Technological watch

A state-of-the-art facility designed to recycle flexible film, a widely used material that includes pallet wrap, shrink wrap, single-use shopping bags and some food packaging, has officially opened in Rogers, Minnesota. Myplas USA, a South Africa–based plastics recycler, opened its mechanical recycling and pelletizing plant near Minneapolis, marking a major milestone for a collaborative effort among leading global businesses to catalyze a regional circular economy for flexible films and packaging materials in the Upper Midwest.

“This is a very exciting day for Myplas as we open our U.S. headquarters and our first U.S. recycling facility in Minnesota,” said Andrew Pieterse, Myplas USA CEO. “It’s been a remarkable journey to help bring this vision to life, and we are proud to bring our expertise to this ground-breaking initiative. The ongoing commitment of our partners has been vital to bringing us to this point. We are excited for what lies ahead.”

At full capacity, the facility will recycle nearly 90 million pounds of plastic waste per year, enough to encircle the globe in pallet wrap more than 135 times. It is expected to employ nearly 200 people.

The U.S. economy use 12–15 billion pounds of flexible packaging and films every year for products ranging from pallet wrap to e-commerce mailers, boat wrap, food packaging, shrink wrap, lawn and garden bags, and hay bale wrap. However, only an estimated 5 percent of flexible films used in the U.S. is recycled each year, with the rest being landfilled, incinerated or released into the environment.