Officials with Phoenix Technologies were joined by Bowling Green and Wood County leaders for a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday morning.

The company, located at 1118 Fairview Ave., will double their resin-making capacity.

Phoenix Technologies International LLC, the leading rPET manufacturer, has been developing and cultivating circular economy by its state-of-the-art technology to reuse PET waste bottles into high value added products.

After this expansion, by mid 2023, they expect to double recycled PET (rPET) resin capacity to 140 million pounds annually, processing 5 billion bottles a year.

The expansion will consist of process technology that is known and tested throughout the industry and will allow us to support our increasing customer demand immediately at startup.

The expansion is the resulting outcome of the purchase of Phoenix in 2019 by Far Eastern New Century Corporation (https://www.fenc.com), a global leader in both the recycled and virgin PET markets. As North American brands increase their support of sustainable materials, this is a natural next step in their manufacturing evolution.

This expansion and others on the near term horizon will allow them to take advantage of the synergies created under APG Polytech USA Holdings Inc. and provide the most comprehensive strategies to customers in meeting their future sustainability targets.

With global climate changes, the long term opportunity and challenge for FENC is to be carbon neutral. FENC’s goal is to reduce emissions 20% by 2025, 40% by 2030 and commit to achieving net zero by 2050 by enhancing energy efficiency, developing renewable energy and utilizing CCUS technology.