BHS Adds Emerald Award to Crown

Bulk Handling Systems (BHS), based in Eugene, Ore., has been awarded a 2010 Emerald Award for Innovation by the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce.

According to The Emerald Awards website, “The Emerald Awards is a program honoring businesses in the Eugene/Springfield area that contribute to our community’s vitality and quality of life by implementing sustainable business practices. Those practices include significant financial, social and environmental contributions to the community.”

The awards categories are growth, community caring, environmental values and innovation.

BHS, which was founded in Eugene in 1976, designs, manufactures and installs patented sorting components and systems for the solid waste and recycling industries. The company won its first Emerald Award in 2008 in the growth category.

The company’s “history of pairing innovation with plain common sense has enabled thousands of companies to literally cut through their clutter,” judges said. “Today it is one of the leading and most innovative manufacturers of recycling processing equipment in the world.”

BHS CEO Steve Miller says, “This is an award that really honors our employees. All of our innovation, success and growth rest with our dedicated employees, who are excited about what we are doing and keep us moving forward.”

The company describes the award as another high point in a year of growth and honors. BHS is currently installing its largest system to date, a $15.7 million material recovery facility (MRF) in San Carlos, Calif. This facility will be the largest municipal-owned MRF in North America, according to the company. In the last two years, BHS systems also have received the Gold Award in Excellence for innovation in recycling systems from the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), with the Brown, Outagamie and Winnebago County MRF in Appleton, Wis., receiving the honor in 2010, and the GreenWaste Recovery MRF in San Jose, Calif., nabbing the award in 2009.

BHS also has moved into its new headquarters this summer. The company remodeled an existing facility, emphasizing environmentally friendly practices and using recycled and sustainable materials throughout the building. The move expands the company’s production and office space in Eugene to more than 100,000 square feet.