PrintBecoming a zero waste manufacturing facility was no small task for us and required a strategic partner. Unlike residential programs, where you toss an item into a bin, large scalable manufacturing companies like ours require large-scale companies willing to buy the materials. This was the topic of a recent article in Plastics News alongside our recycling partners, Mega Recycling in Illinois.
Mega Recycling, a division of Mega Polymers was founded in 2008 by Bret Garrison who serves as their CEO today. The company is a resin and plastic supplier traditionally, but after working strategically with us, they made their way into the recycling business, and they did so in a big way. In 2013, they were processing 16,000 lbs of plastic for us, but just last year that amount had grown over 230,000 pounds. Today they operate five simultaneous grinders to keep up with not just our demand, but other clients as well.
Matt Iverson is the one who championed Accumold’s zero waste manufacturing initiative, but it was a tall order as he tried to find a partner to help. “We were encouraged to get into recycling, but I was leery about it,” Garrison told Plastics News. The challenge we faced happened to be the greatest asset for Mega Recycling.
It’s not easy to recycle plastic or resin in bulk, because you need to find an entity to actually buy it. But that puzzel becomes even more difficult when you deal with highly specialized resins and plastics we deal with everyday. Luckily, Iverson was able to develop a sorting method at Accumold that made the product desirable for Mega Recycling. It worked, Brandon Walker of Mega Recycling noticed the quality of materials that came from Accumold and it all made sense.”The quality of the first load [from Accumold] certainly helped me make my case in favor of recycling.”
Mega Recycling, starting out as a division of Mega Polymers has seen our collaboration pay off in a big way. Mega Recycling LLC has operated as a separate entity alongside Mega Polymers LLC since 2016, and with the desire for zero waste manufacturing and need for quality recycling growing, they are looking to do their own compounding work soon, hopefully in 2019.
When you do business with Accumold, you’re also doing business with Mega Recycling and making our planet a cleaner place.
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