Plastics Recycler Expands -
By Seth Stratton
Staff Writer
Reidsville Review
Another Reidsville manufacturer is picking up shop and moving, but this time it's just one-and-a-half miles away.
Plastic Revolutions, a plastics recycler and manufacturer, is moving from its current location in the old Cone Mills building on the corner of Harrison and Way streets to the former AMI Doduco building at the intersection of Turner Drive and Barnes Street.
General manager Ed Handy says Plastic Revolutions has simply outgrown its space inside the converted textile mill and needs more room to expand its recycling operations. Handy hopes to be completely moved in by the end of April.
"We've been growing - 20 percent or more over the last five years," Handy said. The company added 10 new full-time employees in 2006, bringing its total to 42, and could add up to 60 more late this year if business continues to be good for the 10-year-old company.
Plastic Revolutions recycles mostly high-density polyethylene plastic, one of the stronger plastics Handy says. Everything from chemical drums, tide bottles, milk bottles and a variety of other plastics are brought in, washed, dried, stripped of all labels, metals and other impurities, melted down and converted into sheet or pellet form.
The recycler sells the finished product to such companies as Hickory-based Commscope, one of the world's leading producers of coaxial cable and Advanced Drainage Systems, one of the world's leading plastic pipe manufacturers.
"Anytime you have a local company that is looking for a new location ? that needs more space, that's good news," said Rockingham County Partnership Interim President Graham Pervier.
Handy says the company produces and sells three million pounds of recycled plastic each month, including a pellet-extruder machine that creates 50,000 pounds of plastic pellets each day. The extruder and a 200,000 pound storage silo were added last year.
The company's current building was built in 1890, Handy said, and has three floors, with a maximum ceiling height of 14 feet. Handy says the 100-year-old elevators and short ceilings have forced him to move some pieces of machinery that were previously connected into separate rooms because they exceeded the ceiling height. And because the new building is all on one floor, Handy estimates he will be able to cut his number of forklifts in half.
"The move means we'll be getting into a larger, more efficient facility," Handy said.
The old mill was built to accommodate 40-foot trucks. Now semi-trucks with trailers up to 53-feet long often spill out into Way Street when filling an order. The move will allow the company smoother transportation with logistics companies.
Sylvania was the original builder of the Barnes Street facility, completing construction in 1966. Handy says Sylvania used to process gold and silver at the plant, before AMI Doduco moved in bringing with it electrical components and contacts operations.
The land and building is assessed at nearly $3 million, according to Rockingham County tax records.
Handy says his business is growing due to a number of reasons including the rising costs of resources, primarily petroleum, used to create virgin polyethylene. Handy says new plastic can cost up to 70 cents per pound, while recycled plastic can be produced for 40 cents per pound. Plastic Revolutions buys used plastic from solid waste facilities, plastic manufacturers and anywhere they can find it, Handy says.
The company will continue to operate 24 hours a day, even during the move. Handy says the company is purchasing new cleaning and extruding equipment to put in the new building, allowing the recycling operations to continue at both buildings simultaneously. The new building sits on nearly 31 acres and has about 300,000 square-feet of space, Handy says, more than four times the usable square-feet Handy says the company has at the mill building.
Handy says ultimately he would like to expand the types of recyclable materials Plastic Revolutions could handle and in the future, make a product. Handy envisions producing everything from shipping dunnage, to plastic pallets, to plastic sheeting and barrels. The company produces one product, Safety Stops ? a plastic parking block, through its subsidiary, JDC Manufacturing.
The recycling business is growing in the area. In Reidsville alone, two other companies, Envision Plastics and Ensley Corp., produce recycled plastic materials. Handy says overall, county companies recycle 20 million pounds of plastic each month.
Plastic Revolutions has put the old mill building up for sale. Handy says he thinks the space could be turned into some nice apartments or condominiums. Handy says the white-pine floors and old brick could fetch a high price.
This year, Handy hopes to start a co-mingled sorting line, which would be responsible for taking unsorted plastic from municipalities and sorting them by classification. If he decides to start this operation, Handy says he could hire three additional shifts of 20 workers each. In addition, Handy is considering adding aluminum and cardboard recycling operations to the business.
"We'll recycle every plastic that has a market," said. "We're a fairly new company, but we're becoming more known. People come to us because our reputation is good."
For more information on Plastic Revolutions, visit: www.plasticrevolutions.com
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