Crises Response Case Study

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Business challenge:

A plastics resin broker contacted ASW in regards to a crisis situation. Two bulk hopper cars were involved in a derailment accident and were rolled over onto their sides, spilling plastic resin onto the ground in North Jersey.

ASW’s solutions:

ASW arranged for the spilled product to be safely retrieved—preventing contamination from spreading—and had it transported to another facility for the reclamation process. Through its considerable network, ASW found a local buyer for the product within a mile of the derailment, saving the broker considerable cost.


Eight hopper car compartments contained resin that had not spilled. It needed to be vacuumed and transported to ASW’s Mogadore, OH polymer packaging facility to be re-packaged.


ASW contracted, scheduled, and oversaw the service of eight bulk trucks to retrieve and transport approximately 360,000 pounds of plastic resin.

The broker was trying to find a company that could help them both recover the spilled product, and move the product that remained in the cars to the intended destination. All material needed to be removed from the derailment site within two business days.

Within the alloted time period, ASW packaged the material into 55 pound valve bags and placed them onto export-certified wooden pallets, ready for sale to the broker’s export customer.