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Each year, the Pike County Farm City Committee of the Pike County Chamber of Commerce visits a farm or city business within the county as way strengthening the relationship between the rural and urban communities within Pike County.

On Thursday, members of the Pike County Farm-City Committee visited KW Plastics Recycling Division in Troy as its annual Farm-City Tour.

Meagan Blair, KW account manager, shared information via a video presentation and then guided a bus tour of the facility. KW Plastics Recycling was established in 1981 and is today the international leader in PE and PP recycling, Blair said.

Polyethylene (PE) comes in two forms, high-density and low-density. Polyethylene is easy to recycle, provided it is not bonded with other plastics to form composite materials.
PP is used to make the food containers used for products including yogurt, sour cream and margarine. PP products can sometimes be recycled.

Blair said the items recycled by most consumers are the plastic jugs and other large containers. Because of the high demand for recycled materials, KW also recycles plastic items as small as a drinking cup.

Blair said KW’s extrusion capacity (the process of forming something by forcing or pushing it out) is 650,000,000 pounds a year which makes it the largest in the world.

KW customers include personal care items (Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble); household chemicals, (Clorox, Exxon-Mobile); electronics, (Xerox, Jarden); construction/architectural, (drainage products, roofing); paint and coating, (Sherwin-Williams, Valspar); and housewares and toys.

KW affiliated companies include, Wiley Sanders Truck Lines, Sanders Lead Company and KW Container.

This year’s Farm City theme is “Sustaining for the Future” and there could not have been a more appropriate industry tour than that of KW Plastics, said Dana Sanders, president, Pike County Chamber of Commerce.

“We greatly appreciate the hospitality shown for a tour of how plastics are recycled into reusable materials,” Sanders said. “I would like to thank all of the committee members who attended -Abby Peters, Traci Shaver, Deborah Huggins Davis, Bobby Catrett, and Ashley Chaisson.”

Sanders said she would like to especially thank Meagan Blair for taking the time to give the committee such a wonderful tour.

“KW Plastics’ commitment to our community means a great deal, and we are fortunate to have such a worldwide recognizable company allow opportunities for tours,” Sanders said. “At KW Plastics, are truly sustaining for the future with their plastic recycling efforts.”