A Winning Combination

Mike Morris is a fourth generation recycler who started out working after school and on weekends for his family’s scrap and waste business, which had been around for more than 90 years. He went into the business himself directly after high school.

“When you are a family member in the business, you are expected to work harder, and there is no such thing as a regular work week,” Mike says. He recalls his mother telling him if he didn’t study hard in school he would spend the rest of his life riding on the back of a garbage truck. “I did both,” he says with a smile. It was there on the back of a garbage truck he says he discovered the need for recycling and the responsibility that individual and corporate citizens have to the planet.

His wife, Belinda, has spent the last 20 years working with Mike in the recycling and waste industry. Mike calls himself the dreamer and credits his wife for having the brains.

The duo saw a need in 2006 to create an alternative to landfilling in the South Bend, Ind., area and pursued the

design and construction of a transfer station and C&D material recovery facility (MRF).

Mike recalls that in 1971, his father saw a similar need and had a study commissioned to show the savings that a transfer station would bring to the area, but in light of NIMBY (not in my backyard) sentiments, the transfer station was never built.

Having learned from his father’s experience, Mike and Belinda knew community support would be important. Belinda reached out to neighborhood organizations, local residents and government officials to show how this type of facility would be good for the community.

“When it was time for a city council vote, the groups Belinda had worked with actually came to the meeting and spoke in favor of the recycling facility,” recalls Mike. The city resolution passed with unanimous approval, as did a tax abatement request.

THERE IS GREEN…

Green Tech Transfer & Recycling opened on Earth Day 2008. In order to keep that community support, Belinda developed educational programs with area high schools and universities and even came up with some catchy slogans.

“I think our slogan ‘Recycling Today for America’s Tomorrow’ says it all. Not only are we committed to helping our customers save money, but we are educating them about the new and exciting recycling options that we are able to provide,” Mike says.

Another slogan that Mike likes to say is, “There is Green and there is Green Tech Green.”

Green Tech Park is situated on a 33-acre site located 1 mile from heart of South Bend. For tours, Green Tech has an electric car it uses to transport visitors around the site.

The $10 million facility specializes in C&D debris, including brick, block wood, metal and all grades of fiber; municipal solid waste (MSW); e-scrap; OCC (old corrugated containers); mixed curbside recyclables; office paper; and shredded paper from document destruction trucks. The company also has an unloading station where individuals and businesses can drop off recyclables.

Green Tech processes an estimated 35,000 tons of MSW per year, and of the 10,000 tons of C&D debris that come through the facility each year, Mike estimates 70 percent is recycled. Mike says Green Tech was the first in the area to offer LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) services for the waste component of shingle recycling. Green Tech also has six LEED-construction-waste-certified staff members and has sponsored LEED classes for local builders and designers. Mike says the company pioneered single-container LEED recycling.

It takes quite a bit of equipment to move that material around: wheel loaders; backhoes; skid-steer loaders; forklifts; vacuum trucks; semi tractors; walking floor transfer trailers; dump trailers; roll-off, quad-axle and service trucks; and containers ranging from 6 to 60 yards in capacity. Green Tech uses heavy-duty sort line conveyors and three Harris two-ram balers.

Mike adds that in the fourth quarter of 2010, Green Tech purchased nearly an additional $1 million of capital equipment to further develop its end products.

“This business is very capital intensive and not for the weak of heart,” he remarks.

With millions of dollars in total investment in both land and equipment, Mike and Belinda knew that if Green Tech was going to continue to grow, it needed access to additional capital.

COLLIDING AGENDAS
 

On Jan. 20, 2011, Republic Services, Phoenix, purchased Green Tech and all of the associated companies at the site, including the hauling operations called Industrial Disposal, a recycled luxury portable toilet business called Eco-Hut and a demolition business.

“We were looking for a company that shared our values,” says Mike about the decision to be acquired by Republic. “It really was a good marriage. I call it colliding agendas. We had spent millions of dollars and taken it as far as the mom and pop can do. In order to take it to the next level, we needed someone who shared the same vision as Green Tech, and that was Republic.”

Changing ownership was not a difficult transition for employees, Mike says.

“Republic came in the next day and said, ‘Who does what? Keep doing it,’” recalls Mike. “It was seamless. It was a real tribute to Republic’s staff and our management people here.”

Republic Services Media Relations Manager Peg Mulloy explains that the way Republic transitions companies is to allow employees in newly acquired businesses to stay because they know their positions better than anyone else. Mulloy says Republic will bring a new facility under its wings in what she refers to as “The Republic Way.”

“We did something similar in Las Vegas last year with a company called Evergreen,” Mulloy says. (See sidebar “A Similar Tale” )

Of course some of the differences visitors will see as they enter the gates at Green Tech Park are Republic Services’ logos. Bob Havenga is the area general manager for Republic and is now responsible for Green Tech. Visitors also might see a few other new faces, as sales staff has been brought into the facility. There were 18 employees prior to the acquisition, and that number is already increasing with more drivers and mechanics. Mike estimates that within a year’s time he wouldn’t be surprised if the total staff doubled from before.

Republic has already begun expanding hauling operations and offering new services such as a front-load commercial business as well as front-load containers and single-container commercial recycling for small businesses.

Mulloy states, “When we look at acquisitions and purchases, what we are looking to do is expand the service offerings we have for our customers and give our customers more options. Here, we saw a market we wanted to serve with different offerings that Mike’s company had that we didn’t.”

There is currently a capital improvement study underway on the facility. According to Mike, the increased tonnage through the facility will necessitate expansion soon. Fortunately for Republic, Mike and Belinda foresaw the need for expansion and built approval into the company’s original blueprints. Future expansion can be done without having to get approvals and land permits, since they are already in hand. Prior to the acquisition by Republic, Green Tech had also purchased an additional 25 acres of land surrounding the facility.

C&D FOCUS CONTINUES

When asked if Green Tech Transfer & Recycling will continue to focus on C&D material, Mike answers, “Absolutely.”

In fact, he says, Republic was one of Green Tech’s biggest customers for its LEED single-box recycling program. Because Republic Services now owns Green Tech, the facility will be able to provide those services more frequently to Republic because they are in house. Mike adds that Republic is currently involved in Platinum and Gold LEED projects.

The single-box LEED recycling program is the only program of its kind in South Bend. Mike says the program gives Republic Services access to many LEED projects that take place in the area, including those at the nearby colleges of Notre Dame and St. Mary’s College.

“It’s huge for Republic customers because they don’t have numerous containers taking up a lot of space on a job site.” When the container is processed at Green Tech, Mike says the company provides reports necessary for LEED points.

MORE TO COME

Just because Mike isn’t COO of Green Tech Transfer & Recycling anymore doesn’t mean this is the last of him making a mark on the environmental issues he is so passionate about. He will stay on with Republic Services.

Mike will serve as a consultant, providing services in new market development for the recycled product Republic is sorting out of inbound C&D materials at Green Tech and other area facilities. He also will continue to do what he loves most—promote recycling and environmental awareness to the community by handling government and media relations. Mike hints that he has some special projects he will be working on for the company’s new owners.

“That should keep me busy for a while,” he jokes.

The author is associate editor of the Recycling Today Media Group and can be reached at ksmith@gie.net. This article first ran in the March/April issue of Construction & Demolition Recycling, a sister publication to Recycling Today.