Custom extruder Crane Plastics is converting three of its extrusion lines to total regrind consumption. The process will be complete by the end of March.
Columbus, Ohio-based Engineered Profiles LLC dba Crane Plastics said it set up a cell in its Columbus plant to produce the 100 percent recycled-material extrusions in response to customer demand. The conversion will aid in lowering costs.
Matt Fenneman, vice president of sales and marketing for Crane, said the applications include “a mixture of exterior building products covered with durable, exterior-grade virgin vinyl, and subassembly components used in transportation and agricultural applications.”
The regrind comes from post-consumer and post-industrial resources, which Crane makes into products via foaming and capping technology. The company has also partnered with outside scrap brokerage and processing companies.
To process the regrind, Crane acquired dedicated downstream equipment and upgraded or rebuilt materials-handling and feeding equipment.
“The desire and need to process these materials [have] existed for a long time,” Fenneman said in a phone interview. “But until recently, the volume of the opportunities available to exploit them has been too low or too intermittent to facilitate larger investment in efficient sourcing and processing.”
Crane's proprietary products focus on gutter protection and decking, but the company has been looking to diversify. Last month, Crane formed a subsidiary in Scotland to distribute mud flaps.
In addition to the Columbus facility, Crane operates a plant in Jacksboro, Tenn.
