Vince Gupta is founder, owner and CEO of Prime Plastic Products Inc., a recycling firm based in Vista, Calif. The firm offers grinding, shredding, reprocessing and densifying services for many commodity and engineering resins.
Prime is celebrating its 30th year in business this year. Gupta recently took time to discuss Prime's business and the current state of the recycling market.
Q: How are current sales and demand doing? What end markets are doing well?
Gupta: We did very well until mid-year 2022, then from August onwards the softness started. Because of high inflation, there's certainly been a dent in customer demand. Basic commodity grades are still moving, but with slimmer margins.
Q: Is your company still being affected by supply chain issues?
Gupta: Supply chain issues have been mostly sorted. Freight costs remain high, even though fuel costs have come down, but driver shortages have been an issue.
Q: Does your firm have any plans to expand either through new products or by adding capacity or hiring more workers?
Gupta: We would like to expand, but the challenges remain the same: low resin prices govern what we get for our recycled materials. Until that is sorted — where we can get a stable price which is not at the mercy of off-spec and prime resin — it's hard to commit a lot of new capital and to grow recycling businesses.
Q: How is your company addressing sustainable product requests?
Gupta: Big brands certainly have made a lot of public announcements, but so far very few actual commitments on the ground when you see it at a macro or national level.
Q: What are your expectations for the rest of 2023?
Gupta: A lack of uniformity in scrap collection, be it household or industrial, muddies the waters, because more than half of usable plastics doesn't get salvaged. As a result, recyclers are left fighting for the balance.