Hilex Poly to Expand Recycling Capacity

Hartsville, S.C-based Hilex Poly, a leading manufacturer of plastic bag and film products, has announced that it plans to double recycling capacity at its North Vernon, Ind., plant. When the project is complete, the company will be able to recycle 100 million pounds of material annually across its facilities, according to the company's public relations representative.

Hilex launched the Bag-2-Bag closed-loop recycling program in 2004. Today, Helix Poly has 30,000 recycling bins in grocery stores across the U.S. In partnership with retail and grocery stores, Hilex provides an avenue for consumers to return used plastic bags and other household film for recycling through at-store collection bins. Using reverse distribution, the material is transported back to distribution centers for baling before being shipped back to the company’s Indiana plant for processing.

“As Hilex focuses on developing products that utilize more recycled content, we ask the public to continue to reuse their free plastic bags, recycle those that are not reused and support retailers that use recycled content bags—a proven enhanced alternative to recycled paper and virgin plastic bags,” says Stan Bikulege, CEO of Hilex Poly.

Bikulege says the company’s expansion plans will move Hilex Poly closer to its voluntary initiative to manufacture plastic bags with 40 percent recycled content.

“The expansion of the recycling facility is a direct result of the tremendous growth of plastic bags and wraps being returned to participating retailers for recycling,” says Mark Daniels, vice president of marketing and environmental affairs at Hilex Poly.