Dive Brief:
- Dallas-based Texas Recycling/Surplus Inc. has changed its name to Texas Recycling Inc. and moved into a new facility, as reported by Waste360.
- The company now operates out of a 180,000-square-foot building that formerly housed a Ford Motor assembly plant. RRT Design & Construction assisted in the move.
- Since the company was founded in 1992, it has specialized in handling a range of paper grades from commercial generators. About 10 years ago the company moved into post-industrial plastics. It now also trades non-ferrous metal and ferrous scrap.
Dive Insight:
Texas Recycling was started by the Litman family and has employed three generations since it began. Brothers Joel and Craig now run the company, and they told Waste360 the move to this new location allows them to consolidate operations and branch into different materials — which is reflected in the company's name change.
Features of the facility include a multi-station sorting line, 70-foot truck scale, higher clearance and a new two-ram baler, among others. Local residents can also come to sell corrugated, paper and various metals at a buy-back center. The document destruction company Action Shred of Texas — which is a division of Texas Recycling, Inc. — is also working out of the new facility.
Recovery rates for certain categories of paper are at a record high, though the uncertainty of a continuing trend toward digital communication makes diversification a smart move. The company will also be poised to take advantage of the potential for more material to start entering the local recycling stream. Texas recently selected a consultant to conduct a study into boosting the state's currently low diversion rate of approximately 19%.
