New York City-based Recycle Track Systems (RTS) has announced that its parent company, RTS Holding Inc., has acquired Elytus Ltd., a waste services management company that services more than 12,000 locations across the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico through a cloud-based software platform.

According to a news release from RTS, the acquisition will expand RTS’ reach to all 50 states.

“We’re proud to welcome the incredibly talented team at Elytus,” says Gregory Lettieri, co-founder and CEO of RTS. “Their expertise and strong network will support our momentum as we continue to scale across the country and build new customer and hauler relationships. Our shared values of transparency and sustainability will make us great partners as we strive to redesign the waste management industry.”

RTS says it will now provide Elytus customers with proprietary technology as well as a commitment to transparency and sustainability.

“This partnership will allow us to provide our customers with expanded sustainability services and combined technology solutions with better data to help them better manage their waste streams,” says Matthew S. Hollis, president and co-founder of Elytus.

According to RTS, this is the company’s fourth acquisition since it started business in 2015. The company also recently acquired Ambrosia, a Newark, New Jersey-based facility that repurposes food scrap into natural home cleaning solutions. RTS also recently secured $35 million in Series C funding from an investor group led by Citigroup’s Impact Fund for sustainable investment.

James “Jimmy” A. Chafoulias, a veteran in the paper scrap industry, died at age 82 Dec. 28, 2021. Chafoulias entered the industry in July 1974 when he purchased Pioneer Paper Stock Co. of Minneapolis. At that time, Pioneer had been in business in Minneapolis since 1894.

Under Jimmy’s leadership and direction, Pioneer grew to become one of the largest independent scrap paper operations in the United States. Today, Pioneer has processing plants and operations in Minneapolis; Chicago; Kansas City, Missouri; Kansas City, Kansas; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Dallas. The brokerage arm of Pioneer, Pioneer Fibers, buys and sells material worldwide.

Despite his business successes, Chafoulias was a very private person. According to an obituary written by Pioneer Fibers, he avoided publicity and instead focused on investing in his processing plants and his people. His obituary states that he “had little tolerance for red tape and politics, which ruffled a few feathers over the years, but he was able to get things done when others had faltered.”

Pioneer Fibers says the company that Chafoulias has left behind has the depth of leadership and financial strength to continue for another 100 years.

National Equipment Dealers (NED), a heavy equipment rental and sales company based in Lexington, North Carolina, has named Jesse Beasley as the new chief operating officer for the company. In his new role, Beasley will oversee the implementation of the company’s continued growth strategies. 

According to a news release from NED, Beasley previously was vice president of east coast operations for the company. There he managed operations for seven branches located throughout North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. 

Originally from Ladson, South Carolina, Beasley graduated from the College of Charleston. He started in the heavy equipment rental business as an intern at a heavy equipment rental company while going to college. Over the last 23 years, Beasley has held various leadership positions in rentals, sales and operations. As chief operating officer, Jesse will continue to be based out of the company’s Charlotte, North Carolina, branch location.

“I have had the pleasure of working with Jesse since 2013 when he was the first new hire that we made after we purchased May Heavy Equipment,” says Kerry Vickar, chairman for NED. “Since that time, Jesse has shown everyone that he has a tremendous work ethic and that he is a natural leader. Those skills, coupled with his industry knowledge, have made him worthy of his position as our new chief operating officer.”

South Korea-based SK Geo Centric (SKGC) and PureCycle Technologies Inc., an advanced recycling company based in Orlando, Florida, have signed a nonbinding head of agreement (HOA) to open a recycled polypropylene (PP) plant in Ulsan, South Korea. The companies say it is the first of its kind in Asia.

According to a joint news release, the facility is expected to have an annual capacity of 60,000 tons. It has an expected completion at the end of 2024.

The partnership between the two companies will combine SKGC's strengths with PureCycle's purification technology to supply recycled plastic resin to the growing market. PureCycle says it will leverage its plant module construction processes and partnerships to accelerate the building of the plant in South Korea. 

Purecycle says the cooperation between the companies creates a joint venture to recycle plastic waste and provide South Korea with unsaturated polyesters and develop consumer products.  

"I'm thrilled PureCycle and SKGC are progressing toward opening a recycling facility in Ulsan over the next three years,” says Mike Otworth, CEO of PureCycle. “Combining SK Geo Centric's expertise and knowledge of the industry in South Korea with PureCycle's patented technology that transforms plastic waste into a renewable resource, we can work toward tackling the plastic waste crisis that has impacted every corner of the world."