A PET recycler in Indiana expects to stabilize and grow the amount of material it processes now that it's under a new ownership structure.
Perpetual Recycling Solutions of Richmond, Ind., has been sold to a group that includes Italian recycling equipment manufacturer Sorema Plastics Recycling as well as members of a new management team.
Perpetual, started in 2012, has about 90 to 100 employees, said Carter Smith, who remains chief financial officer and is part of the ownership group.
Peter Zurkow takes over as CEO and Frederic Blanchard becomes chief operating officer. Former CEO David Bender will remain with the company, but now will focus on what the company calls “special projects.”
“We're excited to close the transaction,” said Smith, who added that the move “provides operational depth and expertise. It also provides a substantially stronger balance sheet and fiscal health.
“There will be no real changes in what we're doing. We will be stabilizing production at a higher level and look forward to expanding production later this year and into 2016,” Smith told Plastics News March 11.
“I would say for this year we plan to stabilize production in excess of 6 million pounds per month and hope to increase it from there as we move forward,” he said.
With the changes, Smith sees Perpetual moving away from a start-up phase into an established business. The company began in 2012.
“In general, what we stand for is converting curbside bales into very high quality clear flake for a variety of applications,” he said. “Our customer portfolio, generally speaking, our product goes into thermoforms for different kinds of food packaging. It goes into high-end fabrics. It goes into beverage containers. Those are kind of the big three,” he said.
The ownership changes also will have no impact on employment. “We have a great employee base that I think are excited about the transaction. We expect employment to be stable,” the CFO said.
Sorema, a division of Previero srl of Italy, has built more than 350 recycling systems around the world, including equipment at Perpetual.
Aldo Previero is a director and owner of Sorema. “We are confident we can help Perpetual make another leap forward. We have been working together with the company and its financial partners since the fall and have already seen important improvements in plant efficiency and product consistency,” he said in a statement.
