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Plastic Re-Shop

Missoula, MT
Bryce Rowe

Phone: (406)850-360

Email: Bar1994@live.com

Address: 614 Woodworth Ave. Missoula, MT 59801

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Executive Summary
“You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only
way, it does not exist.”

-Friedrich Nietzsche
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Business Description
The Plastic Re-Shop is a post-consumer plastic recycling company based in Missoula,
Montana. Being a sole proprietorship owned and operated by Bryce Rowe, the company will
create and develop sustainable products from local plastic waste. The Plastic Re-Shop is
currently an entrepreneurial lean startup, with a bootstrapping mentality and intentions of
growing into a large recycled plastic product producer. Envisioning to eventually be a recycler of
all Montana post-consumer plastic. Initially the focus will be on making recycled plastic coasters
and lumber from recycled type 2 HDPE plastic.

Since the first synthetic polymer was invented in 1907, plastics have grown into a 427
billion dollar industry (SPI). This industry is divided into four categories; resins, plastic products,
molds for plastic, and plastic processing machinery. With plastic products being the most
prominent, the industry as a whole is experience growth trends. Our business plans to take
advantage of the waste continually create from this growing industry year after year. Plastics are
too precious a material to be seen strangling ocean wildlife or even to be wasted in a landfill.

The business will sell to both B2B and B2C demographics. Our end customer is
homeowners building or performing maintenance on their decks, railings, and fences. We hope
to work with some businesses in order to receive raw materials while still selling finished
products to others. The company name, logos and domain name will be owned. The rest of
company information will be largely made public in an open-source effort to promote the growth
of the plastic recycling industry. Our machines will be built off the Precious Plastic designs.

Mission:

Recycle plastic by producing useful plastic products.

Vision:

To cultivate an involved zero-waste community around sustainably creating and recycling plastic
products in Montana, in order define the adjacent possibilities involving plastic polymers.
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Marketing Section

Market Research

In the United States, the plastics industry accounts for more than $374 billion dollars in annual
shipments and directly employs nearly 900 thousand people (SPI).
According to an EPA report in 2013 there was 32.52 millions of tons of plastic waste generated
with only 9.2 percent of it recovered. The plastic recycling rate is lower than other types of waste
recycling products.
7% plastic recycling rate (NEA).
Plastic lumber industry has enjoyed significant gains in commercial, marine and recreational
applications. It is expected to grow by ten percent annually. (PLTA)

The Montana population is 1.024 million. Missoula, Montana is home to more than 69,000
people, and there are over 110,000 in Missoula County alone. There are about 25,000 houses
with a little less than half owner occupied. (City-Data)

Market Competitors

Competitors Product and Prices

Plastic Lumber Yard The plastic lumber yard sells a variety of lumber, furniture, sheeting, vinyl,
Norristown, PA fasteners, and roofing.
They offer four grades of plastic lumber
https://plasticlumberyard.com/
Premium Grade: 2″ X 4″ X 12 ‘ $39.12 White or Black
Molded Grade: Extrusion molded, 2″ X 4″ X 12 ‘ $41.40 White or Black
Structural Grade: Fiberglass additive, 2″ X 4″ X 12 ‘ $57.15 White or Black
Premium Grade Trim Board: PVC, 15/16″ x 5 1/2″ x 18′ $76.55 Multiple
Colors
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Trek Trek is most widely known for their decking and they are an outdoor living
Winchester, VA company that makes composite lumber.
http://www.trex.com/ Products include:
Composite Decking
Deck railing
Fencing
Outdoor Storage
Outdoor Lighting
Bedford Technology Recycled products manufacturer founded in 1993. Interested in the Marine
http://www.plasticboards.com/ Industry, Playground, Park & Recreation, Vineyards and Agriculture, Equine,
and Industrial markets.
Types of Plastic Lumber Products
SELECTFORCE® Plastic Lumber - standard HDPE plastic. Hard tool or
continuous extrusion methods used. 14 colors.
BARFORCE® Plastic Lumber - encapsulated full length fiber reinforced
polymer rebar, along with fiberglass additive. 15 colors.
FIBERFORCE® Plastic Lumber - high quality recycled HDPE (High Density
Polyethylene), ultraviolet stabilizers, colorants and fiberglass strands to
increase rigidity. 15 colors.
Multi-X Plastic Product - recycled plastic matrix with unique glass fiber
reinforcement bars. Marine applications.
Custom Fabrications & Shapes
Custom Signs & Engravings
Parking Curbs & Speed Bumps
Recycled Plastic Industries Plastic Lumber Manufacturer since 1989.
Green Bay, WI Recycled Plastic Lumber is stocked in 12 foot lengths. They accept calls for
custom orders.
http://www.rpi2.com/index.html Wood Grain, Embossed Wood Grain, and Knurled Surface surfaces available.

American Plastic Lumber Inc.
Shingle Springs, CA
http://american-plasticlumber.com/
Markstarr
Scarbiriugh, MA
http://www.markstaar.com/
Recycled Plastic Factory
Englewood, FL
http://www.recycledplasticfactory.com/
Eagle One
http://www.eagleoneproducts.com/
Structural Lumber - recycled polyethylene, reinforced with chopped fiberglass
and contains additives such as UV inhibitors and colorants. Optional
fiberglass rebar can be added for even greater strength and stability. 10 colors.
Premium Lumber - non-structural grade of HDPE plastic lumber 4 colors.
Industrial Lumber - blend of LDPE, HDPE, and sometimes PP, Industrial
plastic lumber.
Sheet Goods - HDPE/HDPP (high-density polyethylene and high-density
polypropylene) sheet goods offers excellent impact resistance, light weight,
low moisture absorption, and high tensile strength.
MARKSTAAR is a North American distributor of commercial - residential
products and site amenities for use in business, government, education,
healthcare, hospitality, industrial, military and public/residential
environments.
They sell a large variety of products along with plastic lumber. Recycled
plastic lumber available in square, rectangular, and round shapes.
Florida based is a producer of environmentally-friendly site furnishings and
home products.
Products
Picnic tables, Benches, Chairs, Marine Products, Building Materials and
Other Site Furnishings
USA Distributor of commercial outdoor furniture and furnishings.
Warehouses on the west coast, east coast, and Canada.
Product catalog provided on website
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PlasTeak Provides a variety of recycled plastic product provided in a catalog. 20 years

Akron, OH in business.
https://www.plasteak.com/ Custom swim platforms, boat handrails, deck trim, bow pulpits, park benches,
trail markers, picnic tables, planters, furniture, landscaping materials.

Marketing Plan

A website will be owned and operated for online marketing along with retailing. For local
marketing our business plans on taking advantage of business partnerships along with direct
mailing information cards to potential customers. Logo’s and business cards have been
developed with future plans coming. In person marketing will be done at local business event
such as 1 million cups and the Hellgate Venture Network.

Porter’s Five Forces Model

Threat of New Entry

There is a medium pressure from potential new entrants since the barriers to entry are relatively
low. The barriers being as follows
 Machine processing capabilities
 Low capital requirements
 Material sourcing
 Equipment and Facility

Buyer Power:
Our company will receive high pressure from the buyers because they hold a fair amount of the
power. They get to dictated production through quantity and quality choice. Individual buyers
hold pressure.

Threat of Substitution:
There are a variety of different materials that can be used as suitable substitutions for our
products so this are represents a medium to high pressure area. Along with other materials, there
are competitors with largely similar products.

Supplier Power:
The primary ingredient is a common post-consumer waste product with little value. This makes
it a low pressure area because there is plenty of material that is easily available. Plastic can be
captured from a varied of places

Competitive Rivalry:
There are no current local competitors within the state. Nationally there are a few established
competitors that do no hold strong rivalries. As a whole the plastic industry is supportive of its
companies and helps provide free flowing information and support.

Operations and Logistics

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The Plastic Re-shop will specialize in converting post-consumer type 2 HDPE (High Dense
Polyethylene) plastic into recycled plastic lumber (RPL). Our production process will largely
resemble the Precious Plastic model with modification and upgrades over time. By following the
model, we become part of an online open source community. Currently we are the second
location in America for the movement and will continue to contribute with progress. Four
machines will be built to handle the plastics through the process an extruder, shredder, injection
mold and a compression oven.

Blueprints for all four machines are provided online. Fourms pertaining to all the machine
aspects exist in an online global community online. The building order for the machienes will be
the shredder, injection, extruter, and then lastly the compression oven. The product building
process allows for a large variation of products to be produced for R&D purposes.The RPL will
be made through the use of a mold and the injection molding machiene.

Our plastic collection process will use a voulunteer bases initially. A personal network of
households will provide enough plastic waste for experimenting. Once capacity levels are
recognized and established, then local business partnerships will be saught after. Pre-sorting of
the plastic will needd to be done by the business. Currently we are partenered with the University
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of Montana recycling program. Future business partners will be sought out as sources of plastic
going forward.

Our facilities will be at a rental commercial location in missoula county. The used of a
warehouse or workshop type property will be enough for production. Standard electrical wiring
is sufficient to power the precious plastc machines. Later macheines more industrial sized may
need an coverter to handle three phase power.

Organizational Structure and Management

Bryce Rowe is the visionary and architect involed in creating the Plastic Re-Shop. As
owner/operator he will be reponsible for many start up “Hats” roles and responsibilities in the
beginning. The business will run as a sole-proprietershop. Volenteers will be brought on time to
time for labor help

Bryce Rowe
Owner

Production Business
Assistant Accountant Plastic Producer
Manager

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Initially contracted production assistants will be used to help with labor and production. He will
do his own bookkeeping until sales reach a certain level. Then bookkeeping will be contract out
and some marketing tasks, until demand reaches a level that could warrant an employee.

Job Descriptions:
Bryce Rowe
Owner Operator
Production Assistant
Business Manager
Plastic Producer
Accountant
Architect, Product Developer, System Administrator, Markerter,
Content Creator, Customer Support, Manager, Tester, Sales, Cost
Accounting, Bookkeeper, Janitor, Machine Technician, IT
Technitician.
In charge of running and operating production process. From raw
materials up to finished goods. Involed qualitity testing along with
inventoring tasks.
Lead and oversee the work of employees in our company; hire,
train and evaluate new employees. Responsible for ensuring the
efficiency of business operations as well as setting strategic goals
for the future.
Hands on work in handling and crafting of plastic in order to
create finished products. Will work with fellow employees to
produce quality products.
Handing the taxes and bookkeeping tasks along with financial
analysis.

Financial Information
Please refer to Excel spreedsheet.

Risk Analysis
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, over 50% of small businesses fail in the
first year and 95% fail within the first five years. The success of the Plastic Re-Shop will not be a
simple path but we plan to embrace obstacales as welcomed challenges. We hope for luck in all
endevors, but here is how we plan to address the following most common reason for failure.

Production demand too high to supply:

We plan to grow by producing a storage of lumber. As the amount of lumber that we
have grows our demand capabilities will grow. We will not take orders that exceed the amount or
product in our supply.

Production too low for profitablility:

Because we willl not need to pay for raw materials we will have a larger contribution
margin on all products. We plan to keep overhead costs as low as possible until we grow
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profitable to be able for expansion.

Growing too fast:

By having bi-weekly scrum meetings to access constant progess we can be more agile to
pivot as needed. We will be working with a agile approch based off the lean start up method.
Failing to properly track finances

Overspending:
Since we aren’t paying for our production resource, by keeping other spending to a
minimum we can keep from overspending. Company purchased will have to be approved by
owner Bryce Rowe.

Lack of reserve capital:

Inatially starting wil nothing our business will build up reserve capital over time. This
will be dome by saving money from sale and expremely low initially overhead costs.

Poor choice of location:

Our current location is advantages because of our proximity and partnership with the
University of Montana. Future locations will be searched for based off current and furute
business needs.

Poor exection:
We will be continueally be producing research and development progess by working the
the Precious Plastic movement. Our product progress will be well understood before attempting
to make sales.

Inadequate business plan:

Unfortunately you don’t know what you don’t know and we will remain hopefule that we
have developed a comprehensive business plan.

Failing to change with the times:

The industry we reside in is very new and developing. We will keep up with changing
times by continuing to conduct research and development activities. By staying upto date with
the most recent Precious Plastic news we can keep with global trends.

Ineffective marketing:
By taking advantage of the current digital marketing enviorment we can utilize a variety
of social media platforms

Underestimating the competition:

Though tracking the progess of our companion Precious Plastic companies we hope to
properly gage the challenges that arising competition may bring.

Poor leadership and direction:

With a flat business structure our owners hope to inspire faith in the growth of this
company. The owner will build a personal relationship with every employee. Consistent
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assessment of company progess as a group will help steer company direction.

Legal problems:
Careful initial research will be followed by legal councel on compliance and regulatory
issues. Lawyer advice will be sought out as needed. Insurance will be purchased for unexpected
incidents along with disclamers to go along with product purchase.

SWOT Analysis:

Internal Analysis
Strengths:
• Low startup costs
• Micro-business
• Low Cost of Materials
• Strong Managerial Skills
• Innovative small scale approach

The relatively small scale of the business involved in startup assures an equally small
amount of liability involved, and a relatively short term path to overcoming any debt. The small
size of the business also insures low cost across the board for all expenses, from the actual
machinery costs incurred by building the machines myself, to the actual expense of production in
its entirety. Only a small staff will be required initially, and this small staff should easily be able
to keep up with estimated demand for production and maintenance of the business. This in
aggregation with the unique method of obtaining waste plastic from local sources, and the low
cost of materials necessary to production will exponentially contribute to insuring that the
business will be profitable. I have experience in management and a strong education in business
and management.

Weaknesses:
• Relatively untested business model
• Learning curve involved in application of machinery
• First time business owner
• Limited personal contacts/resources
• Small staff preoccupied with many different tasks which may inhibit their ability to focus
on individual tasks
• Excess in collected waste plastic

Unlike starting a restaurant or a t-shirt company, this business model is relatively non-
existent and as such I will be a pioneer. Data and estimation can only provide the business with a
limited amount of potential breathing room in the event of unforeseen circumstances. My
experience with the applicable machinery involved in the production process is limited as well,
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and herein lays the bulk of potential hazards for my business plan. As a first time business
owner, I will be hard pressed to adapt and grow accustomed to the stresses and responsibility
involved. While I have plenty of experience in leadership positions, I have never been solely
accountable for an entire business. As such, I also have a negligible resources and information on
local business contacts and relationships. According to my initial estimates I should be able to
maintain day to day operations with a relatively small staff, but by reducing the number of team
members on my staff, I may be expecting too much of them switching from inventory to
production to driving supply vehicles to facility maintenance and cleanup. I may have to scale
down my business plan or hire extra employees eventually, but I have allowed for this in my
financial accounting. Another potential hazard I can foresee is for the waste plastic supply to
build up faster than it can be shredded and sorted. Even if I allow for only several barrels of
waste plastic to be collected per week, I can estimate that my stockpile of waste plastic will
potentially far exceed the amount of products on demand, and the amount of production my
small staff can keep up with.

External Analysis

Opportunities:
• Ethical nature of business insures community support
• Provides a valuable resource for repurposing of community excess plastic waste
• Excess of community plastic waste to be utilized
• Concentrated local demographic
• Virtual non-existence of competition or similar businesses within the target market
• Diversification of production/Ability to adapt machinery to new products when deemed
necessary

Local providers, who normally would simply dispose of plastic waste materials, will be
provided with a unique option to sell their waste to my company at a fraction of the cost it would
cost my business to buy the materials wholesale. The ethical implications inherent in recycling
by way of repurposing local waste plastic, are further incentive for community involvement, as
such ethical practices are increasingly more and more popular to the general public. The appeal
of so called “green” business practices to an increasingly ethically minded public, and this alone
should generate word of mouth, and the implication will make my business much easier to
market. While I do intend to sell my products by way of online P2P sales, I expect the majority
of sales will happen locally, and the contained and concentrated nature of the local demographic
and target market will further simplify the process of adapting my business to their needs. As far
as I have researched, there is no other provider locally which will buy waste plastic from the
community. And competition is also virtually non-existent within the community considering
the unique nature of my business and its. One of the biggest opportunities provided by my
business model is the ability to adapt machinery to new products when deemed necessary. So
even if another business similar to mine does eventually spring up, I have the option to diversify
my production.
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Threats:
• Business model is nearly entirely reliant upon local waste providers
• Obstacles exist in building customer base
• Proclivity for public to buy non-recycled products from chain stores

By my projections, even if I am only able to initially find several local businesses to

participate; I should be able to acquire more than enough waste plastic to supply my production.
But my business model is nearly entirely reliant upon local waste providers, so if I cannot
generate enough waste plastic by this method I will have to seek elsewhere. It would be
impossible to generate enough waste plastic by dumpster diving. On the other end of my
business I will require consumers to buy my product. So initially I will have to work extra hard
to generate this customer base; especially when this local customer base is so accustomed to
buying everything it needs from Walmart.

Harvest Plan:

No Exit, life style business – This is the plan

Merger & Acquisition
Incorporate, IPO
Liquidation and closuer
Sell voluntarily

Business Milestones:

 First Sale
 4 Precious Plastic Machienes built and operational
 Profitability
 Workshop Location
 Employ a Full-time employee
 Upgrade Machines

Appendix

Bibliography
(SPI)
http://www.plasticsindustry.org/files/Global%20Trends%202015.pdf
(EPA)
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https://www.epa.gov/smm/advancing-sustainable-materials-management-facts-and-figures-report
(NEA)
http://www.nea.gov.sg/energy-waste/waste-management/waste-statistics-and-overall-recycling
(City-Data)
http://www.city-data.com/city/Missoula-Montana.html
(PLTA)
http://plasticlumber.org/public/publications_articles.cfm