MicroGREEN™ Expands Production Capacity with Investments from Native American Tribes
InCycle® Cup production increases, meeting large demand for product
SEATTLE, March 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Today MicroGREEN announced it is tripling its InCycle® Cup production capacity to meet recent orders, using investment funds from the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and the Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians. A $10 million expansion will enable the company to produce 2 million InCycle cups per day, up from the current 400,000 cups per day. In addition, MicroGREEN will begin to extrude post-consumer recycled PET together with all in-plant generated trim, eliminating waste from current operations.
"We are pleased that our investment in this young company has resulted in creating more than 100 jobs in our local community. Not only does this benefit the local economy, but MicroGREEN is reducing the amount of waste from conventional plastic-coated paper and foam coffee cups with their technology," says Shawn Yanity, Chairman of the Stillaguamish Tribe.
Due to the increased demands and large orders that have been placed by major airlines throughout the country, the timing of these investments was key. "This expansion has been in the works for several years, ramping up technology developed at University of Washington to full production," says Tom Malone, CEO of MicroGREEN. "Our investors expect big things from us – it's go-time. Production is running 24/7 on our existing lines, while we're also managing the construction site and training new employees. "
In December 2013, the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde funded an equipment loan to MicroGREEN, and followed that with their second $5 million funding tranche in January. This allowed MicroGREEN to proceed with its expansion plans in the Arlington, WA, factory.
Titu Asghar, Director of Economic Development of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, commented, "MicroGREEN's technology is truly an industry disruptor. This strategy of investment from Native American Tribes is also the future, representing an innovative shift in financial diversification for us. We are looking ahead several generations to create an economically sustainable future, supporting clean technology that helps correct wasteful practices with environmentally sound products that are simply better in performance."
Currently InCycle cups are used for hot beverage service on all Alaska Airlines, Allegiant Air, and Virgin America flights, among others. United Airlines will replace polystyrene foam cups with the InCycle cup on flights beginning in April. MicroGREEN offers both hot and cold InCycle cups to airlines and food service outlets, with plans to expand their cup and lid line later in 2014. The platform technology used to create the InCycle Cup creates benefits that are applicable in many other markets, ranging from building construction and electronics to transportation. In the future, MicroGREEN plans to bring this technology to these applications.
About InCycle® Cups
InCycle® cups, a product of MicroGREEN, a Washington-based plastics solutions company, were created with a profound desire to reduce the amount of waste that enters landfills. The InCycle cup brings together the powerful trifecta of award-winning performance, competitive pricing, and environmental sustainability. Each insulating hot cup is created in America using recycled PET, primarily from soda pop and water bottles. The InCycle cups were designed with their end-of-life in mind; they can be reprocessed into new InCycle cups again and again. For more information, visit incyclecup.com or follow InCycle on Twitter and Facebook.
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SOURCE MicroGREEN
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