BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Utility Plastic Recycling Inc. has a new owner: waste giant Browning-Ferris Industries Inc. Utility Plastic, a Brooklyn-based plastics recycler and manufacturer of injection molded recycling bins and traffic barriers, was sold to BFI's New York-based unit, Browning-Ferris Industries of New York, as part of BFI's purchase of the assets of Waste Management of New York.
Waste Management is one of the largest waste-collection and recycling companies in New York, processing half of the city's newspapers and residential recyclables.
Waste Management's sales last year were in excess of $50 million. All of the firm's 200 workers, 20 of whom worked at Utility Plastic, will be retained as BFI employees.
Waste Management of New York has no connection to Waste Management Inc., a division of WMX Technologies of Oak Brook, Ill.
TILSONBURG, ONTARIO - A Tilsonburg machine maker claims to have developed a series of transfer molding machines capable of eliminating expensive washing, sorting and pelletizing steps in recycling plastics.
Rod Haggerty, general manager of Superior Polymer Systems Inc., said the new line of MK-series machines can take a commingled blend of plastics and nonmelted substances directly from granular form to a finished plastic lumber product.
We have found that as long as there is sufficient plastic present to form the matrix or carrier, there can be just about anything in the commingled waste stream, he said in a telephone interview.
The machine can take granules with pieces of metal, paper, fiber or any number of other things and turn it into a 2-by-6 patio deck board, or any number of other products. In fact, some of our customers add fiber to the commingled material for strength, Haggerty said.
The machinery allows continuous operation of extruders without downtime for mold changes, and robotic mold changes.
He said the machines can process about 4,000 pounds of finished product per hour on some systems, and that so far the company has placed one machine with a plastic lumber manufacturer.
LINDENHURST, N.Y. - Greenpeace Environmental Inc., a Lindenhurst company that recently expanded its recycling of engineering grades of plastic, is close to an agreement with a major recycler that will boost its output significantly.
Ron Labuz, president of Greenpeace, which just acquired the former Plastics Manufacturing and Recycling Services Inc. of Binghamton, N.Y., said Greenpeace will handle about 40 million pounds of engineering-grade plastic when the deal is complete sometime this month.
We are recycling about 12 million pounds per year now, so this would be a major step for us, he said in a telephone interview.
Lubuz would not name the company that will supply the waste plastic.
Greenpeace, and PMRS before it, has been washing, cleaning, grinding and extruding engineering grades, largely from the electronics industry.
The company also recently concluded a supply agreement with Waste Management Inc.