The joint-venture PET recycling plant that Coca-Cola opened with great fanfare in 2009, based in Spartanburg, South Carolina, has closed. Neither Coke nor United Resource Recovery has made any official announcement about the closing of their JV plant, NURRC. But several sources confirmed to reporters that NURRC closed early March/11, & that all 50 factory workers were laid off. Sources also said that NURRC is remiss in its payments to its brokers & materials recovery facilities & that at least one lawsuit has been filed by a supplier of PET bottles seeking payment. They also said that John Burgess, president of Coca-Cola Recycling, has been placed on indefinite leave & that several NURRC staff employees have been actively inquiring about job possibilities at other plastic recyclers. There was no immediate response from either company to inquiries from Plastics News. The plant had been ballyhooed as the shining star that would enable Coke to achieve its goal of incorporating 10% recycled content in its PET bottles by 2010 & 25% by 2015. But Coke did not meet that goal of 10% recycled content for its PET bottles in 2010.
