Mike Biddle isn't sure if it's the first case of a company's site decision being influenced by prevailing attitudes on recycling. But it's clear that Biddle, CEO of MBA Polymers in Richmond, Calif., has created one joint venture in China and is seeking another in Europe because he cannot source sufficient feedstock in the U.S. for his innovative recycling company.
      "We're not going over for low-cost labor," Biddle says. "We're going for sourcing and because our customers are over there."
     

MBA Polymers CEO Mike Biddle (center, right) signs the deal creating a joint venture with Guangzhou Iron & Steel in China to build a large commercial scale plastics recycling plant in Guangzhou, China.

MBA depends on discarded computers, electronics, appliances, automobiles and other durable goods for its raw materials. The company uses its proprietary technology to shred these products and extract plastics. The end product in pellet form is then sold for use in the same types of products to companies that use recycled plastics in their manufacturing process.
      China, Japan, and other Asian countries are ahead of the U.S. in that they are enacting take-back laws and building collection systems for these used goods, Biddle says. Large-scale recycling is also taking place throughout Europe, making that continent ripe for a plant.
      MBA operates a large pilot line for demonstrations and commercial production on a small scale. Last year, Biddle began looking for a partner in China and quickly found one in Guangzhou Iron & Steel Enterprises Holdings. The partners forged a deal in January 2004, with MBA owning 55 percent of the JV. Construction is under way, and Biddle anticipates production will commence during the first quarter of 2005.
      Biddle is looking in Eastern and Western Europe for a partner for the next JV plant and hopes to have a deal there by the end of this year. He says that he prefers having a local partner for both financial reasons and the local expertise they provide.
      Aggressive plans call for MBA to build up to five plants over the next five years. Could one wind up in North America? Biddle hopes so, but several states will have to enact take-back legislation to ensure a steady source of used plastic. California is moving in that direction, he says.
      Although the manufacturing end of Biddle's business is going offshore, at least for now, that doesn't mean the overall number of jobs at his California headquarters will decline.
      "If anything, we may have to staff up here to meet demands of building new plants," Biddle says. "We will de-emphasize production here, but we will still be building components for our machinery."