Proving that used automotive batteries had value
Beyond batteries
In 1986, five years after KW Plastics of Troy was established, the company opened a second facility in Bakersfield, California.
“After opening our West Coast facility and proving that used automotive batteries had value, we quickly captured over 80 percent of the market share,” Baker says.
However, the company understood that it would have to diversify its operations to grow, she says. “HDPE seemed to be a growing stream in curbside recycling, so the owners chose to open KW Plastics Recycling Division in 1993 to recycle postconsumer HDPE.”
Baker adds, “As plastics in packaging continued to evolve in the past 20 years, we continued to make investments to further expand what we were able to process.”
In addition to HDPE bottles, KW Plastics Recycling Division now recycles HDPE bulky rigids bales (items such as laundry baskets, large totes and 5-gallon buckets), postconsumer PP bales (a mix of household bottles, cups, caps, tubs and lids) and postconsumer and postindustrial flexible PP (bulk bags, Super Sacks, woven and nonwoven fiber).