Azek Co., the maker of decking and related products, has purchased Ashland, Ohio, PVC recycler and compounder Return Polymers Inc.
The deal adds PVC to Azek's stable of recycling operations, which the company launched last year when it opened a polyethylene recycling plant in Wilmington, Ohio.
Chicago-based Azek announced the deal Feb. 3. Terms were not disclosed.
Azek officials said the acquisition of Return Polymers will help Azek accelerate its mission of sustainability through in-house PVC recycling capabilities across its line of TimberTech Azek decking, Azek Exteriors trim, Versatex trim and Vycom sheet products.
The 27-year-old Return Polymers employs about 80 people. The employees and existing management team will remain, including President David Foell, who will continue to manage day-to-day operations.
The Vinyl Sustainability Council, part of the Vinyl Institute, in November named Return Polymers as the winner of its first-ever Vinyl Recycler of the Year Award. The council said Return Polymers worked under a tight, six-month timeframe to develop a 100 percent recycled vinyl compound that could be extruded into complex, flame-retardant profiles for refrigeration equipment, using either single-screw or twin-screw extruders.
Return Polymers' website said the company can help customers with application development, product selection, die and screw design and production scale-up trials.
Foell said Return Polymers will continue sell to customers outside of Azek.
"We are excited to join the Azek family and help contribute to its sustainability mission, while continuing to support our existing customers and partners," Foell said in a news release announcing the deal.
Return Polymers was the 38th largest recycler in North America, running 80 million pounds of PVC, according to Plastics News ranking data. About 70 percent of that comes from post-industrial and 30 percent from post-consumer sources.
In April, Azek opened a $25 million recycling plant in Wilmington that can process 100 million of used PE into material for its TimberTech Azek composite decking. That highly automated, 102,000-square-foot facility reprocesses bales of post-consumer and post-industrial material.
In January, Azek officials said they were considering an initial public offering. The company would use the proceeds to redeem outstanding 8 senior percent notes that are due in 2021, and for general corporate purposes. The company's formal name is CPG Newco LLC.