Plastic Fantastic: Recycled Products Yield Jobs and Profits for Freudenberg

As the most visible evidence of a society in which nearly everything is disposable -- except income -- plastic has been vilified. However, one company which recycles enough plastic annually to wrap around the world several times is generating jobs, profits, and good will with its innovative product lines.

Weinheim, Germany-based Freudenberg & Co. Limited — a family owned business with global reach — reports that it has been able to add a total of nearly 100 jobs at several of its U.S. manufacturing divisions as a result of new contracts for the products it makes from recycled plastic.

"As customers demand more and more green products, Freudenberg is driving the innovative development and production of things people and businesses use everyday — all made from recycled plastic," said Leesa Smith, president of the Freudenberg North America Limited Partnership and a member of the company's Global Executive Team, noting, "Our green practices are reflected in the buildings we work in, our daily actions and in the way we manufacture products. This has enabled us to expand our workforce in key areas, and we expect the uptick in business to continue."

Freudenberg’s North America Limited Partnership operates 15 businesses. Together, these companies provide products and solutions to customers in industries ranging from automotive to aerospace, medical to chemical, oil to gas, and construction.

Freudenberg Nonwovens, headquartered in Durham, North Carolina uses millions of pounds of 100 percent post-consumer and post-industrial recycled plastic a year to make environmentally sustainable materials for building and construction substrates; landscaping; and wallpaper; as well as carpet backings, filtration devices, and automotive floor mats and carpeting. Over the past 12 months, the Nonwovens division has resumed operation of its recycled polyester fiber line, hired about 30 employees, and seen commercial demand intensify for its Lutradur and Lutradur ECO recycled plastic molded automobile carpets.

The Freudenberg-Vitech Limited Partnership — a strategic alliance between Freudenberg Nonwovens and the Tokyo-based Japan Vilene Group — also produces nonwoven automotive components made from 100 percent post-consumer recycled material. Its manufacturing plant in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, turns out automotive headliners, sun visors, seat backs, and packaging trays made from 100 percent post-consumer PET bottle scrap. The partnership has landed important industry contracts and increased its workforce by 30 percent during the past year by developing new technology (and manufacturing methods) that improve the appearance of today's automotive interiors.

Freudenberg Household Products, headquartered in a LEED-certified building in Aurora, Illinois, manufactures household and institutional cleaning products. Earlier this year, the company established a joint venture in Aurora with the private, Valencia, Spain-based firm, SP Berner Plastics Group S.L, to consolidate production of recycled mop and broom components, such as handles and bristles. FHP-Berner is hiring more than 50 employees to run the new operations, which were previously based in other global production locations.

Finally, Freudenberg Texbond, with headquarters in Macon, Georgia. recycles more than one million plastic drink bottles a day in production of its nonwoven roofing membrane and building materials. It provides solutions to meet soundproofing, waterproofing, and thermal insulation challenges for the construction industry, while helping customers meet green purchasing initiatives.

"By finding new, innovative uses for recycled bottles, we are keeping them out of landfills and setting an example as responsible stewards of the environment," said Smith. "In fact, Freudenberg recycles more than 377 million plastic drink bottles each year for these innovations — enough that, if laid end-to-end, they would reach around the world more than two-and-a-half times."