Established in 1993, new NERC Advisory Member GDB International generates 
and markets recycled products, including plastics, paints, metals and paper, to customers in more than 65 countries. The company states that it “has become one of the leading proponents of conservation of natural resources by encouraging companies to recycle their waste and scrap.”
When China banned recycled plastics from the US and other developed nations, it exposed the lack of domestic recycling infrastructure in the United States. Concerns were raised that the huge volume of plastics produced in this country would end up going to landfills, creating environmental problems and losing the economic benefits of using recycled materials. Realizing that plastic scrap is indeed a valuable raw material, GDB International created a “recycling infrastructure to recycle and produce PCR pellets right here in our country and thereby bringing circularity into the Plastics Value Chain.”
Fully operational in July, 2019, GDB’s project added 18 jobs for the production of post-consumer recycled resin (PCR) with a combined capacity of 4200 lbs./hour. The company uses numerous grades of plastic film to produce recycled polyethylene pellets that can then be used for several end applications. The company states that it has “diverted a significant amount of low value film scrap grades from going to landfills and created value for circular supply chains through this venture.”
GDB’s plastics project has won certification from SCS Global Services, an international leader in third-party certification, validation, and verification for environmental, sustainability, and food safety and quality performance claims.
A program that has been a central initiative of GDB since its founding has positioned the company as a leader in the recycled paint industry. Its Evolve recycled paint brand produces a 95% recycled product that benefits the consumer with 50% to 80% lower cost than other paints while maintaining quality.
“By committing ourselves to the environment, we continue to save millions of tons of paint from polluting the ground, the waterways and the air we breathe,” the company states. “Our global sustainability programs help the industry achieve a ZERO waste policy through recycling and reworking of paint related raw materials.”
GDB also manufactures and distributes a range of paper products—including home and office papers, commercial printing and publishing papers, converting, specialty and industrial papers—that are derived from recycled materials. It is also a leading trader and exporter of scrap aluminum, brass, insulated copper cable, lead, stainless steel and zinc.
“GDB’s sustainability goals enhance NERC’s mission,” the company states. “GDB feels proud to be a part of the NERC family.” Likewise, NERC is proud to have as an Advisory Member such a successful and diversified leader in the development of a circular economy.