High school chums start growing industrial plastics recycling business
WINDSOR, ONTARIO (March 15, 1:20 p.m. ET) -- Starting a company during an economic downturn might be a daunting proposition for some.
But not for three high school friends who joined forces in 2008 -- some 10 years after their graduation -- to start an industrial plastic recycling and container refurbishing company in Canada that now has three locations, including two in the United States.
“I find that the challenges in a tough economy are ‘business challenges’ magnified, but also opportunities,” said sales and purchasing executive Jeremy Berger, one of the three co-founders of Green Processing Co. Inc. “In a tough economy there is less business to go around, so it is tougher to obtain new business and grow. [But] fortunately the ownership group was able to invest in order to expand.”
As a result, Green Processing has grown from a single 8,000 square foot facility four years ago in Windsor to a company that now has two facilities in Windsor with a combined 64,000 square feet, and plants in Parkman, Ohio, and Laredo, Texas, that were opened under separate names.
“In an economic downtown everyone is looking to take their dollar further—and that is what we facilitate,” said Berger. “We help companies generate revenue from scrap while lowering their garbage fees, and help companies repair existing shipping containers so that dunnage can be safely re-used and expenditures avoided.”
Green Processing recycles a combined 1.5 million to 2 million pounds of plastics monthly at all of its locations, said Berger, with the material, for the most part, split equally between injection molded plastics, sheet, and purge, and obsolete automotive-related dunnage such as bins, totes, and trays.
In addition, the company recycles and refurbishes 3,000 to 5,000 containers monthly, he said. The plastic molding containers are mainly structurally foam molded high density polyethylene collapsible containers and totes, but Berger said the company also handles some polypropylene pallets, high molecular weight PE trays, and metal containers.
He said the container division stocks over 5,000 new and used collapsible bins, plastic pallets, and plastic totes, refurbishes containers for sale and lease, and does container cleaning and repair, container management and container recycling.
The company’s original 8,000 square foot facility in Windsor is dedicated to container repair and one-fifth of its 56,000 square foot facility in Windsor is also dedicated to container repair work, he said.
But not for three high school friends who joined forces in 2008 -- some 10 years after their graduation -- to start an industrial plastic recycling and container refurbishing company in Canada that now has three locations, including two in the United States.
“I find that the challenges in a tough economy are ‘business challenges’ magnified, but also opportunities,” said sales and purchasing executive Jeremy Berger, one of the three co-founders of Green Processing Co. Inc. “In a tough economy there is less business to go around, so it is tougher to obtain new business and grow. [But] fortunately the ownership group was able to invest in order to expand.”
As a result, Green Processing has grown from a single 8,000 square foot facility four years ago in Windsor to a company that now has two facilities in Windsor with a combined 64,000 square feet, and plants in Parkman, Ohio, and Laredo, Texas, that were opened under separate names.
“In an economic downtown everyone is looking to take their dollar further—and that is what we facilitate,” said Berger. “We help companies generate revenue from scrap while lowering their garbage fees, and help companies repair existing shipping containers so that dunnage can be safely re-used and expenditures avoided.”
Green Processing recycles a combined 1.5 million to 2 million pounds of plastics monthly at all of its locations, said Berger, with the material, for the most part, split equally between injection molded plastics, sheet, and purge, and obsolete automotive-related dunnage such as bins, totes, and trays.
In addition, the company recycles and refurbishes 3,000 to 5,000 containers monthly, he said. The plastic molding containers are mainly structurally foam molded high density polyethylene collapsible containers and totes, but Berger said the company also handles some polypropylene pallets, high molecular weight PE trays, and metal containers.
He said the container division stocks over 5,000 new and used collapsible bins, plastic pallets, and plastic totes, refurbishes containers for sale and lease, and does container cleaning and repair, container management and container recycling.
The company’s original 8,000 square foot facility in Windsor is dedicated to container repair and one-fifth of its 56,000 square foot facility in Windsor is also dedicated to container repair work, he said.
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