Ontario-based plastics recycler closes its doors; nearly 160 jobs at risk

TORONTO (Scrap Monster): Entropex-a Sarnia, Ontario-based plastics recycling company has decided to cease its manufacturing operations. The company press release stated that the bankers had approached the Court seeking appointment of receiver to take over the company management. Accordingly, MNP Ltd. has been appointed as receiver for Entropex. The decision to close down is feared to affect nearly 160 employees. The company cited difficult market conditions for the closure.

Media reports suggest that the company has been struggling to meet the financial obligations for quite a few months. The declining oil prices and fierce market competition have made it difficult for the company to sustain in difficult times. Despite of implementing several cost-cutting measures, the cost of operation has continued to remain above affordable levels, the company noted. The company press release declined to make any comment on whether the facility will reopen and if so by when, as all such decisions have to be taken by the court-appointed receiver.

Entropex has terminated most of its employees. A few employees has been kept around to deal with accounting issues and packaging jobs, MNP Ltd London office noted. Also, MNP Ltd. said that it is on the lookout for a buyer who is willing to reopen the facility located on Lougar Street in Sarnia. It added that the process to market and sell the company to a potential buyer may take at least 1-1.5 months, as any offer recommended by the receiver needs court approval. Robin Smith with the London office of MNP Ltd expressed the hope that it could be able to find a potential buyer so as to resurrect the company at the earliest.

The company had been a pioneer in plastic recycling for many years. The RigidReclaim technology developed by the company had integrated plastics sorting, cleaning and processing to enable recovery of all seven grades of plastic, including non-bottle plastic containers. It resulted in recovery of several categories of plastics which were not typically recycled by using conventional methods. The technological innovation had created a dramatic impact by increasing Ontario’s plastics materials recovery rate by more than 30%. The company was honored by the American Chemistry Council (ACC) as one of the three companies to receive the 2013 Innovation in Plastics Recycling award. The technology had also won the 2013 Gold award for excellence in waste reduction from the Recyclign Council of Ontario (RCO).

Earlier in 2013, the Entropex partners were fined $410,000 after a worker was pinned against a nearby forklift. The OSHA inspection had revealed that the baler equipment was not properly guarded to prevent worker access. Also, the company had failed to provide adequate instruction and information to protect workers around the baler.

Entropex is a privately owned Canadian Company involved in the reprocessing of post industrial and post consumer plastics. Since 1978, Entropex has been a leader in the development of market specific recycled plastics for a variety of consumer and industrial applications. The company’s plastic recovery facility and warehouse complex at Sarnia is spread over 180,000 square feet. Entropex was once ranked the 8th largest post consumer recycler and the 18th largest Plastic Recycler in North America.