Van Buren, Ark.-based Arkansas Poly & Printing LLC, a flexible packaging producer, will supply Trex Co. Inc. with post-industrial and post-consumer plastic products to recycle into composite decking.
Winchester, Va.-based Trex is building its third manufacturing plant in Port of Little Rock, Ark., as part of a $400 million investment that will include decking and railing production, warehousing, reclaimed wood storage and plastic film recycling and processing.
Trex's decking currently is produced in Winchester and Fernley, Nev. The products are made from 95 percent recycled wood scrap and polyethylene film. The company repurposes more than 400 million pounds of discarded commercial and post-consumer plastics otherwise destined for incineration or landfills, making it one of the largest recyclers of plastic film in North America.
The new PE processing facility will let the company collect and process more plastic waste through its branded NexTrex commercial and community recycling programs.
"Commercial partners like Arkansas Poly are essential to Trex's sourcing efforts," Zach Lauer, Trex's vice president of supply chain, said in a release. "We are excited to join forces with a company that shares our vision of driving recycling for plastic films and pleased to be establishing meaningful connections with our new neighbors in Arkansas."
Founded in 1972, Arkansas Poly & Printing started out making PE bags for the poultry industry 50 years ago and now is a vertically integrated manufacturer that extrudes, prints and converts flexible film for industrial and consumer packaging.
The company was founded by Ben Gosey and operated as Arkansas Poly Inc., until 2021, when the Gosey family sold the business to partners Sarah Sparks Diebold and R. Trent Goins. The new owners renamed the company Arkansas Poly & Printing.
"Our mission of making quality packaging with the least impact to the environment is in perfect alignment with Trex, and we could not be happier to welcome them to Arkansas," Diebold said in the release. "This alliance further exhibits our commitment to sustainability within the packaging industry and adds value to our products by providing a tangible 'next life' for our resin-based packaging in the form of beautiful and high-performance Trex outdoor living products."
With $881 million in annual sales, Trex ranks sixth among North American pipe, profile and tubing producers, according to Plastics News' latest ranking.