Turning Industrial Plastic Waste into Value: How Seraphim Plastics is Navigating U.S. Scrap Plastic Pricing

By Mathew Zachariah

In an era defined by sustainability mandates, rising material costs, and circular-economy ambitions, industrial plastic recycling is no longer peripheral. For manufacturers and warehouses generating rejected crates, pallets, buckets or purge waste, the question has shifted from “How do we dispose of this?” to “How can we monetize or responsibly manage this material stream?”

That’s where a business like Seraphim Plastics steps in.

Seraphim’s Role at a Glance

Located in Memphis, Tennessee, Seraphim Plastics is a full-service industrial plastic recycler. According to the company, it purchases rigid industrial scrap—including pallets, crates, buckets, and other post-production plastics—from manufacturing facilities, large warehouses and plant producers.

They then process this material into regrind—typically shredded pieces in the 3/8-inch range—that can be reused in manufacturing.

For businesses with excess or end-of-life plastic materials, partnering with a recycler like Seraphim offers a dual benefit: reducing waste disposal burdens and generating potential value from what previously might have been a cost or liability.

What’s the Market Paying for Scrap Plastic?

In order to understand the opportunity, it helps to look at prevailing scrap plastic pricing across the U.S.—and the picture is nuanced.

• According to recent data, the average U.S. scrap-yard buying price for “#2 HDPE” plastic is around $0.63 per pound as of October 2025.
• For other grades: Post-consumer natural HDPE recently averaged over $1.00 per pound in U.S. curbside programs.
• Some grades such as PS (polystyrene) scrap can fetch as high as $5.43 per pound, though these are more niche.
• Another indication: Earlier in 2024 the national average for natural HDPE was around $0.32 per pound—highlighting how prices can fluctuate dramatically.

Resource-Recycling

What this tells us: The value of scrap plastic is highly dependent on grade, cleanliness, contamination level, geographic region, and logistics (such as transport cost). A clean, sorted stream of industrial rigid HDPE pallets or crates is inherently more valuable than mixed, contaminated household plastics.

Why This Matters for Businesses

For a manufacturing plant or warehouse facility, managing plastic scrap efficiently offers practical advantages:

• Space & cost savings: Instead of storing broken or obsolete pallets in racking or yard space, that volume can be turned over and shipped out.
• Revenue potential: Even if scrap prices aren’t huge, when you aggregate large volumes the value adds up.
• Sustainability credentials: Partnering with a recycler demonstrates a commitment to circular economy practices and waste-minimization.
• Reduced landfill burden: Rather than sending rigid plastics to landfill, they re-enter the manufacturing stream via recycling.

Seraphim Plastics highlights its consultative service model, helping businesses evaluate their waste streams, optimize collection logistics and improve recycling performance.

How the Process Works – From Scrap to Regrind

Here’s a simplified overview of how a business might work with Seraphim Plastics or a similar recycler:

1. Evaluation: The facility identifies the plastic scrap (pallets, bins, crates, etc.), and works with the recycler to assess type, condition, and logistics.
2. Collection: Transport is arranged—either drop-off or pickup—depending upon tonnage and location.
3. Processing: The material is sorted (removing non-plastic items like wood, metal), shredded into regrind (e.g., 3/8-inch pieces).
4. Reuse: The resulting recycled plastic is sold back into manufacturing for use in new pallets, crates or other industrial components.

By closing the loop in this way, the value chain better integrates waste with resource use.

Why Seraphim Plastics Stands Out

• Strategic location: Memphis offers strong logistics access for the Mid-South region (Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri and beyond).
• Experience: The company states over 25 years of management experience in plastic recycling, which is useful when dealing with complex scrap streams and quality control.
• Variety of materials: They accept rigid plastics including pallets, crates, totes, buckets, and post-industrial purge.

What to Ask Before You Sell Your Scrap

If your business is considering working with a recycler like Seraphim Plastics, here are some questions worth asking:

• Which resin grades are accepted? (HDPE, HMW, PP, etc.)
• What condition is required? Are mixed‐material pallets acceptable? Do they need to be clean?
• What is the logistics plan? How is transport handled and who pays?
• What’s the timing and payment model? How soon after delivery is payment made?
• What’s the reuse pathway? Ask for transparency about how the material is processed and re-used.
• What are the certification or reporting options? For companies with sustainability targets, documentation of recycling can matter.

Final Thoughts

Recycling industrial rigid plastics is no longer a fringe activity—it’s becoming a strategic component of manufacturing operations. When managed correctly, your scrap pallets, crates and bins can transition from long-term clutter to valued raw material.

For facilities in Tennessee, the Mid-South, or any region looking to free up space and capture value, a partnership with Seraphim Plastics offers a practical path. As pricing continues to fluctuate, the key is to establish a reliable process, maintain clean and sorted material, and work with a recycler that understands industrial volumes.

If you have excess storage of plastic pallets or bins, it may be time to rethink your “waste” – and treat it as a resource.