Circular Services awarded contract in North Carolina

The business unit of Closed Loop Partners will operate recycling plants in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.

bales of recycled paper
Circular Services says it expects Mecklenburg County residents to generate more than 6,000 tons of single-stream material each month.
Zedspider | stock.adobe.com

Circular Services, an operator of material recovery facilities (MRFs) that is part of New York-based Closed Loop Partners, has been selected by Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, to serve as that jurisdiction’s recycling processing and operations partner.

As part of a five-year agreement with two one-year extensions, Circular Services will take over operations this month at an existing 48,500-square-foot Pence Road MRF in Charlotte, North Carolina, the largest city in Mecklenburg County.

Initially, that facility will serve in an interim capacity to process residential single-stream recyclables while the county undertakes a retrofit of the Metrolina MRF, which also is in Charlotte. Circular Services also will operate the upgraded Metrolina MRF under a separate five-year agreement with two one-year extensions.

Once the retrofit is complete, expected to be in mid-2026, Circular Services will move residential single-stream processing to the Metrolina MRF and repurpose the Pence Road facility as a construction and demolition (C&D) recycling facility. The recycling firm says the C&D MRF will be optimized to meet the region’s growing demand for industrial material recovery.

The partnership was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting event at the Pence Road MRF earlier this week. Speakers at the ceremony included Circular Services CEO Ron Gonen; Ebenezer Gujjarlapudi, director of the state’s land use and environmental services agency (LUESA); Elaine Powell, a county commissioner; and Jeff Smithberger, the county’s director of solid waste.

“This partnership reflects Mecklenburg County's forward-thinking commitment to strengthening local recycling infrastructure,” Gonen said at the event. “We are proud to bring our operational expertise to North Carolina and support the county’s efforts to maximize recovery, reduce landfill disposal costs and build a more circular local economy.”

Gujjarlapudi called the new MRF a picture of the county’s ongoing investment in environmental stewardship, sustainability and innovation, adding, “Recycling in Mecklenburg County is not optional, it is essential.”

Mecklenburg County expects to deliver more than 6,000 tons of residential single-stream material to the Pence Road facility (and later, the Metrolina MRF) each month. Circular Services will manage the processing and marketing of these materials and the maintenance and upkeep of the facilities.

The Pence Road MRF features a Bulk Handling Systems (BHS) sorting and processing system Circular Services says is engineered for flexibility, "enabling a smooth future transition from residential recycling to industrial and C&D material processing.”

The facility is located near the county's Hickory Grove Recycling drop-off center.

Circular Services has 27 operating locations and provides holistic materials management services to municipalities and businesses across the country.

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