A newly formed environmentally focused recycling company is putting the finishing touches on its first plant and corporate headquarters in Kalamazoo, Mich. - the first of five recycling and compounding facilities the firm plans to open in the next seven years.
The new plant was slated to come on-line by last week.
``We can go to almost any market, and we can recycle things that typically most people can't recycle,'' said David Merkel, president of Polymer Solutions Inc., in an April 16 telephone interview.
PSI officials have revamped an old General Motors Corp. plant in which they will launch their business. The plant is 107,000 square feet and will employ about 65. It will start with two lines. By 2009, the plant should have about 100 million pounds of annual capacity, Merkel said.
The privately held company is able to process several resins, including high and low density polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon and PET. Merkel said the company will recycle virtually any material that it can get in satisfactory volume.
PSI's process allows it to use highly contaminated material, he said.
``I can bring in extremely contaminated material, like agricultural film,'' he said. ``I can wash and clean that material and turn out a virtually virgin pellet, really high quality. We're able to add a lot of value back into the recycled material.''
The firm is focused on being as close to a zero-discharge company as possible. The focus on sustainability is paramount, Merkel said.
``If we're going to be washing, say, the agricultural film, there's going to be dirt and sand and gravel and clay,'' he said. ``We're not going to be throwing that material away. We will find other ways to utilize it. We close the loop on everything we do.''
PSI is looking at about four Gulf Coast states for a location for its second plant, Merkel said.
