Plastics Recycling

What Plastics Recycling does

Plastic Recycling, Inc. (PRI) is a privately held, family-owned plastics recycler and custom compounder founded in 1988 by Alan Shaw and headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The company produces recycled polypropylene, polyethylene, and styrenics resin compounds sourced from post-production waste, post-consumer materials, out-of-use vehicles (ELVs), and electronic waste (WEEE). It serves industrial manufacturers requiring consistent-quality recycled resin grades for specific parts and applications, operating what it describes as one of the largest U.S. recycling footprints at approximately one million square feet across facilities in Indiana, Tennessee, and South Carolina.

PRI's operational capabilities span the full recycling-to-compounding value chain: shredding and grinding, polymer separation, wash line processing, color sorting, extrusion and compounding, and in-house lab testing, with all feedstocks tested before, during, and after compounding. The company maintains a $2 million Innovation Center (announced 2024) for developing high-performance materials, an on-site training center, and custom brokerage services that move materials throughout North America with specialized freight and packaging. Production is organized around custom compounding for specific customer specifications rather than standardized commodity grades.

The business model is B2B enterprise sales with quote-based pricing and multi-year contracts. Revenue is generated from three streams: recycled resin product sales, custom compounding and technical services (toll grinding, pelletizing, material separation, refining, finished products manufacturing), and custom brokerage/transaction fees on material movement. The company is not publicly listed, has no disclosed institutional investment, and remains founder-controlled, with horizontal segmentation focused on industrial manufacturers as its primary customer segment.

Name

Plastics Recycling

Legal name

Plastic Recycling, Inc.

Website

https://plastic-recycling.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Plastic Recycling, Inc. is a family-owned Indianapolis-based manufacturer of recycled polypropylene, polyethylene, and styrenics resin compounds for U.S. industrial manufacturers. The company operates approximately one million square feet of recycling and compounding facilities across Indiana, Tennessee, and South Carolina, serving customers since 1988.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Recycled Plastics Manufacturing

NAICS

Plastics Material and Resin Manufacturing (325211), All Other Plastics Product Manufacturing (326199), Resin and Synthetic Rubber Manufacturing (32521)

SIC

Plastic Materials, Synth Resins & Nonvulcan Elastomers (2821), Plastics Products, Nec (3089)

akta.pro primary industry

Recycled & Reprocessed Polymer Resin Manufacturing (rPET, rPP, rPE; PCR/PIR resins) (IMANAAAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Recycled Plastic Compounds (PCR/PIR) (IMANABAE), Reprocessed Resin & Recycled Polymer Compounding (PCR/PIR Compounds) (IMANAMAG), Mechanical Recycling (Wash, Grind, Pelletize) (EUAIAKAB)

Keywords

• Recycled resin compounds
• Custom plastic compounding
• Polypropylene recycling
• Polyethylene compounding
• Post-consumer plastic recycling

Headquarters

HQ city

Indianapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Recycled Resin Sales: Production and sale of polypropylene, polyethylene and styrenics resin compounds using recycled raw materials. Products are customized to customer specifications for specific parts and applications.
2. Custom Compounding Services: Custom compounding, toll grinding, pelletizing, material separation, materials refining and manufacturing finished products, along with various other technical services.
3. Custom Brokerage Services: Moving specific materials throughout North America, along with specialized freight and packaging options.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Plastic Recycling, Inc. produces polypropylene, polyethylene, and styrenics resin compounds from recycled raw materials, including post-production waste, post-consumer materials, End-of-Life Vehicles (ELVs), and Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE). The company offers custom compounding, toll grinding, pelletizing, material separation, materials refining, and finished-product manufacturing services, along with custom brokerage for material movement throughout North America.

Product overview

Plastic Recycling Inc. operates as a world-wide leader in plastics recycling, offering a comprehensive suite of services organized around custom compounding and material processing. The core offering consists of custom compounding, toll grinding, pelletizing, material separation, materials refining, and finished products manufacturing—all working together to transform recycled plastics into high-quality resin compounds. The company produces three main product lines: recycled polypropylene, polyethylene, and styrenics resin compounds. Supporting services include custom brokerage for material movement throughout North America, specialized freight, and packaging options. Production facilities are equipped with extrusion/compounding, shredding and grinding, wash line, full-service lab, and color sorting capabilities. Raw materials are sourced from post-production waste, post-consumer consumption, Out-of-Use Vehicles (ELVs), and Electronic Recycling (WEEE), enabling the company to develop specific grades of material with consistent quality across finished goods.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Recycled Polypropylene Resins Polypropylene resin compounds produced from recycled raw materials, custom-formulated for specific parts and manufacturing applications.
• Recycled Polyethylene Resins Polyethylene resin compounds manufactured from post-production waste, post-consumer materials, and electronic recycling sources for industrial buyers.
• Recycled Styrenics Resins Styrenics resin compounds produced using recycled raw materials as a resin base, supplied for industrial applications.
• Custom Compounding Services Tailors plastic materials to specific customer requirements, with feedstock testing before, during, and after compounding across various polymers, colors, and blends. Includes extrusion and compounding, toll grinding, pelletizing, material separation, refining, and finished-product manufacturing as part of the custom compounding offering.
• Custom Brokerage Services Brokerage services that move specific materials throughout North America, with specialized freight and packaging options tailored to customer needs.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Indiana FAMECentral Indiana ChapterminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerThe Indiana Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education (INFAME) connects area students with employer partners. PRI sponsors students to pursue two-year technology degrees with paid work experience and on-the-job mentorship. Students work part-time while balancing work/study schedule.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Direct peers

• KW Plastics: KW Plastics is one of the largest plastics recyclers in North America, producing recycled PP, PE, and other polyolefin compounds from post-consumer and post-industrial scrap — a near-exact comparable to PRI's custom compounding model.
• Custom Resins: Custom Resins (formerly Custom Polymers) manufactures custom-compounded recycled polyolefin resins, directly competing with PRI on toll compounding and recycled PP/PE compounds for industrial customers.
• MBA Polymers: MBA Polymers recovers and compounds engineering plastics (ABS, PC, PP, HIPS) from end-of-life durable goods including WEEE and ELVs — directly comparable to PRI's WEEE/ELV feedstock and styrenics compounding activity.
• CarbonLite: CarbonLite is a large-scale PET and polyolefin recycler producing food-grade and industrial-grade recycled resins — comparable in scale and recycling-of-polyolefins model to PRI, though with a heavier PET focus.

Emerging players

• PureCycle Technologies: PureCycle uses a proprietary purification process to recycle polypropylene into virgin-like resin. While focused on purification rather than mechanical compounding, it competes for the same rPP demand pool that PRI serves.
• GreenMantra Technologies: GreenMantra converts recycled plastics (including polyolefins and styrenics) into specialty waxes and polymer additives — adjacent to PRI's recycled styrenics compounding and competing for similar feedstock streams.
• ReVital Polymers: ReVital Polymers (a Pyrowave/Cascades initiative) focuses on polystyrene recycling and compounding, directly comparable to PRI's recycled styrenics line and competing for similar food-service and packaging-grade rPS demand.

Broad incumbents

• Berry Global (recycled resins): Berry Global operates large PCR resin production (including assets from its Envision Plastics acquisition) and competes with PRI across recycled HDPE/PP and packaging-grade recycled compounds as part of a much broader packaging portfolio.
• Republic Services: Republic Services operates large polymer-recycling facilities and produces PCR resin from post-consumer streams. It is a broader incumbent that competes for both feedstock supply and downstream recycled-resin customers that PRI serves.
• Waste Management: Waste Management runs the largest U.S. network of recycling facilities and increasingly produces and sells PCR resins, representing a scaled incumbent that competes with PRI for both feedstock bales and recycled-resin demand.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/plasticrecyclinginc/posts/?feedView=all

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Plastics Recycling