AERT To Break Ground on Arkansas Plastics Recycling Plant this Summer

Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies Inc. has posted bids for construction on its new Springdale, Ark., manufacturing facility and construction should begin this summer, AERT said.

Joe Brooks, company chairman, president and co-CEO, said production will likely begin at the second Springdale manufacturing plant and warehouse early in 2005. The building will be about 60,000 square feet, company spokesman Bob Thayer said.

This will about double total capacity for the company in terms of product sales to an annual amount of around $160 million at full build-out. About three-fourths of AERT's sales come from the Springdale plant with the remaining portion resulting from production at a Junction, Texas, facility. The new construction will be adjacent to the company's headquarters.

Brooks said during the call the company has struggled to meet customer demand, and AERT needs to expand production capacity of products such as its decking and building material made from recycled plastic and wood fiber.

The second Springdale plant was announced more than five years ago, but Thayer said the need for the company to put capital toward recycling operations rather than production lines delayed the project.

This led to expansion of AERT's recycling capabilities, which provide less costly raw materials when done in-house. The Lowell recycling complex consists of 40 acres and seven buildings, Thayer said.

A new wood fiber processing system is nearly complete in Springdale near the site of the developing manufacturing project, Thayer said. Infrastructure work began there in early 2003.

Bids were sent to about 10 contractors for the plant and warehouse, and Thayer said AERT is still drafting its financial plans for the new construction. New manufacturing equipment will be installed in phases over the next few years, he said.  Springdale (Arkansas) Morning News