Materials supplier Birch Plastics Inc. has added 25,000 square feet of warehouse space at its location in Houston.
Houston-based Birch now has 100,000 square feet of production and storage space. The firm also recently received GreenCircle certification for its recycled-content compounds, President Robert Lang said in a recent interview with Plastics News.
GreenCircle offers third-party certification for sustainability claims. The firm's clients include Coca-Cola Co. and Perdue Farms.
"There's strong demand for sustainable products," Lang said. "We've been able to stay open through COVID and had a record year last year."
Birch now generates about 70 percent of its sales from recycled-content compounds, primarily based on high density polyethylene and polypropylene. The remainder of the firm's revenue comes from reselling of virgin grades of PE and PP. In 2021, Birch posted sales of $15 million and sold 25 million pounds of material.
Also in 2021, Birch installed a new single-screw extrusion line and now operates four, as well as a lab extrusion line. Lang said the firm may add a twin-screw extrusion line this year as well.
Birch employs 27 and is considering hiring more in 2022. Lang said the firm also hopes to do more work with post-consumer recycled content this year.