in the highly commoditized asphalt industry, Polyco’s products had to perform.
But in order to create high-performance products from an extremely variable material, such as asphalt, you must get creative. There was a huge opportunity in the marriage of asphalt and tire rubber that had yet to be realized. Tire rubber and asphalt in roads is nothing new (the concept has been around since the 1950s) but creating a high-performance product from that union was never a reality. Until recently. Through deep scientific expertise, Polyco’s Rapid Digestion Process (RDP) was born.
RDP is the only process in the market that completely digests end-of-life tire rubber into a homogeneous, liquefied state. Since most tires consumed in the United States are burnt for fuel value, depleting the ozone, our process presents an opportunity to reduce our carbon footprint. RDP is unique because it extracts all of the beneficial properties out of tire waste using a clean method.
Utilizing RDP, we’ve created a truly sustainable product that performs well on roads and rooftops. SigmaBond is a revolutionary asphalt concentrate that can be used in binders, tack coats or chip seal applications. Most importantly, it’s Engineered to Perform.
By upcycling end-of-life tires into high-performing asphalt binders and coatings, we’re actually powering a circular economy. The future of our environment depends on the ability to reuse resources over and over again. And, we know that tackling tire waste is just the beginning.
At Polyco, we are committed to ending global waste. We are focused on advancing our process, product mix and geographic presence. With operational capacity growing each year, we are looking at emerging markets in Europe and focused on how we can eliminate tire waste overseas while creating longer-lasting roads and more durable rooftops. With the circular economy as our moral compass and the best team in the industry leading the charge, I am confident that Polyco will continue to evolve to meet the world’s demand for sustainable, high-performance products.
Here at Polyco, we are problem solvers. Customers are constantly challenging us to make products that are more resilient, last longer and ultimately, perform better. As a scientist, I’m always thinking about how to achieve a better end product. After almost a decade of innovation at Polyco, I’ve learned that the road to superior performance is paved with sustainability (and ground rubber tires – more on that later).
What is sustainability?
A quick Google search on sustainability returns a myriad of answers to this question. For some, the term is linked to being eco-friendly in the short-term, while for others, it means long-term conservation. For us at Polyco, sustainability is both an immediate action as well as a lasting strategy. Through collaboration, we’ve built a company culture of innovation and creativity that ensures the success of future generations. Our commitment to manufacturing the highest quality products ensures the long-lasting impact of those products. And, by incorporating upcycled materials into our products, we are powering a circular economy.
Asphalt is … sustainable?
What many people don’t realize is that asphalt is the most recycled material on the planet. Since we were already working with an innately sustainable material, we asked ourselves: What more could be done? The answer, it turns out, is garbage — specifically, rubber tire waste in landfills.
With our proprietary Rapid Digestion Process (RDP), we are able to upcycle end-of-life tires and reduce the environmental impact of discarding them. RDP is the only process in the market that completely digests recycled tire rubber into a homogenous, liquefied state. That substance is then formulated with asphalt to create our high-performance SigmaBond binder. Not only are we reusing tires that were destined for the landfill, we’re able to extract the rejuvenating properties inherent in those tires to make roads and roofs last longer.
Polyco’s commitment to sustainability
At the end of the day, performance and sustainability are at the root of everything we do. It’s a symbiotic relationship – one is dependent on the other and they do not exist in siloes. It is our responsibility as stewards of this earth to ensure we take care of it now in order to set future generations up for success. Our company culture is built around this principle.
What’s next for Polyco? We are focusing on how we can reduce our carbon footprint, cut down on energy consumption and work toward zero waste. We know that contributing to a circular economy is not the easiest route to take, but the reward for the people and the planet is well worth the effort.