Updated Jan 2024
Evergreen, a plastics recycling and manufacturing company owned by The Sterling Group, is one of North America’s largest producers of food grade recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) thanks to millions invested in strategic acquisitions and upgrades.
From a single location in 2019, Evergreen has grown to four locations across North America: the original facility in Clyde, Ohio; Albany, New York; Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada; and Riverside, California. Evergreen Albany (formerly UltrePET) and Evergreen Amherst (formerly Novapet) were acquired from wTe Corp. in November 2021. Evergreen Riverside was acquired from CarbonLite in May 2021.
Evergreen has also completed a major expansion at Clyde, adding a 54,000-square-foot building to its existing 238,000-square-foot facility. The addition will house four high-volume, food grade rPET manufacturing lines. When completed in 2022, Evergreen’s annual rPET capacity will swell to 217 million pounds.
Evergreen Chief Operating Officer Greg Johnson says the company is focused on expansion, modernization, building its workforce, expanding plastics recycling rates, and converting more companies to recycled PET from virgin resin. “We’ve been in this business for more than two decades and are excited to take a leadership role in its transformation. Evergreen has the expertise to help customers close the loop on PET plastic. Now, with our strategic acquisitions, expansion at Clyde and collaborative industry partnerships with American Beverage and others, we have the network and volume to really make an impact.”
“America’s beverage companies are carefully designing our bottles to be 100 recyclable and we want them all back so they can be remade into new bottles, as intended” said Megan Daum, American Beverage’s Vice President of Sustainability. “Increasing the use of post-consumer recycled material in our bottles is a top priority of our industry which is why we’re making critical investments in recycling infrastructure, like we have done with Evergreen. Public-private partnerships like these are essential in driving solutions to close the loop on our bottles and reduce the use of new plastic.”
About Evergreen
Established in 1998 with a single location in Clyde, Ohio, Evergreen is a recycling company and one of North America’s largest producers of food grade recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET), a recycled resin used as a green alternative to virgin resin in beverage bottles, food containers, health and beauty packaging, home products, and others. In 2021, Evergreen acquired three additional locations in Albany, New York; Amherst, Nova Scotia; and Riverside, California; and deployed AI-enabled robotics to transform its recycling practices. Evergreen is the preferred supplier of rPET to top global brands, helping customers increase recycled content in their packaging, keep plastic out of landfills and oceans, and meet sustainability and ESG goals. Evergreen is a proud member of the American Beverage Association, NAPCOR and the Association of Plastic Recyclers. Visit www.Evergreentogether.com
About American Beverage
American Beverage (AB) is the national trade organization representing the broad spectrum of companies that manufacture and distribute non-alcoholic beverages in the United States. Spearheaded by AB, America’s leading beverage companies, including The Coca-Cola Company, Keurig Dr Pepper and PepsiCo, launched the Every Bottle Back initiative to reduce the industry’s plastic footprint by ensuring its 100 percent recyclable bottles are collected so they can be remade into new ones and not end up as waste in oceans, rivers or landfills. To date, Every Bottle Back has committed $14.3 million in recycling grants to 22 communities, including Evergreen’s Clyde, Ohio facility, that are projected to generate 698 million more pounds of PET over ten years. For more information on the beverage industry’s work to get Every Bottle Back, visit www.everybottleback.org