Dive Brief:

• Recycling executives Emmie Leung and Tony Moucachen have purchased the closed Entropex LLC recycling facility in Sarnia, Ontario for an undisclosed sum, as reported by Plastics News.
• Entropex used to process 175 million pounds of plastics per year but ran into financial issues due to low commodity prices. The company closed in July and was put up for sale by a court-appointed receiver.
• The new partners plan to reopen the facility in stages and change the company's name.

Dive Insight:

Moucachen is the founder and CEO of Merlin Plastics Group and Leung founded Emterra Group, so the two bring a wealth of experience from Canadian and northern U.S. recycling markets. Commodity prices for plastic haven't become significantly more favorable since Entropex closed, but the two plan to take a different approach.

"Our aim will be to create products that help our customers — producers and brand owners — achieve the best possible environmental outcomes that result in cost-efficient end-of-life product management," said Moucachen in a press release, as reported by Plastics News.

This seems to line up with circular economy ideas that have been gaining traction, particularly around plastic, due to work by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and other groups. The material's environmental costs have been debated, and even held up as lower than expected in one widely discussed study, but capturing and processing it is still a challenge with some products. 

The Association of Plastic Recyclers and other groups have been working to promote design guidelines and encourage more communication with manufacturers to help ensure more products can actually be recycled once they're collected. If this new facility can make a business model that focuses more on end-of-life management work, it could serve as an example for others looking to do the same.