New Tucson facility to transform plastic waste into building blocks

Tucson officials broke ground Wednesday on a new facility that will transform plastic waste into construction-grade building material.

The city’s deal with ByFusion will result in a 10,000 square-foot facility at the Los Reales Sustainability Campus, 5300 E. Los Reales Road. Once it’s operational next year, the city says, the facility will be able to divert up to 200 tons of hard-to-recycle plastics from the city’s landfill each month. In return, the city will receive “up to” 10% of the ByBlocks produced at no-cast to be used for local projects.

ByFusion takes plastic waste and uses steam and compression to churn out 22-pound, construction-grade building blocks, called ByBlocks. They fit together using interlocking pegs. Since the material is all superheated, ByFusion can take discarded food packaging, plastic grocery bags and bubble wrap that standard recycling plants often can’t process.

What started as a pilot program in 2022 by former councilman Steve Kozachik turned into a multi-year agreement by May 2023. The new facility will be built using city funds, as previously reported in April , at an estimated construction cost of about $2 million.

In the past, these blocks were first used to construct small-scale projects, such as two benches in the San Gabriel neighborhood. But the increased production from the facility will allow the city and local firms to incorporate ByBlocks into large-scale construction projects, said council member Karin Uhlich.

“The important thing, really, are these partnerships with construction companies who understand what kinds of projects can be completed in this way,” Uhlich said. “And what we’ll be doing is working with ByFusion just to make sure that people understand the specs, if you will, for construction materials.”

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The 200 tons of plastic that the facility will be able to handle each month will result in “hundreds of thousands” of blocks being produced, said Heidi Kujawa, CEO of ByFusion. The facility is set to be mostly constructed over the summer. Operations are expected to begin in about a year, Kujawa said.

“(Tucson’s) approach to sustainability and plastic waste management has paved the way for this exciting development, and we’re incredible proud to be a part of it,” Kujawa said at the groundbreaking event. “This facility represents a significant investment in Tucson and shall serve as a flagship for the rest of the world. Not only will it create green new jobs and stimulate economic growth here, but it will also help the city in achieving its ambitious sustainability goals.”

Councilman Kevin Dahl said he would like builders to incorporate the ByBlocks to boost the city’s housing stock.

“I will be encouraging all the builders I know to check them out, because concrete blocks have a carbon footprint,” Dahl said. “This is reducing our carbon footprint, and it’s reducing toxins in the environment.”