Operations in recycling, injection molding, blow molding, extrusion (film, sheet and tube), compounding and more were highlighted in plant tour articles that took our readers inside some of the leading plastics processors in the U.S. From shops serving medical and packaging to automotive and consumer goods, read how your cohorts tackle today’s challenges.
Plastics Technology’s editors traveled all over the U.S. into all kinds of plastics processing operations to bring you ‘On Site’ in 2025.
Source: Plastics Technology
January
Company: Elite Precision Plastics/Elite Biomedical Solutions, Cincinnati, Ohio
Square feet: 34,000 ft2
Employees: 64
Production: Injection molding and assembly of contract and private label products for healthcare organizations
Quotable: “There were no third-party companies out there providing replacement parts besides the OEM, and that’s what Elite Biomedical is all about: offering a different solution,” says Justin Heileman, chief strategy officer. “One thing we can provide is the same quality, if not better, but at a discount rate. It’s kind of like an aftermarket part for your car. Instead of going to Ford or Chevy or Toyota, you’re going to look online and get the same part, but at a lower cost.”
February
Company: Kent Elastomer Products (Mogadore, Ohio site)
Square feet: 25,000 ft2
Employees: 12 (operators)
Production: Flexible PVC and TPE tubing for applications in medical/surgical, food and beverage, and most recently biopharmaceutical
Quotable: “We might be smaller than many of our competitors, but we think we are more proactive, and more solution focused,” says Greg Graham, senior director extrusion operations. “We’re big on collaboration; it’s not just about churning out pounds. We have a lot of people coming to us with product ideas where they need prototypes. We turn around prototypes faster than any other place I’ve worked. We like pushing the envelope, and our customers get a sense of that right away; and when we get it right, the customer sticks with us. Half the time, in fact, we’re coaching the customer on the next step they might need to take in product development.”
March
Company: Direct Polymers, Denver, Colorado
Production: 100 million lb/yr recycling capacity
Quotable: “We have to build better efficiencies on the front end by expanding this hub-and-spoke model to use more infrastructure that is close to the generation points for the scrap,” says Adam Hill, CEO and founder. “Small business owners tend to be salespeople, advertising specialists, insurance agents — they do everything themselves, and so there’s a lot of inefficiency in that.”
April
Company: PTI Tech, Clifton, New Jersey
Space: 100,000-ft2
Employees: 90
Production: Precision polymer, medical and ceramic injection molding and moldmaking
Quotable: “We excel in tough material applications. We excel in guiding the customer through the material selection process. If there’s a material out there, no matter how difficult, we’ve probably molded it,” says Neal Goldenberg, president. “It’s an even better situation for us and the customer if we are brought in early in the process.”
May
Company: Midwest Precision Molding (MPM), Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
Square feet: 60,000-ft2
Employees: 50
Production: Injection molding, extrusion and moldmaking capabilities
Quotable: “With the equipment we’ve added, we want to be steadily growing, if we can, and without driving everybody crazy,” says Larry Austin, owner. “A lot of us have been through that, and it’s not fun. I’d much rather have a pizza party on Friday and keep growing and getting work done, than be stressed and having to figure out who’s running your third shift.”
June
Company: AGS Technology, Batavia, Illinois
Square feet: 100,000-ft2-plus
Production: Functional plastic molded products in automotive and heavy equipment applications using reprocessed engineering materials
Quotable: “It seems like everyone wants to use recycled, but as you get closer, there are more people in the decision tree, and it only takes one to kill it. When they see the on-time deliveries and that the PPMs are nearly perfect, they really seem to get it,” says Steve Racelis, commercial manager. “We know you’re nervous about 100% [recycled content], we know you’ve been told to stop doing 0%, let us help you in between. This is possible, we have been doing it for 30 years.”
July
Company: Sabert Corp./Nuvida, Sayreville, New Jersey
Square feet: 500,000-ft2 (Sabert facility in Sayreville)
Employees: 2,000 (globally)
Production: Rigid food packaging and polyolefin recycling
Quotable: “As a sustainability leader with a longstanding commitment to environmental stewardship, we recognize that sustainability is an evolving journey and consumers and our partners are progressing at different stages along the way,” says Richa Desai, chief sustainability and strategy officer. “We’re on this journey, too, and while we’ve made significant progress, we continue to learn and adapt, using these insights to invest in infrastructure, research and development, and breakthrough initiatives to get better.”
August
Company: Ring Container Technologies, Fontana, California
Employees: 28
Production: Extrusion blow molded rigid containers, including food-contact packaging
Quotable: Brian Smith, Ring’s president and CEO, admits that after that first mid-aughts’ wave, a lot of the sustainability hubbub “quieted down,” but not for Ring and not in Fontana. “Fontana just kept on doing everything,” Smith says. “When sustainability interest came back around, including EcoVadis, a lot of these systems were already in place; the culture was here.”
November
Company: Caplugs, Buffalo, New York
Square feet: 200,000-ft2
Employees: 400
Production: Injection molded, extruded and dip molded protective products
Quotable: “Our inventory levels are key to this business and our on-time delivery,” says Craig Brown, SVP global operations and engineering. “We have a limited number of molding machines that we have to cycle thousands of SKUs through, so it’s that math equation of how much inventory do we need to hold and when do we need to start remaking it before we run out of product and affect our customers.” As a make-to-stock business, Caplugs uses the ERP to set safety stock levels based on historical demand, which “is why we can maintain 97% on-time delivery and ship today or tomorrow almost every time,” Brown says.
December
Company: KW Plastics, Troy, Alabama
Production: Recycled polyolefins and injection molded pails
Quotable: Altogether, KW Plastics recycles approximately 500 million pounds of PP and HDPE per year. Making this operational scale work in a city the size of Troy (pop. 17,774), nearly 200 miles from Atlanta, requires self-sufficiency, infrastructure and a workforce with a diversity of skills. KW’s employees cover roles you would expect at a recycler — logistics, sales, acquisition, quality — but also welders, plumbers, electricians and other skilled tradespeople needed to keep the operation running.