Plastics Recycler Nears Opening in Minnesota

Genesis Poly Recycling, a newly formed company, is expected to open its agricultural/horticultural plastics recycling facility in Mankato, Minn., this spring. Material to be handled by the company will come from the agriculture and horticulture industries. Some of the items to be accepted by Genesis include bale wrap, 55-gallon jugs, silage bags, bale twine and field film.

While Genesis is a new company, the company was founded by the former management team of AGSI Recycling, which initially hoped to open a plastics recycling facility in Savage, Minn.

That company ended up losing its primary financial backer in 2008, leading to the rebirth of the company as Genesis Poly Recycling late last year.

John Schmitz, president of Genesis Poly Recycling, says that they expect to have two lines – one handling rigid plastics, the other processing film processing –operational by this spring. The company expects to add a third line by next year. “We will be taking in dirty material and pelletizing the material,” Schmitz says.

The pelletized post-industrial and post-consumer plastics can be used in a host of applications, exempting products that are used in the medical field and would be in direct contact with food.

The company is working with the city of Mankato to take over a building formerly used by Spartech Plastics. According to published reports, the city of Mankato purchased the building and will be leasing part of the facility to Genesis Poly Recycling.

The company will be taking over roughly 100,000 square feet of space, and is looking at adding another 50,000 square feet next year.

The company also is receiving financing assistance from federal, state and local government agencies. The United States Department of Agriculture provided around $7.4 million in loan assistance guarantee for the company’s start up through USDA’s Rural Development's Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program. The state of Minnesota provided around $500,000 for the start up, while the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency provided $100,000.

While the company expects to start its operation by this spring, the company presently is unloading 25 truckloads of equipment for the operation, Schmitz adds.

Schmitz says that the company hopes to process around 40 million pounds of plastics this year, and increasing that total to between 80-90 million pounds next year when the third line is opened. It will be bringing in its scrap plastics from sources throughout the country.