Plastics

The Plastics Division of wTe is located in Albany, New York. The Division operates under the name UltrePET LLC, and is a partnership between wTe Corporation and TOMRA of North America, Inc., based in Shelton, Connecticut. TOMRA of North America is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tomra Systems ASA, based in Asker, Norway. TOMRA is a worldwide provider of cutting-edge solutions for optimal resource productivity within two main business areas:  Collection Solutions (reverse vending, material handling and compaction industries), and Sorting Solutions (recycling, mining and food processing industries).

UltrePET LLC is a leading national recycler of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic resins. PET is the principal resin used in the manufacture of clear or green soda bottles, and bottles used in a variety of other beverages. UltrePET receives as raw material mixed color PET bales, shredded PET or dirty ground PET and converts these feedstocks into finished resins sold in competition with virgin PET for use in bottle, sheet, engineered resin, and strapping applications.

In 2005, UltrePET LLC entered into a comprehensive licensing agreement with Wellman, Inc., to acquire all of Wellman’s past, present, and future FDA approved technologies for using post-consumer PET resin in food bottle applications. This agreement has accelerated UltrePET’s entry into the FDA bottle market, where UltrePET is now a leading supplier in North America.

In January of 2006, UltrePET acquired Novapet, Inc., a Canadian recycler of PET and High Density Polyethylene Resins (HDPE).  This acquisition expands UltrePET’s supply infrastructure to include the Atlantic provinces of Canada and provides the Company with long-term access to the supply of post-consumer PET containers in Canada. The Novapet deal also brings with it exciting recycling opportunities outside of the traditional PET business as well as new technologies which can be used to further differentiate UltrePET in the PET recycling business.

In 2008, UltrePET completed the addition of a state-of-the-art, $3 million extrusion line adding significant production capacity for PET resins.

What We Do
UltrePET buys used PET beverage bottles, either in bales, shredded, or ground forms, and, after processing, sells PET as FDA or non-FDA approved clean flake, resin, and solid state resin.