EASTON, PA. (Jan. 9, 2:50 p.m. ET) — Post-consumer scrap recycler National Plastics & Manufacturing Co. Inc. plans to move its operation about 10 miles west to Whitehall Township., Pa., from its current plant in Palmer Township., Pa.
“We have outgrown our space and need more power to install additional equipment,” owner and purchasing manager Munish Suri said in a telephone interview.
The firm will take over a 40,000-square-foot building in Whitehall Township. and begin operations there in late February, Suri said. Its growth was restricted in Palmer Township. where it had 21,000 square feet of space.
The Lehigh County Board of Commissioners recently approved the move with conditions National must meet. A key condition is installation of a state-of-the-art fire suppression system. In July 2011 National had a fire in Palmer that Suri blamed on careless testing of a piece of plastic.
Two commissioners excused themselves from the Jan. 7 vote after raising questions about the company’s stand on fire safety. Nonetheless, voting members of the board approved the relocation by 5-0.
Suri said in a Jan. 9 interview that concerns raised by the two absenting commissioners was due to a lack of educating the public about fire safety measures that National will undertake.
“We’re upgrading the sprinkler system in the new building,” Suri explained.
Suri defended his firm’s track record of operating in the Easton, Pa., area for more than 20 years. The company flakes and pelletizes a range of commodity and engineering thermoplastics and recently bought two extruders to expand its business.
