DALLAS — The executive director of the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers is partial to calling his group the little engine that could.
Well, the trade group, might need to be thinking about adding a passenger car along the way as APR continues to grow.
Now with 140 members, APR has cross the $1 million mark in annual revenue.
That certainly is modest in comparison to many other trade groups.
But APR does a lot with its resources and has demonstrated steady growth over the past several years, Executive Director Steve Alexander said.
“We've been on a growth trend of about 10 to 15 percent a year for the last five or six years,” he said. “About eight years ago we had about 53 members, so we're growing. And that's a good thing.”
Increasing membership and revenue means that APR will continue to be able to have a bigger impact on the world of recycled plastics.
“We need the resources to deal with the industry problems. That's just the reality. Because, if not us, who?” Alexander said at the trade group's membership meeting in Dallas. The meeting was the largest ever, by far, the executive director said.
As membership has grown over the years, services have grown as well. The group, for example, recently hired Sandi Childs to help with its efforts to promote film recycling.
Attendance at APR's meeting in Dallas topped 200 people for the first time, according to APR Chairman Scott Saunders.
“This is our first year above a million dollars. Now our challenge to the board is how are we going to get to $2 million. We feel like that's the revenue level that we need to be to finance the programs that are important to our association,” said Saunders, who is also general manager of KW Plastics Recycling Division in Troy, Ala.
Additional revenue, he said, will happen through increased membership and participation.
“What's important about any number,” Alexander said, “is to have enough resources to address the needs of the industry. And that's what we need to do, because the challenges, as you are well aware, grow every day.”
“We have to make sure we are resourced enough to address the issues,” the executive director said.
