GreenMan divests Tennessee scrap tyre business

Lynnfield, Massachusetts -- As it promised earlier, tyre recycler GreenMan Technologies Inc. is closing its LaVergne, Tennessee, tyre processing plant and assigning its scrap tyre collection business back to Tennessee Tire Recyclers Inc., the company that originally sold GreenMan that business in April 2001.

TTRI had the right of first offer in case GreenMan decided to divest its Tennessee tyre collection contracts, according to GreenMan cfo Chuck Coppa. Before divestitment, GreenMan gathered about 3½ to 4½ million tyres annually in Tennessee, Coppa said.

The LaVergne plant, which is not part of the TTRI acquisition, is now operating with a skeleton crew of two or three employees and will close completely by Sept. 30, he said. GreenMan will incur a non-cash loss on the transaction of approximately $918 000, but also will improve its cash flow by more than $150 000 monthly, the company said in a press release.

GreenMan, which said it collects and processes more than 30 million scrap tyres annually, has hemorrhaged money in the past few years despite steadily increasing sales; in its fiscal nine months ended June 30, the company lost $5.5 million on sales of $24.5 million.

From Rubber & Plastics News (A Crain publication)