Myplas opens recycling plant in USA
MYPLAS, Cape Town-based multi-material recycler, has started an operation in Minnesota, USA, where it is recycling shrink wrap films used to protect boats during winter.
Myplas USA has been setting up its $24-million recycling plant in Rogers, Minnesota, over the past year. As many as 270 jobs could be created once the project is fully operational.
You’d be forgiven if you don’t know where Minnesota is, but it borders on the Great Lakes region in the northern part of the USA, close to the Canadian border. One of the features of this area is the many sailing craft that operate on the lakes. Each spring, which it is now in the northern hemisphere, shrink wrap films used to protect the boats during winter are removed from the craft and up till now this material has been sent to landfill.
Now Johann Conradie and the Myplas team, armed with quite considerable experience gained in operating in the challenging South African recycling industry, is piloting the programme in Chicago and Lake County to recycle this material. It is doing this in cooperation with the Council of the Great Lakes region and other partners. The films are collected from participating marinas around the lakes for recycling, and the plus for Conradie and company is that the film material is mainly clean (not recovered from landfill) which makes the operation far easier.
Myplas USA recently celebrated the first anniversary of its establishment. Along the way the company has also attracted investment from local businesses, including $5-million from Closed Loop Partners, which assisted it in the rollout.
