Delta Plastics of the South LLC *

Like most new businesses, Delta Plastics of the South LLC struggled in its first few years.

But when Dhu Thompson left his job as vice president of commercial lending for Bank One in Louisiana to acquire the 3-year-old company in 1996, he pushed investment and research. He’s led the plastics production recycling company to an average growth rate of 30 percent since 1996. The company’s sales in 2003 exceeded $10 million.

“It was quite a change to go from banking to the entrepreneurial side, quite a change,” said the 51-year-old Thompson. “But the concept of the company was quite novel.”

Delta Plastics provides “cradle to the grave” products and patented in 1998 a process for cleaning and recycling plastic.

First, the company produces a commodity called poly irrigation tubing from virgin polyethylene for the agriculture industry, which farmers dispose of after one growing season.

Delta Plastics then reclaims the tubing – about 23 million pounds annually – from either the farms or from 100 pickup locations across Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Missouri and reprocesses it as certified post-consumer resin. It’s then resold to chemical companies across the country primarily for use in plastic garbage bags and construction film.

“Environmentally, you can’t ask for much more than that,” Thompson said.

Delta Plastics has been honored with a corporate recycler award from Keep Arkansas Beautiful, as the Arkansas Recycling Coalition’s Recycler of the Year and with the Arkansas Wildlife Federation’s Corporate Conservationist Award. Late last year it was awarded third place as a recycler of the year from Keep America Beautiful.

Delta Plastics grew as its recycled plastic quality improved and its patented process made recycling much more cost-effective.

The company now has 70 employees and is spending $1.4 million to increase recycling capacity by 300 percent.