IntegriCo is making composite railway products using plastics that are difficult to recycle.
IntegriCo compression moulded railway sleepers, also called sleepers, are made from a proprietary blend of recycled plastics
In the summer of 2015, I reported that IntegriCo Composites had just moved from Texas to a new 170,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Springhill, Webster Parish, Louisiana, which would more than triple the company’s production capacity. And there is room for further development to expand its 10-acre site. Now, the company has stepped up its efforts to use hard-to-recycle plastics that China has not accepted since the January 2018 ban, and use its patents and unique manufacturing processes to produce its iconic composite railway products, such as railway sleepers and composite level crossings. . .
IntegriCo compression-molded railway sleepers, also called sleepers, use a proprietary blend of recycled plastics. Matt McCooe, the company's vice president of sales and marketing, told me that the company is the largest of only three companies in the country that use post-consumer plastics to make railway sleepers. He also pointed out that IntegriCo is the only company that manufactures rail sleepers through compression molding and extrusion, and produces them through its proprietary compounding and mixing processes. This process allows the company to compound without heating the material to its melting point. McCooe has stated that they can accept some of the dirtiest materials that others cannot handle because their processes can use much lower temperatures.
The company's expansion then and now is largely driven by strong demand for rail freight-it is expected to double by 2035. Similarly, most ties are still made of wood and require extensive maintenance, frequent replacement and chemicals to prevent rot.
Brian Gaughan, IntegriCo’s Vice President of Business Development, said: “IntegriCo is proud to be able to transfer more than 80 million pounds of plastic from landfills. This plastic has been transformed into our composite products through IntegriCo’s innovative technology, including IntegriTies railway sleepers and Building mats... IntegriCo is just a closed-loop company that prevents plastic waste by converting recycled plastics into durable new materials... As cities strive to find recycling solutions, our goal is to continuously increase the production of composite materials , So this plastic will not enter the landfill, or worse, our oceans."
Given that most manufacturers using recycled plastics are looking for PET and HDPE (including plastic bottles and water bottles), IntegriCo is a US-based company that will accept more challenging plastics with resin identification numbers 3 to 7, as well as blends Hard plastics such as buckets, laundry baskets and crates. In addition, IntegriCo's low-temperature process has been proven to maintain the characteristics of plastics while releasing less fumes, and its final product has a longer service life than alternatives, and generates less waste over time.
Current IntegriCo customers include Union Pacific Railroad, the U.S. military, Rock Island Arsenal, and ongoing international freight transport to support infrastructure in Germany and Russia.
With the end of the third quarter, the prices of almost all batches of resin are rising or moving in this direction. But future prices will remain flat or even lower.
AGS Technology Inc., based in Schaumburg, Illinois, was founded in 1995 with a simple idea: to become a low-cost custom injection molding company for auto parts by using recycled plastic formulated in accordance with strict quality standards.
Through a 50-50 joint venture with South Korea's SK Global Chemical, SABIC provides POE/POP products for polymer modification and film applications.
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