PADNOS history

1910s By 1910, Louis had been in West Michigan for five years and was well established in business.

1920s In 1920, Louis and his wife, Helen, welcome the arrival of their first son, Seymour, followed two years later by Stuart.

The steady success of the PADNOS scrap paper business persuades Louis to purchase a mechanical bailer in 1936, advancing the company’s entrée into scrap processing.

In 1955, the brothers inaugurate a profit-sharing plan, a plan that continues today.

In 1959, Seymour and Stuart, with the concurrence of their families, establish the Louis and Helen Padnos Foundation as a way to give back to the community and honor their forebears.

In 1971, the Joint Engineers Council of Western Michigan named the fragmentizer its Project of the Year, and the new auto-shredding system received widespread coverage in newspapers from as far away as Miami and Mexico City.

In 1974, the company receives $27,333 refund on its workers’ compensation insurance thanks to employee efforts in maintaining an outstanding safety record.

In 2005, the company celebrates its 100th anniversary.

In 2008, the company expands its plastics recycling business and purchases a 450,000-square foot building at 500 44th street in Wyoming, MI.

In 2014, PADNOS invests in its first out-of-state expansion with the purchase of a plastics compounding business in Fremont, IN, now known as PADNOS Plastics Solutions.

Our Quality Management System to reprocess and distribute scrap plastics is registered to the ISO 9001:2015 standard.