QRS and Canusa Hershman open plastics recycling facility in Maryland

QRS of Maryland LLC, a joint venture between St. Louis-based QRS and Canusa Hershman Recycling Co., with corporate offices in Baltimore and in Branford, Connecticut, has opened a recycling facility in Dundalk, Maryland, to separate and recycle postconsumer plastics. The $15 million plant with more than $10 million in high-tech processing equipment will create 60 full-time jobs, according to the company.

“QRS of Maryland brings new jobs, new investment and a steady stream of plastics recycling that will help us all live in a more environmentally friendly way,” says Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz. “Dundalk’s central Mid-Atlantic location, transportation and distribution routes are a perfect fit for the growing domestic plastic recycling business.”

Kamenetz adds, “With this new plant, QRS of Maryland is helping to reshore the plastic manufacturing business to the United States. With reliable, large quantities of sorted and cleaned plastic available for re-use, manufacturers can more easily expand product lines using recycled plastic.”

The QRS of Maryland facility was funded in part by the Closed Loop Fund, an investment fund that makes below-market loans for recycling infrastructure. The Dundalk plant is the Closed Loop Fund’s first investment in a full recycling facility. (For more on the Closed Loop Fund’s recent investments, click here.

The Closed Loop Fund has established partnerships with major corporations, including Procter & Gamble, 3M, Wal-Mart and Johnson and Johnson.

"Our newest plastic recovery facility in Baltimore County provides communities and recyclers throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions with a reliable, domestic processing solution for mixed postconsumer plastic containers,” says Greg Janson, CEO of QRS.

The QRS plant combines technology that will allow the plant to separate products by resin type and recycle them into raw materials for new products and packaging. The facility incorporates the latest optical scanning and cleaning equipment and is able to process 4,500 tons of materials every month—nearly double the capacity of what’s presently available domestically, QRS of Maryland says.

Baltimore County is assisting QRS as it recruits workers for the plant. “Our career centers in Eastpoint, Liberty Road and Hunt Valley can help job seekers interested in working at the QRS plant,” says Will Anderson, director of the Department of Economic and Workforce Development.