ITEC ENTERS INTO SALES AGREEMENT
Itec Environmental Group Inc., Oakdale, Calif., has announced that it has entered into a three-year agreement with H. Muehlstein & Co. Inc., through which H. Muehlstein will act as Itec’s exclusive agent for the annual purchase and sale of up to 60 million pounds of Itec’s PET flake and post-consumer HDPE natural flake and pellets in the United States and Canada. Itec’s current production capacity for PET and HDPE flake is approximately 44 million pounds.
"I am very pleased that we were able to enter into this agreement with H. Muehlstein & Co.," Gary De Laurentiis, president of Itec, says. "I’ve worked with H. Muehlstein & Co. for over 12 years and know the value they bring to their clients and the excellent and impeccable reputation they have within the industry. H. Muehlstein & Co. will be our sales force representing Itec’s products within the U.S. and Canada, allowing Itec to focus on the expansion of its business," he adds.
The Muehlstein group of companies, founded in 1911, has annual sales in excess of $1 billion per year and is the world’s largest polymer distributor, marketing 2.7 billion pounds of plastic and rubber products to more than 6,400 manufacturers in 76 countries. The company represents world-class polymer producers like Dow, ExxonMobil and BP.
"Muehlstein, as a global leader in the marketing and sales of recycled plastic materials, is very excited about this opportunity to partner with Itec in this new venture," John Lavery, business manager of recycled products for H. Muehlstein & Co., says. "The Itec recycling process is indeed unique and will offer Muehlstein a quality product to bring to a market that has an ever growing need for these post consumer polymers."
In a research partnership with Honeywell FM&T, Itec has developed and commercialized a new system for recycling plastic containers. Itec says its Eco2 System costs 30 percent less to operate, uses no water, removes all contaminants and odors from the finished flake and produces no toxic by-products.
NAPCOR EXPANDS MEMBERSHIP
Air Logic Power Systems Inc. and Americhem Inc. have joined the National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR), the trade association for the PET plastic industry in the United States and Canada, as supplier members.
Air Logic Power Systems (ALPS) of Milwaukee was formed in 1974 and is a manufacturer of online leak detection equipment for the plastic container manufacturing industry.
Americhem is an international custom color master batch producer. The Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio-based company has manufactured custom color concentrates, additive concentrates and specialty dispersions for the plastics industry.
The new members are the first to join NAPCOR since it relocated earlier this year from Charlotte, N.C., to Sonoma, Calif., where NAPCOR operates under contract with Moore Recycling Associates, a recycling consulting and management firm to the plastics recycling industry since 1989.
NAPCOR management staff now includes Executive Director Dennis Sabourin, Technical Director Michael Schedler and Communications Director Kate Eagles.
NEXTLIFE CO-OP ADDS MEMBER
Advance Polybag, Metairie, La., has joined NextLife, a recycling cooperative of plastics bag companies.
NextLife includes Sun Valley Worldwide, Vanguard Plastics, Sigma Stretch Film and Sweed Machinery.
The NextLife program provides generators, such as grocers and distribution centers, a convenient recycling program in which they are compensated for their recyclables at market-competitive prices.
Through the NextLife cooperative, alliance partners market and promote the program to their sales forces, distributors and customers throughout North America. Sun Valley purchases the materials and recycles them.
According to the NextLife figures, less than 5 percent of grocery bags and stretch film are recovered and recycled today.
Explore the May 2005 Issue
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