Plastics

Photo courtesy of PreZero US

PreZero US to close South Carolina plant

PreZero US began taking steps Sept. 21 to close its Westminster, South Carolina, facility, with operations scheduled to cease entirely in November. PreZero says the closure is the best way forward in pursuit of its vision, with a spokesperson for the company noting that the site was underperforming.

PreZero US, headquartered in Jurupa Valley, California, says it will retain the equipment on-site with the aim of returning to the Southeast region.

In the meantime, the company says it seeks to increase capacity at its California plant.

PreZero US was formed in 2018 and is a subsidiary of Germany-based PreZero, a leading waste disposal and environmental services provider. PreZero offers waste disposal services as well as sorting and processing of recyclables. Its parent company is the German retailer Schwarz Group, which owns and operates the Lidl and Kaufland chain store brands. The company recycles mixed rigid plastics and plastic film.

The plastics recycler recently appointed Clemens Stockreiter as CEO. Former CEO Hernan de la Vega has transitioned to an international management position with Schwarz Group.

PreZero previously partnered with ACI Plastics, headquartered in Flint, Michigan, to process the mixed rigid plastics and film it collected. However, PreZero announced in late 2021 that it was planning to invest $11.5 million in the Westminster plant to improve the site to meet its production goals. The company added that it was no longer in partnership with ACI Plastics, which was the previous owner of the facility.

PreZero US says more than 14,000 tons of postconsumer resins had been processed at the South Carolina facility as of the Sept. 21 announcement.

Photo courtesy of Berry Global

Berry Global, Mars launch recycled-content packaging

Berry Global is partnering with Mars Inc., based in McLean, Virginia, to launch polyethylene terephthalate (PET) jars for the large-format sizes of its popular M&M’s, Skittles and Starburst brands.

The easy-grip jars will come in 60-, 81- and 87-ounce sizes and include 15 percent postconsumer resin (PCR) while being lighter in weight.

Berry, based in Evansville, Indiana, will produce the jars using a single-pellet, food-grade resin to ensure a clean, consistent substrate sourced from mechanical recycling. The company says the new containers will eliminate roughly 300 tons of virgin plastic per year, while the 81- and 87-ounce jars will save 374 metric tons of carbon dioxide because of the 10-gram reduction in their weight.

The new jars are the latest initiative from Mars, which says it is investing hundreds of millions of dollars to design and implement more sustainable packaging.

“At Mars, we want to contribute to a circular economy where packaging material never becomes waste but is recycled, reused or composted,” Mars Wrigley North America Vice President of Research and Development Justin Comes says. “We have set an aggressive, science-based strategy to innovate our packaging, and this change to 15 percent PCR for these large-format jars is a significant step towards a more sustainable future.”