Dive Brief:
- Dynamic Recycling has publicly announced plans for a $20 million expansion of its facility in Onalaska, WI with a visit from Governor Scott Walker this week, as reported by the La Crosse Tribune. This is the company's fifth expansion since it was founded in 2007.
- The 140,000-square-foot project will house the company's headquarter offices and add additional capacity for work that is currently done internationally. Dynamic recycles and refurbishes a range of electronic devices and also purchases electronic and non-ferrous scrap.
- This project, slated for completion in June 2018, will be eligible for up to $17 million in state Industrial Revenue Bonds and $535,000 in state tax credits. Dynamic expects that it will create more than 150 jobs and nearly 100 indirect jobs, as reported by WXOW.
Dive Insight:
Dynamic's exponential growth in the electronics recycling and IT asset disposition (ITAD) sector over the past 10 years has given the company a multi-state presence. The company also has a facility in Nashville, TN and expanded into Minnesota with multiple acquisitions in 2015.
Their need to expand after only three years in the current facility shows the ongoing demand for electronics recycling options and secure management of the data on these devices. In another sign of the potential in ITAD markets, Sims Recycling launched a new subsidiary called Converge Engineering earlier this year. In Wisconsin, this demand has grown since the state's electronics recycling law took effect in 2010. Like in many states with similar laws, Wisconsin has seen an uptick in awareness and participation from residents but has lingering challenges with coverage.
Companies like Dynamic serve as a good example of the job creation potential from investment in the broader scrap industry, a topic that tends to attract political attention more than other aspects of the recycling world. According to the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, the U.S. scrap recycling industry is responsible for nearly $117 billion in annual economic activity. Its "economic impact" in Wisconsin is estimated to be close to $4.3 billion.
