Polymer Resources expands compounding facility in Rochester, New York

Polymer Resources Ltd., a compounder of high-quality engineering resins based in Farmington, Connecticut, has expanded and enhanced its compounding facility in Rochester, New York. The company has upgraded an existing building on its campus to support a 40 percent increase in overall compounding capacity. The updated facility also features increased grinding and shredding capacity for recycling plastic.

According to a news release, the facility’s spacious floorplan, new safety features and amenities also have been designed to provide a more comfortable and efficient work environment for employees. The company says it plans to grow its employee base by double digits in the coming years.

“The expansion of our Rochester facility is strategic to the robust growth of our compounding capabilities and the expansion of our sustainability initiatives, both of which are increasingly important to customers,” says Scott Anderson, president and chief operating officer of Polymer Resources. “In addition to continuing to address customer requirements for scalable, reliable resin supply, short lead times and exceptional quality, the updated facility will help us advance sustainability through plastic waste collection and recycling. We are committed to helping our customers reach their production and sustainability goals, as well as meeting our own sustainability goals, and this new facility positions us to achieve those objectives.”

Polymer Resources expanded its facility from 35,000 square feet to 60,000 square feet and the company says the expansion offers more space for compounding and grinding operations, storage, a laboratory and offices. The Rochester site also offers Polymer Resources an opportunity to add onto the building—a total of 100,000 square feet—in the future.

To boost compounding capacity, Polymer Resources has installed a new production line with a twin-screw extruder for faster throughput and advanced capabilities. This new equipment increases capacity by 40 percent and helps enable the efficient production of new and existing products. The facility now also features a soundproofed room for grinding and shredding postindustrial and postconsumer plastic for use in Polymer Resources’ sustainable resin grades. The grinding operation uses material from both the Rochester and Farmington sites as well as from customers and vendors for recycling. The company says this initiative helps to divert plastic from landfills and oceans. Several end-use agreements between Polymer Resources and its customers are in place to ensure known, reliable sources of recycled content for the company’s sustainable materials portfolio.

Polymer Resources designed the updated facility with a powerful air filtration system, dust collection system for the grinding operation and a modern break room. Additional space between machines improves workers’ physical safety as they move around the production floor.

The Rochester plant compounds a variety of engineering resins, including polyphenylene ether and polystyrene blends as well as various grades of polycarbonate (PC), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), PC/ABS and PBT blends. The facility focuses on supplying large amounts of material, including full and partial truckloads, to customers developing applications for a variety of industries, including the electrical, industrial, noninvasive medical, consumer goods, transportation and building and construction sectors.