LAKE LAS VEGAS, NEV. — Northstar Recycling Co. Inc., a plastics recycler based in East Longmeadow, Mass., was named the No. 1 company in Plastics News Best Places to Work awards.
The top 10 companies were named Feb. 4 at the Plastics News Executive Forum in Lake Las Vegas.
Northstar, which has 21 employees, is a fifth-generation recycling businesses – the great grandfathers and great-great grandfathers of the current owners were in the business in the 1800s, starting out by recycling rags and paper.
The company's focus is on helping corporate customers achieve zero-waste-to-landfill, which it does by offering wide variety of waste management services.
Northstar was lauded for its benefits plan, which is full- and part-timers. The company funds a health reimbursement account that completely covers all employee and dependent in-network health insurance deductibles.
Jeff Cartun, Northstar's chief marketing officer, accepted the award.
Harrisburg, Pa.-based Best Companies Group independently manages the Best Places to Work project. BCG gathers information about company benefits and activities, and it solicits employee and management input via detailed surveys. The employer survey responses count for 25 percent of the grading, and the employee feedback accounts for 75 percent.
All of the Top 10 companies in the 2015 ranking will be profiled in Plastics News' March 23 issue. They also include, in order starting with No. 2:
• B & B Molders LLC, a 51-year-old family-owned injection molder based in Mishawaka, Ind.
• Sun Plastech Inc., the Parsippany, N.J.-based manufacturer and distributor of Asaclean purge compounds.
• Ayanna Plastics & Engineering Inc., an injection molder and toolmaker based in Clearwater, Fla.
• Plastic Components Inc., a custom injection molder based in Germantown, Wis.
• Colors For Plastics Inc., a plastics color compounder based in Elk Grove Village, Ill.
• CMD Corp., an Appleton, Wis.-based maker of plastic converting machinery.
• Extreme Tool & Engineering Inc., a toolmaker and low-volume injection molder in Wakefield, Mich.
• Team 1 Plastics Inc., an injection molder based in Albion, Mich.
• Custom Profile, plastic profile extruder based in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Plastics News will name its Processor of the Year and PN Excellence Award winners on Feb. 5.
