A gorgeous, sunny day was the backdrop for a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Davisville, WV, that celebrated the opening of a new, 800,000-sq-ft in-house plastics recycling facility that represents a $20 million investment and took just eight months to complete. Located in the area’s Polymer Technology Park (PTP), the PET recycling facility is the first such operation for Vernon, CA-based thermoformer PWP Industries.

“The opening of this facility is a testament to the commitment of the people of West Virginia,” PWP chairman and CEO Leon Farahnik told assembled guests. “This plant offers some of the most cutting-edge technology available.”

Through a partnership with Coca-Cola Recycling LLC of Atlanta, PWP will convert post-consumer PETE bottles into U.S. Food & Drug Administration-compliant resin for food grade-suitable material.

"PWP is making the investment to be ahead of the curve for recycled material in thermoformed packages,” said Farahnik. “We foresee the future, and we're a firm believer that recycling will have to be part of the program. Our customers will also benefit from our investment in this facility because we'll have a constant, guaranteed supply of material in a market that continues to increase in demand."

Farahnik noted that the first phase of the PWP project is estimated to have an annual capacity to recycle 40 million pounds of recycled PET flake and, in the process, cut annual emission of 30,000 tons of carbon dioxide and reduce annual energy requirements by 398 million kilowatt hours. “That’s equivalent to the CO2 emissions produced by 20,000 flights from New York to Los Angeles,” he added.

Governor in attendance
Speaking at the event and performing the ribbon-cutting honors, West Virginia governor Joe Manchin reflected on the importance of preserving our environment: “It’s been said that we do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.

“We are the stewards of the environment. The economy and the environment can be balanced in harmony, and we can do that here in West Virginia.”

Also speaking at the event was senator Karen L. Facemyer, president of the Polymer Alliance Zone®, Inc. (PAZ), an organization formed in West Virginia in 1996 to expand the industrial base for polymer businesses in local counties.

Tours of the facility followed the ceremony. As guests walked a carpeted path through the plant, PWP employees explained how the PET flake is washed and cleaned numerous times to ensure removal of label, cap, and tamper-evident neck-band materials, as well as other debris before being polymerized into usable, FDA-grade materials. Nearly all outputs of the process, including the ground cap and band material, are salable for other purposes, guides noted.

Video coverage of the event can be viewed via a news segment that aired on WTAP-TV in Parkersburg, WV.