Our reclaiming and recycling plant, Direct Pack Recycling (DPR) located in Guadalajara, MX., is now successfully supplying post-consumer clean washed rPET flakes to our manufacturing facility in Sun Valley, CA.
This flake consists of both post-consumer recycled PET bottles and thermoforms. This is a huge step to get closer to a sustainable “Full Circle” process, where our PET thermoformed products are used and recycled by the consumer, and then cleaned, flaked, and turned into new products again. When PET is recycled properly, it is an infinite resource and reduces the need for new material.
Michael Palmer, VP of Operations, explains: “We have been running the material from DPR for a month now, with great results. The clean flake is mixed into our normal blend in extrusion and is used to produce berry and lettuce containers, as well as salad and snack bowls. The quality is great, and our goal is to consume at least 250,000 lbs per month.”
Juan Galvan, General Manager of DPR, is excited that the material is working so well. “With our high tech equipment and very skilled personnel, we can ensure top quality post-consumer rPET flake, and we will be able to supply Sun Valley with a truckload of material every five days. We are proud to contribute to this full circle process.”