Arlington-based recycled cup manufacturer auctions assets

SPOKANE (Scrap Monster): An auction was held to sell the assets of Arlington, Wash.-based recycled cup manufacturer, MicroGreen Polymers that had abruptly closed its doors in April this year. The auction was held on Sep 30^th by the Branford Group, of Branford, Conn, for the benefit of its secured lenders.

Founded in 2002, the company had managed to garner at least $40 million in outsider investments to boost the production of its ‘InCycle’ cups. The company had made an investment of $10 million during late March 2014, which was intended to raise the company’s cup production capacity by at least five times. However, the higher cost of production of the cups made the business unprofitable.

The business had failed to turn into profit even after operating for long period, industry sources said. It must be noted that the company had once employed over 100 people and the insulated disposable cups which contained 50% recycled PET were used by various airlines including Virgin Airlines, United Airlines and Alaska Airlines.

The creditors include the Stillaguamish Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde in Oregon and the Waste Management. Oregon’s Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde is the biggest creditor with about $18 million. According to court ruling the company also owes $770,000 in unpaid fees and expenses to KeyBanc Capital Assets.

The auction involved assets including the nearly new thermoforming and extrusion lines, printing and packaging, plastic support and much more. The intellectual property, tooling packaging and mold was also available for sale. However, the sale did not include land and building.