PET Processors L.L.C. (PPLLC) is a privately held company with expertise in polymer processing. PPLLC is headquartered in Northeast Ohio, the heart of the polymer belt, with access to a network of academic, manufacturing, testing and equipment experts.

“We the Employees of PET Processors make the personal commitment to understand, meet and when possible, exceed our customer’s requirements through continuous improvement to our process . . .”

PET Processors operates a facility constructed in 1937 to manufacture rayon cord for tires, hoses and belts by the Industrial Rayon Corporation. In the 1960's, the plant was expanded to include polyester batch vacuum solid state polymerization (SSP) and polyester tire yarn. Once the largest local employer, the plant was closed when acquired in 1981 by Louisiana Chemical, which began liquidating the remaining manufacturing equipment.

Amongst the equipment were a number of rotary vacuum dryers (RVD) used to batch solid state PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) plastic pellets. These dryers were originally installed in 1967 through 1972. Solid stating is a process involving heat and vacuum lasting about a day which increases the molecular weight of the plastic. This makes plastic stronger and gives it better properties for demanding applications like carbonated beverage bottles, specialty automotive plastic and telecommunications connectors.

In 1984, a PET resin manufacturer approached Louisiana Chemical with a request to process excess PET. Other requests followed and in 1986, PET Processors was created as a stand-alone business unit. In 1987, the remaining tire yarn extruders were converted to pelletize PET post-consumer recycled materials. Other equipment and capacity has been added over time to support the changing needs of our customers. Customers in the 1980's needed long runs of similar grades of PET in and out of rail cars.

In the early 1990's, the boom in clear beverage bottles began, with demand outstripping supply. PPLLC played a big part in debottlenecking SSP supply problems. Throughput was the objective, with annual output reaching a hundred million pounds per year. Improvements were made to increase total capacity, with dedicated silos for product types.

By the middle 1990's, bottle PET supplies caught up to demand but specialty plastics and engineered polymers forced ever higher standards for testing, clean outs, and process flexibility.

The late 1990's continued the trend towards engineered plastics and the highest quality processing. On any given day, as many as 15 different products can be processed. Capacity was increased again for high temperature products like LCP and HTN. The prime quality recycled market became a focus and PET Processors became one of the top ten producers servicing the recycled market in the USA. Our vacuum solid stating process has become part of FDA NOL letters issued to customers.

Finally, in the 21st century, PET Processors has boldly entered the area of specialized services for polymer producers. This includes trial batch (80 pounds) polymerization and SSP processing with associated dedusting and testing services. In 2004, we started offering scaled up production of active compounding extrusion for several different polymers.

From the lab bench to market introduction, PET Processors offers the level of quality, confidentiality and flexibility to enable customers to move new polymer products to market.

PET Processing is a
leader in recycling PET

PPLLC has equipment that is used to convert recycled PET flake into pellets. PPLLC's capabilities include drying, extruding, and underwater pelletizing flake to provide a pellet feedstock for further processing. Feedstocks are also provided to PPLLC from other
sources either post-consumer or
post- industrial, typically in the
form of pellets.