Plastipak Packaging, a leading manufacturer of rigid plastic containers for the food, beverage, and consumer products industries, today broke ground on a major expansion to its Clean Tech plastic recycling facility in Dundee, MI. The expansion makes room for the installation of additional advanced plastic recycling processing technology, and further increases the availability of ultra-clean recycled PCR PET plastic resin for Plastipak’s consumer product industry customers. With recycling capacity now in place in all of the global regions in which it operates, Plastipak expects to recycle about 5 billion plastic bottles this year. The expansion also supports Plastipak’s strategic goal of recycling 10 billion plastic bottles annually within five years. Plastipak founded Clean Tech in 1988. The site’s current expansion benefited from tax abatements approved by the Dundee Village Council and is expected to be complete later this year. It is truly a win-win-win for Plastipak, the community, and the environment.

• Plastipak benefits from additional production capacity for ultra-clean PCR PET plastic resin. This form of resin is now increasingly in demand by Plastipak’s customers because retail consumers prefer to see more recycled content in the product packaging on their local store shelves.The community benefits from additional investment and employment opportunities:
• The expansion will add as many as 100 direct jobs at the facility over the next five years based on community collection programs, plus construction jobs during the start-up phase.
• Potentially thousands of additional Michigan jobs will be created due to the expansion of the end market for recycled plastic. If investments are made to enhance local curbside and other recycling programs, studies show that increasing Michigan’s recycling rate to the regional average would create as many as 13,000 new jobs and as much as $300 million in payroll for Michigan residents.
• The environment benefits as plastic that might otherwise end up in landfills will be reused. This recycling process further enables Plastipak to reduce the company’s overall energy use and carbon footprint significantly.

  Guests who helped Plastipak and Clean Tech mark this important milestone represented both local and state government and included State Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, Dundee Village Manager Bob Hamilton, Finance Director Robin Moon, and Engineer Mick Vargas. Representatives of Plastipak’s affiliate Absopure Water Company, a strategic partner and customer of Clean Tech’s bottle collection and recycled plastic production, also attended the ceremony.