More machines, more scrap, more recycling at NPE2012

The Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) has contracted Maine Plastics Inc. as the official recycler for NPE2012, tasking the company with the collection, separation, transportation, and reprocessing of production-line scrap, as well plastic waste like PET bottles left behind by the show’s more than 60,000 expected visitors.
David Spitulnik, president of Maine Plastics, said his company’s goal is to equal or surpass the NPE2009 recycling program, in which it collected and recycled 95% of the recoverable materials, amounting to 125,000 lb [57 tonnes]. NPE2012 is the fifth consecutive edition of the triennial NPE for which Maine Plastics has provided these services.
Gene Sanders, SPI’s senior VP of trade shows and conferences noted that the show organizers is expecting to see a lot more scrap produced on the NPE2012 show floor, as a result of a “substantial” increase in the number of machines, running on the show floor.
SPI is also organizing a PET recycling demonstration and exhibit, sponsoring a live reprocessing demonstration, plus an exhibit of products manufactured from recovered PET bottles, including fibers and clothing, strapping, and more bottles.
Maine Plastics, which is headquartered in Zion, IL and was established in 1983, processes more than 140 million lb (63,600 tonnes) annually. The company opened a new plant in Utah late 2011, with that site joining existing plants in Zion and Kankakee, IL; Schoolcraft, MI; Dover, DE; Apex, NC; Richmond, VA; Stratford, CT; Buffalo, NY; and Columbus and Kearney, NE.