Top Midwest recycler acquires two more PET recycling facilities

Evergreen, a subsidiary of the Sterling Group, recently acquired two more recycling facilities, making the Ohio-based recycler one of the top three recycled polyethylene terephthalate producers in North America, according to a Feb. 9 company announcement.

Since January 2021, Evergreen has grown from a single 20,000 mt/year facility in Clyde, Ohio to four locations across North America, adding nearly 50,000 mt/year of food-grade R-PET capacity in one year.

The plastics recycling and manufacturing company purchased both UltrePET in Albany, New York, and Novapet in Nova Scotia, Canada from wTe Corp. back in Nov. 2021. In Evergreen announcement, the company changed the facility names to Evergreen Albany and Evergreen Amherst, respectively.

Evergreen acquired CarbonLite's PET recycling facility in Riverside, California, in May 2021 after CarbonLite declared bankruptcy.

The company previously announced an expansion project at its Ohio facility to add a 54,000-square-foot building to its existing 238,000-square-foot facility. The expansion, which is scheduled for completion in June 2022, will house four new extruders and a new high-volume, food-grade R-PET manufacturing line.

Upon completion, Evergreen's total production capacity will reach just under 100,000 mt/year, the company said.

Speaking on behalf of the Board of Directors and The Sterling Group, Evergreen CEO and President Omar Abuaita said the company has spent nearly $200 million on the expansion project and recent acquisitions and believes the investment will pay off given the strong market demand for recycled plastics.

Evergreen General Manager Greg Johnson says the company is focused on expansion, modernization, expanding plastics recycling rates, and converting more companies to recycled PET from virgin resin.

"Evergreen has the expertise to help customers close the loop on PET plastic," said Johnson.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Since January 2021, Evergreen has increased the number of post-consumer PET bottles it collects and recycles from two billion per year to 11.6 billion bottles, according to the company.