Story has been updated with comment from Far Eastern New Century in paragraphs 2 and 3.
PET reclaimer Phoenix Technologies has closed its Poe Road plant in Bowling Green, Ohio, according to a letter filed with the state, and its parent company cited issues specific to the US recycling system for the closure.
Although the state notification did not mention the fate of the Fairview Avenue location in Bowling Green, parent company Far Eastern New Century confirmed to Plastics Recycling Update that the pellet plant on Fairview Avenue in Bowling Green would remain operational. The Ohio company has faced several challenges, according to Eva Luo, who is in charge of the recycling business at the Taiwan-based polyester heavyweight.
“The low collection rate and poor bale quality in the US recycling industry, along with recent economic inflation and changes in brand green mission goals, have further impacted our operations,” she said in a statement to Plastics Recycling News. “Consequently, we made the difficult decision to mothball the Phoenix washing line at Poe Road to mitigate these losses.”
FENC bought Phoenix Technologies in 2019, and in 2020 financial documents showed the company was losing substantial amounts of money. However, in 2022 the company announced plans to double RPET capacity.
In the letter, the company said the closure was expected to be permanent, following attempts to negotiate better pricing with suppliers and vendors and to reduce operating expenses. The plant closure was effective Nov. 20 and affected seven employees.
In September, California PET recycler rPlanet Earth shut down, amid an extended period of challenging market conditions that mirror the existential crisis in Europe’s recycling sector.
A recent report from the National Association for PET Container Resources indicated that a wide price spread between domestic RPET and virgin PET encourages use of either virgin PET or inexpensive imported RPET, the report said. This echoes dynamics that have contributed to multiple recycler failures in the EU and the closure of PET recycler rPlanet Earth in California in September.
