Dive Brief:

• At a recent Society of Plastics Engineers’ Rotational Molding Conference, Hedstrom Plastics President and CEO Jim Braeunig said rotomolded plastic dumpsters are superior to steel — no leaks, no rust, lighter weight — but the waste industry is hesitant to make the switch.
• With persistence, Hedstrom is beginning to see growth. The company generated $1 million in its first year of sales and is planning for $3.5 million this year. That number is estimated to reach $7 million to $10 million within five years.
• The main challenge is that steel prices are still much lower than high density polyethylene, making traditional dumpsters cheaper to manufacture. That is expected to change if steel prices increase.

Dive Insight:

Hedstrom entered the dumpster business when it purchased Nuwave Container LLC in 2012. The company currently subcontracts rotomolding for large containers to a facility in California and is looking to expand. It currently has warehouses throughout the country. In an effort to drive up sales Hedstrom has even offered free samples and Braeunig is optimistic that his company can eventually win over the industry.

"We’ve just kept driving, kept getting into these people’s office if we could, calling. Persistence pays off," he said. "They’ve got certain mindsets, and they’re pretty hard to get them to change."

Another indication that the market for this type of product may be expanding is that other companies are finding ways to make money, too. Plastics News listed North Carolina-based Toter Inc. — which manufactures plastic carts, bins, and dumpsters — as one of the fastest growing rotational molders in 2015 with an estimated $15 million increase in sales.