Entropex, one of North America’s largest plastics reclaimers, has laid off employees, ceased operations and will be put up for sale.
The Sarnia, Ontario-based company has laid off most of its 155 employees and ceased operations. The firm, which worked out of a 180,000-square-foot complex, specializes in sorting and recycling non-bottle rigid plastics made from a variety of resins. It produces recycled resins and compounds for use in a variety of products.
The Sarnia Observer reported Entropex closed on July 14, and a court-appointed receiver said the company will be put up for sale.
Entropex has operated since 1978, according to its website. It had billed itself as the eighth-largest post-consumer plastics recycling company in North America.
Entropex issued a press release citing financial challenges caused by low oil prices and a competitive business environment as a reason for the closure, the newspaper reported. The company had worked to reduce expenses but operating costs remained unsustainable.
“Because of our deteriorating financial position, Entropex’s bankers decided earlier this month to call the Entropex bank loan,” according to the press release.
Entropex developed and commercialized what it called the RigidReclaim process, which integrates sorting, cleaning and processing of mixed-rigid post-consumer plastics. It received a 2013 Innovation in Plastics Recycling Award from the American Chemistry Council.
