Green Fence Recycling Corp., based in Mullins, S.C., plans to recycle about 40 million pounds of plastic per year when fully operational. About 60 percent of that will be PP from sterilized sharps, and the remainder will be composed of mixed rigids plastics and PET fines, said John Parker, Green Fence Recycling general manager.
The company was named Green Fence Recycling because it aims to recycle materials no longer exported to China in the wake of the Green Fence customs enforcement initiative.
Employees are currently testing equipment in the company’s 65,000-square-foot facility, its first facility. Full production is slated to start during the first three months of this year, Parker said.
The facility will use a Vecoplan shredder and Cumberland grinder to produce PP and HDPE flake from the sharps and mixed rigid materials.
Near the end of 2016, the company plans to install a sortation line for separating the mixed rigid bale materials, which include pallets, crates and other objects.
The $2.5 million facility will also use a washing system utilizing a proprietary design developed in-house with the help of a Chinese equipment manufacturer, Parker said.
Green Fence Recycling will receive PET fines that are byproducts of plastic bottle recycling in the region and are normally discarded because their small size makes them difficult to recover, he said. The company will wash and remove dirt, labels and caps before reselling the fines to PET users.
When asked whether he’s concerned about opening a new recycling facility at a time of depressed plastics values, Parker noted it’s a great time to buy material.
“It’s difficult, obviously, with the market the way it is,” he said. “We believe if you can make it through in times like these, times will only get better.”