TALKE USA's Recycling Support Center opened Jan. 12 in Chambers County. Photo via LinkedIn.

TALKE USA Inc., the Houston-area arm of German logistics company TALKE, officially opened its Recycling Support Center earlier this month.

Located next to the company's Houston-area headquarters, the plant will process post-consumer plastic materials, which will eventually be converted into recycling feedstock. Chambers County partially funded the plant.

“Our new recycling support center expands our overall commitment to sustainable growth, and now, the community’s plastics will be received here before they head out for recycling. This is a win for the residents of Chambers County," Richard Heath, CEO and president of TALKE USA, said in a news release.

“The opening of our recycling support facility offers a real alternative to past obstacles regarding the large amount of plastic products our local community disposes of. For our entire team, our customers, and the Mont Belvieu community, today marks a new beginning for effective, safe, and sustainable plastics recycling.”

The new plant will receive the post-consumer plastic and form it into bales. The materials will then be processed at Cyclyx's new Houston Circularity Center, a first-of-its-kind plastic waste sorting and processing facility being developed through a joint venture between Cyclix, ExxonMobil and LyondellBasell.

“Materials collected at this facility aren’t just easy-to-recycle items like water bottles and milk jugs. All plastics are accepted, including multi-layered films—like chip bags and juice pouches. This means more of the everyday plastics used in the Chambers County community can be captured and kept out of landfills,” Leslie Hushka, chief impact officer at Cyclyx, added in a LinkedIn post.

Cyclyx's circularity center is currently under construction and is expected to produce 300 million pounds of custom-formulated feedstock annually.

LYB joins BP, NRG Energy and Chevron Phillips Chemical on the list. Photo via lyondellbasell.com

4 Houston energy & chemical giants boast best corporate culture, says Forbes

Where to Work

Four Houston energy and chemical giants have just landed on Forbes' new ranking of "America's Best Employers for Company Culture." The report highlights six more Houston-area companies for their inspiring company culture.

Forbes partnered with market research firm Statista to survey over 218,000 workers at companies with at least 1,000 employees throughout the U.S, and relied on data from the past three years of employee surveys (with an emphasis on the most recent data and recommendations from current employees). Companies don't pay to be included, Forbes additionally noted.

Among the final list of 600 U.S. companies, 30 Texas employers were praised for providing "a unifying company culture that inspires a sense of purpose and loyalty among employees."

The Houston employers in the energy and chemical sector are:

  • No. 325 – BP
  • No. 492 – Chevron Phillips Chemical
  • No. 558 – NRG Energy
  • No. 593 – LyondellBassell

According to the report's research, employers with a successful company culture don't rely on "surface-level perks" such as free lunches, wellness apps, and flex days to inspire employee engagement. Instead, employers that focused on conflict resolution and coaching their managers saw a reduction in employee burnout and an increase in "perceptions of fairness and leadership care."

"In fact, the researchers noted that when 'senior leaders changed how they led — how they ran meetings, gave feedback, made decisions and responded to challenge — trust scores rose by an average of 26 percent,'" the report said.

The six other Houston-area companies that earned national acclaim for their company culture are:

  • No. 15 — Houston Methodist
  • No. 47 — MD Anderson
  • No. 220 – Stewart Info Services
  • No. 332 – Baylor College of Medicine
  • No. 525 – Insperity
  • No. 586 – Waste Management

Other Texas employers with great company culture:

Elsewhere in Texas, 15 North Texas companies and five Central Texas companies were included on Forbes' list of employers with the best company culture.

The three Austin-area companies that earned spots on the list include Austin Community College District (No. 56), Round Rock-based Dell Technologies (No. 207), and Keller Williams Realty (No. 352).

The two San Antonio-based companies that made the cut are beloved Texas grocery chain H-E-B (No. 445), and municipal electric utility company CPS Energy (No. 551).

The 15 Dallas-Fort Worth-based companies that made the list include:

  • No. 58 – The Container Store, Coppell
  • No. 73 – Lewisville Independent School District, Lewisville
  • No. 117 – Southwest Airlines, Dallas
  • No. 123 –Topgolf, Dallas
  • No. 170 – McKesson, Irving
  • No. 190 – Kimberly-Clark, Irving
  • No. 245 – Jacobs Solutions,Dallas
  • No. 312 – Brinker International, Coppell
  • No. 350 – Texas Health Resources, Arlington
  • No. 482 – Toyota North America, Plano
  • No. 562 – Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), Dallas
  • No. 567 – AT&T, Dallas
  • No. 569 – Energy Transfer, Dallas
  • No. 591 – American Airlines Group, Fort Worth
  • No. 597 – Aimbridge Hospitality, Plano
---

A version of this article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

Chambers County has helped fund a new recycling support center in Mont Belvieu that will process post-consumer plastic materials. Photo via Getty Images.

Houston-area logistics co. breaks ground on recycling center tied to circularity hub

coming soon

TALKE USA Inc., a Houston-area arm of German logistics company TALKE, broke ground on its new Recycling Support Center in Mont Belvieu Aug. 1.

The facility will process post-consumer plastic materials, which will then be further processed at Cyclyx's new Houston-based Circularity Center, a first-of-its-kind plastic waste sorting and processing facility that was developed through a joint venture between Cyclix, ExxonMobil and LyondellBasell.

The materials will ultimately be converted into recycling feedstock.

“We’re proud to break ground on a facility that reflects our long-term vision for sustainable growth,” Richard Heath, CEO and president of TALKE USA Inc., said in a news release. “This groundbreaking marks an important milestone for our team, our customers, and the Mont Belvieu community.”

The new facility was partially funded by Chambers County, according to the release. The Baytown Sun reports that the county put $1 million towards the construction of the project, which brings advanced recycling and mechanical recycling to the area.

TALKE USA said it plans to share more about the new facility and its impact in the future.

Meanwhile, the Houston-based Cyclyx Circularity Center (CCC1) is slated to open this year and is expected to produce 300 million pounds of custom-formulated feedstock annually. A second circularity center, CCC2, is expected to start up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in the second half of 2026. Read more here.

Houston-based energy companies have again held a sizable presence on the Fortune 500 ranking. Photo via Getty Images

Houston energy companies score big on annual Fortune 500 ranking

big cos.

Fourteen businesses with global or regional headquarters in the Houston area appear on Fortune’s new list of the world’s 500 biggest companies.

Oil and gas company Saudi Aramco, whose headquarters for the Americas is in Houston, leads the Houston-area pack. With annual revenue of $494.9 billion, it lands at No. 4 on the Fortune Global 500. Ahead of Saudi Aramco are U.S. retailers Walmart and Amazon, and Chinese electric company State Grid.

To put Saudi Aramco’s annual revenue in perspective, the total is slightly above the gross domestic product for the Philippines.

For the third year in a row, Saudi Aramco stands out as the most profitable member of the Fortune Global 500. The company racked up $121 billion in profit last year.

Overall, Saudi Aramco and 32 other petroleum refiners — many of them with a significant presence in the Houston area — made the Fortune Global 500.

“The Global 500 is the ultimate scorecard for business success. The aggregate revenue of the Fortune Global 500 in 2023 reached $41 trillion, a record level. That sum represents more than a third of global GDP — a sign of how much economic power is concentrated in these companies,” Scott DeCarlo, Fortune’s vice president of research, says in a news release.

Here’s the rundown of Fortune Global 500 companies with global or regional headquarters in the Houston area, including the ranking and annual revenue for each:

  • Saudi Aramco, No. 4, $494.9 billion, Americas headquarters in Houston
  • ExxonMobil, No. 12, $344.6 billion, global headquarters in Spring
  • Shell, No. 13, $323.2 billion; U.S. headquarters in Houston
  • TotalEnergies, No. 23, $218.9 billion, U.S. headquarters in Houston
  • BP, No. 25, $213 billion, U.S. headquarters in Houston
  • Chevron, No. 29, $200.9 billion, global headquarters relocating to Houston in 2024
  • Phillips 66, No. 52, $149.9 billion, global headquarters in Houston
  • Engie, No. 130, $89.3 billion, North American headquarters in Houston
  • Sysco, No. 163, $76.3 billion, global headquarters in Houston
  • ConocoPhillips, No. 235, $58.6 billion, global headquarters in Houston
  • Enterprise Products Partners, No. 303, $49.7 billion, global headquarters in Houston
  • Plains GP Holdings, No. 311, $48.7 billion, global headquarters in Houston
  • LyondellBasell, No. 368, $41.1 billion, global headquarters in Houston
  • SLB (formerly Schlumberger), No. 479, $33.1 billion, global headquarters in Houston

Fortune uses revenue figures for budget years ending on or before March 31, 2024, to rank the world’s largest companies.

The hub will combine advanced sorting and recycling operations to address the plastic waste challenge. Photo courtesy of LYB

LYB makes deal to bring new plastics recycling hub to German town

guten tag

Houston-based chemical company LyondellBasell has signed a land lease agreement for a new integrated plastic waste recycling hub by an existing industrial park in Knapsack, Germany.

The agreement is with YNCORIS, a German industrial service provider. The hub will combine advanced sorting and recycling operations to address the plastic waste challenge and the company hopes it will grow the circular economy.

The first phase of the project will see the construction of an advanced sorting facility, which will process mixed plastic waste that can produce feedstock for mechanical and advanced recycling, since this mixed plastic waste is not recycled and usually sent to incineration for energy recovery. The hub's initial advanced sorting facility expects to start operations in the first quarter of 2026. The large facility will cover an area equivalent to 20 soccer fields.

"The industrial park in Knapsack is the ideal location for our integrated hub as is it close to our world-scale facilities in Wesseling and will allow us to develop additional technologies for the recycling of plastic waste," Yvonne van der Laan, LyondellBasell's executive vice president of circular and low carbon solutions, says in a news release. "The integration of various technologies will allow us to build scale and offer our customers a wide range of products from recycled and renewable resources."

In April, LyondellBasell also secured 208 megawatts of renewable energy capacity from a solar park in Germany. Under the 12-year deal, LyondellBasell aim s to purchase about 210 gigawatt-hours of solar power each year from Germany-based Encavis Asset Management.

By 2030, LyondellBasell hopes to produce and market at least 2 million metric tons of recycled and renewable‑based polymers annually.

LYB is building its first industrial-scale catalytic advanced recycling demonstration plant at its site in Germany. Photo via lyondellbasell.com

LyondellBasell announces renewable energy power purchase agreement with German partner

power move

Houston-based chemical company LyondellBasell has agreed to secure 208 megawatts of renewable energy capacity from a solar park in Germany.

Under the 12-year deal, LyondellBasell will purchase about 210 gigawatt-hours of solar power each year from Germany-based Encavis Asset Management. That’s enough energy to power about 56,500 homes each year.

LyondellBasell aims to purchase at least half of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. The deal with Encavis will enable LyondellBasell to achieve more than 90 percent of that goal.

A report from BloombergNEF ranks LyondellBasell as the world’s third largest corporate buyer of clean energy, behind Amazon and Meta.

“This latest agreement will accelerate the development and deployment of clean energy across different sectors in Germany,” says Chris Cain, LyondellBasell’s senior vice president for net-zero transition strategy.

Construction of the solar park got underway in March, with completion set for next summer. The park’s total generating capacity for solar power will be 260 megawatts, which is enough to supply electricity to about 96,000 homes per year.

“Leveraging our industry know-how, we are committed to operating the solar park in an environmentally sustainable and economically profitable manner,” says Karsten Mieth, a spokesman for Encavis Asset Management.

Encavis Asset Management is a wholly owned subsidiary of Encavis, a large-scale producer of wind and solar power in Europe.

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Clean energy leaders taking the stage at Houston Energy and Climate Week

expert voices

Some of the biggest names in the clean energy scene will be sharing their expertise in Houston this week.

From leaders fresh off one of the industry's biggest IPOs to local organizers, here's who's speaking at promising panels and anchor events during Houston Energy and Climate Week—taking place now through Sept. 18. Visit each event's website for a full lineup.

Read more about Houston Energy and Climate Week and its programming in Energy Capital's event preview. Or learn more about the startups pitching at events throughout the week here.

Energy Solutions in a New Era Hosted by JERA & Mitsubishi Heavy Industries — Sept. 15 at the Ion

  • Mary Dhillon, strategy manager at Fervo Energy
  • Ricky Sakai, SVP of investment & business development at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America
  • Daniel Padilla, strategy & business development lead at Emerald AI
  • Adrian Trömel, chief innovation officer / interim vice president for innovation at Rice University (moderator)
  • Shigeki Uchihashi, VP of strategy & corporate venturing at JERA Americas

Cypher Pilotathon and Startup Showcase — Sept. 15 at POST Houston

  • Nada Ahmed, co-founder and CRO of Energytech Cypher
  • Taylor Chapman, investment principal at New Climate Ventures
  • Jason Ethier, co-founder and CEO of Energytech Cypher
  • Sean Kelly, CEO of Amperon
  • Ionel Nechiti, investment director for Aramco Ventures
  • Hema Prapoo, global energy industry leader from Microsoft
  • Ishan Rao, VP of commercial at Syzygy Plasmonics

Greentown Climatetech Summit — Sept. 16 at Greentown Labs

  • Arne Ballantine, co-founder of Ohmium International
  • David Baldwin, partner at SCF Partners
  • Christopher Hanson, former chair of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
  • Tim Latimer, CEO and co-founder of Fervo Energy
  • Georgina Campbell Flatter, CEO of Greentown Labs
  • Nicolaus Radford, CEO and co-founder of Persona AI
  • Prag Mishra, chief AI officer at Armada
  • Jeremy Pitts, managing director at Activate
  • Bobby Gallagher, CEO, CTO and co-founder of Deployable Energy
  • Jason Wells, chair, president and CEO of CenterPoint Energy
  • Eliecer Viamontes, CEO of Entergy Texas

Rice Alliance Energy Tech Venture Forum — Sept. 17 at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business

  • Laurent Alteirac, enabling technology development manager at SLB
  • Kemal Anbarci, managing executive and general manager of venture capital at Chevron Technology Ventures
  • Sameer Bandhu, managing director of ventures and licensing at GE Vernova
  • Brad Burke, former associate vice president at Rice Office of Innovation and former executive director of Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship at Rice University (moderator)
  • Andres Cabada, managing director at Halliburton Labs
  • Quennie Co, managing partner at Shell Ventures
  • Rob Crane, technology scouting & venturing manager at ExxonMobil
  • Ira Ehrenpreis, founder and managing partner at DBL Partners
  • Menachem Elimelech, director of Rice Center for Membrane Excellence (RiCeME) at Rice University
  • Brian Iversen, founder & managing partner at Cimbria Capital
  • Dustin Kinder, CEO of Maverick Water Group
  • Megan Lund, lead of venturing strategy & strategic partnerships at Woodside Energy
  • Sean Maher, vice president of investor relations & chief economist at Phillips 66
  • Robert Mellors, SUPERHOT program director at ARPA-E
  • John (JR) Reale, interim associate vice president for industry and new ventures at Rice University and executive director of Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship at Rice University
  • Chad Seely, SVP of regulatory policy, general counsel, chief compliance officer, and corporate secretary at ERCOT
  • David Sholl, executive vice president for research and professor of chemical & biomolecular engineering at Rice University
  • Jim Sledzik, managing director of strategic venturing, North America, at Aramco Ventures

New 160MW battery storage project comes online in Houston

powered on

Colorado-based energy storage company SMT Energy and North Carolina-based software company FlexGen have begun operations of Houston IV, a 160-megawatt utility-scale battery storage facility that aims to support the ERCOT grid.

The companies delivered the project in just six weeks, according to a news release. Mississippi-based Irby Construction Company served as the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) partner, and CenterPoint Energy will serve as the interconnecting utility.

“FlexGen’s distinctive combination of software automation, our remote operations center, and on-the-ground field expertise all work together to accelerate battery deployment,” Jason Rislov, SVP of operations at FlexGen, said in the release. “What used to take 25-plus weeks took us six. That time saved translates directly into giving the grid and consumers what they need most right now: a more reliable, resilient energy system.”

Houston IV is one of more than 12 projects that SMT and FlexGen have built to connect to ERCOT, according to Energy Storage News.

“Bringing a 160-MW battery storage facility online in just six weeks required disciplined planning, seamless coordination, and an unwavering focus on safety and quality,” Shaun Coleman, project manager at Irby Construction, said in a news release. “The SMT Energy, FlexGen, and Irby Construction teams coordinated engineering, procurement, and construction to keep every workstream aligned, identify challenges early, and maintain safety and quality at an accelerated pace. That integration is critical, not only to delivering projects quickly, but also to ensuring battery storage facilities perform reliably over the long term.”

Houston IV is expected to store and provide enough electricity to power 8,800 homes in Texas annually. In March, SMT Energy secured $135 million in funding for the project from Macquarie and KeyBanc Capital Markets as joint lead arrangers. SMT and FlexGen broke ground to signal the start of the process in May.

In 2023, SMT Energy and joint venture partner SUSI Partners also announced plans to add 10 battery storage projects to Texas, which would double capacity from 100 megawatts to 200 megawatts in the Houston and Dallas areas.

Meet the 80+ startups pitching at Houston Energy and Climate Week

Pitch Lineup

One of the highlights from Houston Energy and Climate Week is hearing directly from the up-and-coming founders working to reshape the energy landscape.

This year, dozens of startups from Brazil to Berkeley and from right here in the Bayou City will compete for cash prizes and bragging rights while showcasing their concepts at HECW pitch events. Here's who's pitching at some of the week's signature competitions. Check back after the week wraps to see who takes home the top prizes.

Cypher Pilotathon and Startup Showcase — Sept. 15 at POST Houston

At the Cypher Pilotathon, founders will give their best 7-minute pilot pitches to industry experts and a live audience, followed by Q&A. This year's event will center around the theme, "The NEW Energy Industrial Revolution." Here's who's pitching:

  • Houston-based Aeromine Technologies, a distributed wind turbine company
  • San Francisco-based Ammobia, which develops low-carbon, energy source-agnostic ammonia
  • Birmingham, Alabama-based Ashipa Electric, a renewable energy semiconductor and microgrid manufacturer
  • Houston-based BigMachine AI, an AI engineer for industrial projects
  • Houston-based Corrolytics, which has developed corrosion detection technology
  • São Paulo, Brazil-based GLR Tech, which has developed a compact, scalable, low-cost platform for industrial emissions control
  • Monreal-based Green Graphite Technologies, which produces battery-grade graphite in a cost-effective and sustainable manner
  • Boston-based KIRA, which converts industrial wastewater into ultrapure water and solids
  • Edinburgh-based Mocean Energy, which works to deliver renewable ocean energy to power offshore industry
  • Los Angeles-based Mote, which works to convert agricultural and forestry waste into clean energy
  • Berkeley-based Oleo, which is developing a biomanufacturing platform to transform biomass waste into carbon-negative, cost-competitive oil feedstocks for advanced fuels
  • Oslo, Norway-based OTee, an automation machinery manufacturer
  • Houston-based Resollant, which is working to produce battery-grade graphite and ultra-low-cost hydrogen
  • Tulsa-based RyuGen Energy Solutions Inc., which works to turn underused commercial power into distributed AI infrastructure
  • Berkeley-based Sunchem, which provides precision separation of critical metals from sources including e-waste, evaporator scrap, solar panels, and mining ores and concentrates

Twenty-two other startups will participate in the startup showcase. See the full list here.

Greentown Climatetech Summit — Sept. 16 at the Continental Club

Ten Greentown startups will compete for $25,000 in prizes at Greentown Climatetech Summit's signature pitch event. Judges include Dave Dreessen, of Chevron Technology Ventures’ Future Energy Fund, and Jon Greene, of New Climate Ventures. Here's who's pitching:

  • Houston-based AMPeers, which manufactures high-temperature superconducting wire for high-power electrification infrastructure
  • Detroit-based AmHyTech, which enables ambient-condition liquid ammonia handling for fertilizer and fuel applications
  • Houston- and Zurich-based Biosimo, which converts biomass-based ethanol into lower-carbon acetic acid and acetyls
  • Houston-based Capwell Services Inc., which captures methane from low-flow oil and gas vents and returns it to market
  • Cleveland- and Ghana-based Cocoa Potash, which extracts potassium carbonate and fertilizer from cocoa, coconut, and palm-nut waste
  • Houston-based Solidec, which electrolyzes air, water, and electricity into onsite hydrogen peroxide.
  • Houston-based Focis AI, which converts industrial laser scans into a queryable digital twin of refineries and plants
  • Calgary-based Kanin Energy, which develops and finances waste heat to power projects for industrial clients
  • San Francisco-based FelixFusion, which models grid connection points so developers can validate interconnection in minutes
  • Houston-based Pike Robotics, which deploys its Wall-Eye robot to inspect hazardous tanks without taking assets offline

TEX-E Student Innovators will also pitch earlier in the day-long event, and an additional five Greentown startups will compete for $1,000 during the Lightning Pitch Competition. Find more information here.

Rice Alliance Energy Tech Venture Forum — Sept. 17 at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business

Houston-based companies Aquanta Vision, Capwell Services and Deep Anchor Solutions will be joined by startups from around the world to compete to be named one of the 10 Most Promising Companies at the 23rd Energy Tech Venture Forum. Additional companies will participate in office hours.

See the full list of nearly 50 companies pitching here.

Halliburton Labs Pitch Day — Sept. 18 at the Ion

Halliburton Labs Pitch Day brings together a curated group of early‑stage energy technology investors and 16 participating companies. The event is invitation‑only. Here's who's pitching:

  • Australia-based Aquafortus, which has developed a non-thermal liquid to liquid desalination technology for resource recovery from wastewater brine
  • Calgary-based Ayrton Energy, which has developed a proprietary technology that enables hydrogen to be stored within an organic liquid, which can be handled and transported like gasoline
  • Illinois-based Cache Energy, which is developing electrified heat and long-term energy storage
  • New York-based Cella, which is working to advance subsurface mineralization of CO2
  • Miami-based Chemergy, which has developed a patented process to convert wet organic and plastic wastes into green hydrogen
  • Tennessee-based Enexor BioEnergy, which is developing on-site waste-to-bioenergy conversion systems
  • Reno-based Espiku, which focuses on water and minerals recovery from industrially produced water
  • UK-based LiNa Energy, which is developing low-cost, solid-state sodium battery technology
  • Michigan-based Marel Power Solutions, which is developing advanced cooling technology to redefine power-stacks
  • California-based Mitico, which is developing technology to collect and purify carbon dioxide at the source, post-combustion, before it enters the atmosphere
  • Singapore-based Nandina REM, which turns end-of-life assets into new, reliable, high-performance carbon fiber materials for the aviation, aerospace and defense industries
  • California-based Noon Energy, which is developing a 100-plus-hour ultra-long-duration battery storage
  • Silicon Valley-based Proof Energy, which is commercializing next-generation metallic solid oxide fuel cell (M-SOFC) technology.
  • Berkeley-based Sunchem, which provides precision separation of critical metals from sources including e-waste, evaporator scrap, solar panels, and mining ores and concentrates
  • Singapore-based Sungreen, an advanced materials company pioneering nanotechnology-based coatings for high-efficiency, low-cost electrodes
  • Minneapolis-based Syncris, which is developing next-generation modular power systems designed for the most demanding environments
Read more about Houston Energy and Climate Week and its programming in Energy Capital's event preview.