Florida Agricultural Plastic Recyclers forms

Florida Agricultural Plastic Recyclers LLC (FLAG), based in Avon Park, Florida, has announced the completion of a private placement with an international investor group that it says will allow the company to begin implementing the first phase of its low-density polyethylene (LDPE) agricultural film recycling program. The phase will include the completion of two wash lines and commencing contracted sales of shredded and washed LDPE.

Joseph Miceli, president of FLAG, says, “This capital gives FLAG the opportunity to take advantage of a market abandoned by the recycling community. With favorable market conditions and FLAG’s position as the sole agricultural film recycler in Florida, this year, FLAG will be one of the largest ongoing suppliers of clean recycled LDPE film in the county, if not the world.

Miceli adds, “We currently have over 30 million pounds of used ag-film in inventory and are in the process of aggregating an additional 30-40 million pounds annually that we have contracted with farmers throughout Florida and adjacent states. FLAG offers farmers the most cost-effective and environmentally green solution to dispose of their waste ag film and enables them to conform as green suppliers to national retailers.”

Younis Zubchevich, CFO of FLAG, says, “We have agreements in place to sell over 40 million pounds of our output to buyers we have worked with for over 20 years. As recyclers learn that we are the source for large quantities of recycled LDPE, we expect our agreements to double by year end upon which we will implement two additional wash lines to complete Phase II of our Florida operations and expand to fully utilize our 8 acre, 65,000-square-foot warehouse facility."

He adds, “With annual global production of virgin LDPE at approximately 50 billion pounds, we project an ongoing growing demand for recycled LDPE."