Pipe maker ADS closing Washington plant, breaks ground for Georgia expansion

Hilliard, Ohio-based pipe producer Advanced Drainage Systems Inc. will close its facility in Olympia, Wash., on June 27 and lay off a majority of the 54 employees.

State and local officials were notified Jan. 28 about the permanent closure in accordance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act (WARN).

The layoffs start March 29 at the pipe manufacturing plant, which is one of about 70 ADS operates.

In October 2024, the facility's employees ratified their first collective bargaining agreement, according to the website of Teamsters United Local 252.

The local represents two drivers with a business agent, according to the WARN letter from ADS Human Resources Director Malinda Gongwer to the Employment Security Department and Olympia Mayor Dontae Payne.

However, she adds, "the union has not notified ADS that any bargaining unit member currently employed by the company is the union's chief elected official or an elected officer. There are no bumping rights."

Gongwer could not be immediately reached for further comment.

The workers facing layoffs include 11 downstream technicians, nine line operators, six yard loaders, four production haulers, three production supervisors and two material coordinators among others.

In other news, ADS announced Jan. 29 that it has broken ground on a significant expansion to its recycling facility in Cordele, Ga. The expansion will increase the facility's total size to 117,000 square feet.

ADS said the project will provide high-quality recycled plastic to nearby ADS manufacturing sites and create as many as 50 new jobs.

"For over 20 years, the dedicated ADS recycling employees in Cordele have made this location one of the top ADS performers in the nation, and we're thrilled to bring innovative investments to this site and new career opportunities to the local community," said Kristen Rinehart, vice president and general manager of recycling for ADS in a news release. "As one of the largest plastic recycling companies in North America, expanding our operations in Cordele will allow us to deliver recycled material to our seven manufacturing sites throughout the southeast region, while expanding ADS' overall use of recycled plastic in our pipe products and advanced stormwater and onsite septic wastewater solutions."

Founded in 1966, ADS makes high density polyethylene and polypropylene pipe products with recycled content to manage stormwater and onsite septic wastewater.

With annual sales of $2.2 billion, ADS is the fourth largest pipe, profile and tubing producer in North America, according to Plastics News' latest ranking.

The publicly traded company also is the second largest recycler in the region, handling more than 500 million pounds of material annually.

ADS products are extruded from some 543 million pounds of recyclable plastics pulled annually from the waste stream.

So far, in the first two quarters of its fiscal 2025, the company posted a sales increase of 2.5 percent to $1.6 billion and a profit drop of 5.6 percent to $293.5 million.

ADS officials adjusted guidance for the year with expectations now in the range of $2.9 billion to $2.975 billion, which is down from $2.925 billion to $3.025 billion the previous quarter.