BlackBridge Investments celebrates 10th anniversary

Recyclables brokerage firm BlackBridge Investments celebrated its 10th anniversary Jan. 6.

The company was founded in 2011 by Jason Stephens, who serves as president, and Vincent Fabrico, who serves as director of business operations. The men met and became friends when they attended Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. They each invested $500 to start BlackBridge with the vision of being a modern, technology-driven firm. Today, the company handles 55,000 tons of scrap annually for its customers.

“We started BlackBridge Investments with the goal of reinventing the recycling business by serving the needs of scrap buyers and sellers with smart technology to work faster and fulfill the needs of each transaction more efficiently,” Stephens told Recycling Today in a 2015 profile of the company. 

As the company grew, Stephens and Fabrico say they forged relationships with the industry's largest companies and expanded into new verticals. Their goal for the company was to act as a bridge between buyers and sellers of recyclables, helping to procure and recycle millions of pounds of materials ranging from rigid and flexible plastics to polyurethane foam and paper.

Blackbridge recently moved into a brand new headquarters in Wall, New Jersey, and has a second office in Huntington, New York. The company also added a new procurement executive to the team, Brittany Wasielewski, recently.

"Our simple goal to build a different kind of recycling brokerage has brought us to where we are today as an industry leader," Stephens says. "We are so proud of all that we have accomplished and are excited to continue our work to transform the recycling industry."

The last decade has presented many challenges to the recycling industry and Blackbridge Investments, ranging from changing trade regulations to global pandemics. Stephens says the company is looking forward to meeting the challenges its next decade in business brings head-on. “We look forward to finding new ways to grow in the recycling industry as we work closely with our clients, listen to their needs and optimize our growth. We can’t wait to continue on this trajectory and see how things change over the next 10 years,” he says.