Many people know that Dart Realty (Cayman) Limited, the developers of the master planned community Camana Bay is related to the company that produces many of the world’s foam cups.
But most people do not know how the Darts got started in the foam cup business, how the cups actually made, or that some of the materials used are manufactured right here in the Caribbean.
The Dart Container Corporation is the world’s leading manufacturer of foam cups. The Dart story began with a small machine shop in Mason, Michigan known as Dart Manufacturing Company. Established in 1937, this modest business prospered through the manufacture of such products as plastic key cases, steel tape measures, and identification tags for the armed services.
Subsequent experimentation with expandable polystyrene in the late 1950s led to a line of high quality insulated foam cups, and Dart Container Corporation was born.
The versatility, practicality, and convenience and low cost of insulated foam beverage cups are what make them attractive. Foam cups maintain beverages at their optimal temperature longer, keeping hot drinks hot and cold drinks cold.
Succeeding years saw many new lines added to the Dart product mix. Today, Dart manufactures a broad range of quality single-use products for the foodservice, retail, and food packaging industries. In order to ensure that it provides its customers with consistent product quality and a dependable source of supply, Dart manufactures most of its own production equipment and raw materials.
One of the many plants that produce these raw materials is Polymers International Limited located in Freeport, Grand Bahama, in the Bahamas.
The main factory building is 200,000 square feet with accompanying facilities spread out over a 55-acre location. The plant has 100 employees. PIL was incorporated in 1995, ground was broken in 1997, and production began in December 1997.
In 2005 there were 130,000,000 pounds of polystyrene bead produced or enough to make 25 billion 8-ounce foam cups. The plant is currently being expanded and this expansion will increase output to 170,000,000 pounds annually.
The process of producing the polystyrene beads begins with containers of liquid styrene arriving by boat to their cargo facility and then being transferred into on-site storage tanks. The styrene is mixed with water and other chemicals in a two-stage process that produces polystyrene beads.
Polystyrene beads are perfect spheres as small as grains of sand. The polystyrene beads manufactured in the Bahamas are shipped from coast to coast in the United States and also to Argentina, Australia, Wales, and Mexico.
The first step in making foam cups is impregnating the small beads of polystyrene with an expansion agent. The molding process then begins with limited expansion of the beads by contact with steam in a pre-expander.
The beads puff up like popcorn, fusing together in a mould also heated by steam, which further expands the puffed-up beads to form the final shape and density.
Always conscious of the environment Dart operates recycling centers at production facilities in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Ontario, Canada, capable of reprocessing 12 million pounds of foam products annually.
All four facilities have accepted material for recycling from the public since 1990. Dart engineers invented a state-of-the-art process for washing and drying used foam foodservice products. The four plants receive foam from local schools, community recyclers, supermarkets, hospitals, manufacturing plants, cafeterias, and individuals
Dart Management Limited in Grand Cayman is the corporate office for many business located outside the United States including the Polymers International Limited plant in the Bahamas, providing IT, human resource, and accounting services, as well as managerial oversight.
With the expansion of the PIL plant in the Bahamas, Dart Management is seeking a person to work out of Cayman for the position of Manufacturing Accountant.
Recognizing that there are few manufacturers in the Cayman Islands, Dart Management is prepared to provide training for the right candidate.
The main factory building is 200,000 square feet with accompanying facilities spread out over a 55-acre location. Photo: Submitted
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