When he started The Prestwick Group in 1997, Matt Morse was focused on making sustainable golf course furnishings.
But he’s since found other uses for the unique recycled plastic that the Sussex company uses in its products.
The material is called high density polyethylene and is made of reclaimed milk jugs. It is resistant to insects and the elements and it doesn’t need any maintenance.
“It can be renewed over and over again,” Morse said. “It will never end up in a landfill.”
Prestwick has recycled more than 68 million milk jugs into its products since the company started.
“We were actually the second company in the golf market selling this recycled plastic material. Now there’s probably six of us,” he said.
Prestwick Group has 74 employees at its Sussex headquarters and manufacturing facility.
It still makes stakes, markers, garbage cans and other products that are used on golf courses, but The Prestwick Group now has four brands providing recycled plastic and natural hardwood products to a range of industries. They are Nexterra, Great Lakes Golf Course Products, Prestwick and Max-R.
“In 2000, I decided to begin to diversify into other markets,” Morse said. “I didn’t want our company to be just a golf company.”
Most of the company’s products are furnishings like waste/recycling/compost receptacles, benches, outdoor containers and towel stations.
“Every order that we get in house is made to order, so we don’t have any standard products,” he said.
Because golf courses are often associated with resorts, the company was able to move into that industry with towel stations and waste receptacles, Morse said. Prestwick also works with government, corporate and education clients.
“Golf five years ago was 70 percent of our business. Now it’s about one-third,” Morse said. “We’ve diversified into other, faster growing markets.”
Prestwick completes its manufacturing in three shifts. It started using lean manufacturing throughout the facility in 2010, which helped cut job time in half, Morse said. Employees can now fill orders in 5.4 days on average.
The company gets sheets of the HDPE plastic from suppliers and uses CNC equipment to machine the material. On many of its waste receptacle products, Prestwick machines restrictive openings to indicate garbage, recycling or compost.
Employees assemble the products using pocket screw and other furniture methods, Morse said.
“We essentially build furniture here, so we needed furniture grade material,” he said.
The company can also put words and logos on its products by pouring colored resin into a shape that’s been routed into the plastic or hardwood with a CNC machine.
Since Prestwick currently makes about 90 percent of its products for outdoor use, Morse is now working to grab more indoor market share.
The company is growing quickly, with 21 percent growth in 2011 and a 20 percent growth rate in the first quarter of 2012.
Morse has hired seven new employees this year and is still actively hiring.
