Wilmington, NC: What began in 2004 as one warehouse to store and ship resins to customers grew into a world class manufacturing facility to process recycled plastics for the industry.
“We are a resin distributor and were in need of our own storage and logistical hub to service our customers and suppliers. Given it’s advantaged location and depth of labor force, Darlington was the logical location for us to establish this facility” explains John Marinelli, CEO of PolyQuest. Over the course of the last 15 years, PolyQuest has spent greater than $30 million on 6 separate buildings with 345,000 square feet under roof and 210 million pounds of plastic processing. Mr. Marinelli goes on to say “Our customers were in need of a solution for the plant scrap they generate within their own facilities. Simply landfilling this scrap or shipping it out of the country was not a sustainable way to deal with these by products. So we helped create a process to turn their plant waste into a product that they could reintroduce back into their process with great success”. The Darlington facility has the ability to shred, granulate, screen, extrude, pelletize, crystalize and IV enhance plastic in both post industrial and post consumer forms. “When we added a post consumer recycled PET resin to our portfolio of products, our value added position to our customer base was greatly enhanced” says Ryan Nettles, Vice President of Operations for PolyQuest. “Brand owners and plastic converters are in need of recycled content for their products and we help deliver a very high quality, food contact approved resin to meet their requirements”. The recycled plastics made in Darlington are shipped to the converter, then turned back into a variety of new products including beverage and personal care bottles, cups, fiber for automotive parts and film for food packaging. PolyQuest has also established a state of the art laboratory to test the products manufactured at the location to insure they meet the technical specifications of their customers. The site gained ISO 9001 and 14001 certification in 2015.
The number of PolyQuest employees in Darlington has grown to just under 100 and the company relies on people from the local community as well as surrounding areas to make up a very skilled and dedicated work force. Mr. Nettles elaborates “We have invested heavily in world class technology, manufacturing equipment and processes that have greatly contributed to our success. But in the end, our greatest asset is our employees and the commitment they bring with them to work every day to generate value for our customers and suppliers.
