Phoenix Technologies closes Ohio rPET facility

Phoenix Technologies International LLC (PTI), a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) reclaimer located in Bowling Green, Ohio, has closed.

In a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filed Nov. 19, the company notes the closure of its facility at 501 E. Poe Rd. Nov. 20, resulting in seven layoffs. PTI also operates out of 1098 Fairview Ave. in Bowling Green but did not list the address in the filing.

In the notice, PTI, which is owned by Taiwan-based parent company Far Eastern New Century Corp. (FENC), says it took measures to avoid the closure, including cost reductions with suppliers and vendors, negotiating better pricing and reducing expenses and overhead costs.

On its website, FENC, a global supplier of recycled and virgin PET, lists PTI as its third operational recycled PET (rPET) base in the United States, adding that the company manufactures “clean, consistent, high-grade rPET resin pellets from postconsumer recycled plastic shipped from all over the world.” FENC claims PTI’s production capacity ranks in the top three in the U.S.

In late 2022, PTI announced an expansion of its food-grade rPET capacity at its Bowling Green plant with the addition of new extrusion equipment to produce pellets. FENC, which purchased PTI in 2019, aided the investment.

The expansion, which was set for completion in mid-2023, would add 70,000 square feet to PTI’s existing campus and double its rPET resin capacity to 140 million pounds per year—the equivalent of processing 5 billion bottles per year.

PTI began manufacturing rPET pellets from postconsumer flake in 1992. In 2015, the company said it would begin backward integrating into flake production to give it more control over economic and quality factors.