PreZero US to close South Carolina plant

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

PreZero US, headquartered in Jurupa Valley, California, adds that 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, formed in 2018, 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 recycled mixed rigid plastics and plastic film. 

The plastics recycler recently appointed Clemens Stockreiter as its new CEO. Former CEO Hernan de la Vega has transitioned 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, in late 2021, PreZero announced it was planning to invest $11.5 million in the facility in Westminster, adding that it was no longer in partnership with ACI Plastics, which was the previous owner of the facility, and that it is investing to improve the facility to meet its production goals.

PreZero US says more than 14,000 tons of postconsumer resins have been processed at the Westminster facility to date.