PolyQuest to Expand Flagship Distribution and Recycling Center in Darlington, S.C.

A leading distributor of PET resins and manufacturer of recycled PET PolyQuest, Inc. Wilmington, N.C., has announced further significant expansion plans for its facility in Darlington, South Carolina, which has served as the company’s flagship distribution and recycling location since 2004. Completion is expected by February 2022.

Centrally located in the hub of North America’s virgin PET production with access to major railroads, railways, and coastal ports, Darlington has long provided PolyQuest the ability to generate value for their business partners regardless of their position in the PET supply chain. The facility also operates recycled plastic processing capabilities to deliver sustainable raw material solutions to their customers in every end-use application for PET.

Said PolyQuest’s president Tod Durst, “Our business continues to grow at exponential levels, both organically in virgin PET and rPET as well as via access to new resins such as polypropylene and polyethylene. With demand for our products at the highest level we have experienced in our company’s history and limited available supply, our customers are facing extended lead times which predicates that we hold higher levels of safety stock to service their needs. That factor, coupled with the continued push for recycled plastic content from brand owners and converters alike, made our expansion in Darlington a logical one.”

The expansion will include the addition of four new buildings totaling 225,000 sq.ft., two new rail spurs, enhanced material handling capabilities, and new machinery to process incremental volume of recycled PET and other thermoplastics. PolyQuest is adding 15 new jobs at the Darlington site with plans to increase.

Said Ryan Nettles, v.p. of operations for PolyQuest and the site’s leader, “We have come a very long way in the past 17 years as we systematically grew our footprint in Darlington to accommodate the company’s growth in many directions. Darlington and the surrounding areas provide us with a very robust labor force to draw from, which is critical to our sustained success.”

Nettles noted that once this expansion is complete, the Darlington facility will have 525,000 sq. ft., the capacity to hold 38 rail cars, 160 million lbs of recycled plastic processing capacity, approximately 100 employees, and over $50 million invested since 2004. “PolyQuest’s goal remains to be the value-added supplier of PET, PP, and recycled PET products to our customers and the expansion at Darlington enhances our ability to achieve that goal.”