Somerset Recycling Adds Equipment to Plastics Recycling Line

The plastics and paper recycling company Somerset Recycling, headquartered in Somerset, Ky., has added new equipment that will allow it to move from just grinding plastic scrap to performing more pelletizing of plastics. At the same time, the company says that the new equipment should increase its capacity by between 8 million to 10 million pounds per year.

Alan Keck, vice president of Somerset, says that the company handles a range of plastic scrap grades such as LDPE (low-density polyethylene), polyethylene and polyolefins. However, the company is looking to focus more aggressively on its polypropylene plastics. The company receives plastics primarily from postindustrial and postcommercial sources. Keck says the company avoids much of the material recovery facility- (MRF-) generated plastics that have resulted in significant quality problems for many plastics recyclers.

Prior to the installation of the new equipment, which was completed during the second quarter of this year, the company was densifying the plastic scrap. Now, the company will more aggressively target pelletized polypropylene.

In addition to plastics, the company, which was founded in the early 1980s, also handles recovered fiber, primarily old corrugated containers (OCC). Keck says when the company first began, it was exclusively a paper recycling facility. But, as the markets shifted the company started to more aggressively focus on plastic scrap markets.