Wastren Advantage buys and expands plastics recycler

Wastren Advantage Inc. (WAI) has acquired Geo-Tech Polymers, a plastics recycling firm that holds a patented process designed to increase the range of uses for plastic products from postindustrial and post-consumer waste streams.

Doug Collins, newly appointed president of Geo-Tech and director of the project management office for WAI, told PlasticsToday WAI is now majority owner of Geo-Tech and will bring significant long-term capital flow to the company that will give Geo-Tech the room to grow, expand in current markets and open new ones.

"We knew the brand had value and meaning for current clients and companies that want to be clients," he said. "We're going to be working hard in the months ahead to further brand the Geo-Tech name and its patented processes as the gold standard for bringing clean and pure recycled plastics back to the packaging, automotive and electronics markets."

The Geo-Tech recycling process, initially developed under contracts with the U.S. Departments of Defense and Energy, does not use chemicals that can degrade the recycled plastic.

The clean mechanical washing process removes most coatings including paint, screen print, tape, paper and plastic adhered labels, and metallization from virtually any form and grade of plastic without the residual environmental damage that can come from other processes, Collins said.

Geo-Tech uses mild water-based detergents and FDA-approved cleaning agents. Collins said that makes this process "perfect for food packaging and high-end applications like Class A automotive parts."

For example, with food and beverage packaging, Geo-Tech can deliver a product that's cleaned using only FDA-approved detergents at a cost up to 70% less than prime resins, Collins said.

"We can honestly and verifiably say we're bringing a whole new shade of green to plastics recycling," he said. "The clients get prime resin quality at a fraction of the cost."

As a full service waste management firm, WAI will leverage and align Geo-Tech with its other operations. Collins said the company will deploy at least two additional wash lines at its product partner Hadsell Chemical site in Waverly, OH by mid 2013 and will add additional equipment that will increase the company's ability to granulate, separate, blend and extrude the product.

The move will create 50 new jobs in Southern Ohio's Pike County, which typically has the highest unemployment rate in the state, the company stated.

"By consolidating all our processes in one well-configured site, we will be able to efficiently pull value out of waste streams that are currently not cost effective," Collins said. "This will keep mega tons of valuable materials out of landfills."

WAI operates out of eight regional offices, providing a range of waste management, environmental services, decontamination and decommissioning, and facility management and operations to commercial and federal clients, including the Department of Energy (DOE) facilities, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (GDP), and more.

"We see excellent opportunities, especially in packaging and automotive, for expanding the capacity of a recycling process that's truly environmentally friendly and does not degrade the final product," Collins said.