THE MASTERMIND OF RECYCLING- INTERVIEW RICK PEREZ, CEO OF AVANGARD INNOVATIVE

by: Luana Ferreira

ESG has become a top priority for organizations worldwide in the past
few years. For companies, investments in sustainability are essential not only because they take account of the impact they have on the environment. According to a McKinsey Quarterly report, investing in ESG creates value for the organizations and helps them to attract investors.

RICK PEREZ has been ahead of the game for nearly three decades. He is the founder and CEO of Avangard Innovative, the largest recycler in the American continent. The company uses technology to drive sustainability, offering full-service waste management and recycling optimization solutions at all levels of the process in 11 countries and has over one thousand employees.

However, when he decided to create the company, it wasn't easy to convince others that they could make more money by investing in ESG. "When we did this, nobody cared," Perez says.

But what does it mean? Avangard Innovative looks at everything "behind the scenes," including pallets, cardboard, metal, aluminum, organics, and plastics. "So basically what we are trying to do is a waste diversion, and we make sure that we capture everything that could get back into the system. Our goal is to have zero waste eventually," he explains.

The company has defined important new directions focused on mechanical recycling of plastic film and chemical recycling of more rigid plastics to achieve its zero waste goals. Earlier this year, Avangard Innovative announced a joint venture with Honeywell, responsible for supplying a chemical recycling system and technology that will transform plastic waste into recycled polymer feedstock.

This product can be used to create new plastics, reducing the use of fossil materials to develop new plastics. The process is called UpCycle Process Technology, and Avangard Innovative will be the first company in the United States to use it. The production is esti- mated to start in 2023.

The technology will also expand the amount and types of plastic Avangard Inno- vative can recycle. The company can already process LDPE and LLDPE film, but the UpCycle Process Technology will allow the company to work with lower quality films, packing, and polystyrene materials. The operations will be concentrated on its complex in Waller, Texas, and can recycle 30,000 metric tons of plastic per year.

Perez is familiar with the feeling of being a pioneer in the industry. While most companies are focused on the final consumer, he looks at the inefficiencies behind different sectors, which helped him escalate his business. "Nobody ever cared about the back of a store and where all those commodities recyclables would go," he explains.

That is how he created Natura, a program that helps companies push more recyclables into the circular economy. Avangard Innovative has also developed Sustain, a technology that uses artificial intelligence to look inside dumpsters."Wehaveanetworkofover 20,000 sites that feed our network in differ- ent countries to make sure that we capture all the recyclables."

The work of Avangard Innovative is crucial to avoiding materials such as plastic film or rigid plastic ends in landfills, rivers, and oceans. "You are truly creating a circular economy versus your traditional linear economy," he adds.

As a leader of one of the largest recycling companies globally, Perez is aware of his impact as a leader. "Being a Latino impactful leader means helping those around you find purpose and achieve growth, especially if they are Hispanic or Latino, to level set the playing field. That can be personal or professional and can create a massive, unstoppable movement," he says.

Perez's passion for recycling predates Avangard Innovative. It all started with a landfill covered with PET bottles Rick saw in Mexico back in the 1990s. After seeing that, he kept thinking that "there has to be something I can do with this." The 22-year-old college student had to figure out how to bring those PET bottles to the United States. "I knew how to cross the border and the paperwork I had to do. But I had no idea how to compact it, sell it, and what to do with it," he says.

Obstacles and new scenarios were not a stop for Perez. He learned how the business worked, sold despite his young age, and thrived in a new market. With hard work and focus, he became one of the largest PET recyclers in the world.

After nearly three decades in this business, Rick is still ambitious, and his new goal is to have zero waste. "We believe that is a possibility. And that's truly my personal belief, and my legacy behind it is how can we get to the point that nothing is going to a landfill we can't capture."