Bioplastics maker Cereplast is moving its headquarters from California to Indiana in a move that will save the firm at least $600,000 (€457,825) per year.
Cereplast's current headquarters site in California will be closed in favour of Indiana, where the firm operates a bioplastics plant. Cereplast also is moving its European headquarters from Bonen, Germany, to Milan, Italy, resulting in the closure of the Bonen office.
Both moves were announced by in a 7 May news release.
"After a thorough analysis, we determined that it would be prudent to consolidate our operations under one roof in the USA and under one roof in Europe," Chairman and CEO Frederic Scheer said.
Preliminary first-quarter revenue for Cereplast was between $900,000 (€686,788) and $1m (€763,099) — exceeding the firm's total sales for full-year 2012. Almost two-thirds of Cereplast's first-quarter sales came from Italy, where merchants now are required to discontinue the use of traditional single-use plastic bags in favour of bioplastic bags or other alternatives.
Cereplast is looking to recover from 2012, a year in which the firm lost more than $10m (€7.6m) on sales of $900,000 (€686,788). The firm missed two debt payments during the year.
Recent growth initiatives for Cereplast include increased sales from India — where government officials are trying to curb plastic pollution — and commercialization of a bioplastic made of 51% algae biomass.