Houston-based Greenstar North America has announced the opening of what it claims is the largest recycling facility in Texas. The 180,000-square-foot facility, located in San Antonio, has the capacity to process 20,000 tons per month and features a Bollegraaf single-stream processing system from Van Dyk Baler Corp., Stamford, Conn.
“The city of San Antonio has helped to pioneer recycling in Texas,” said Mike Wynne, CEO of Greenstar North America and chairman and CEO of Greenstar Global, at the grand opening event. “Today’s grand opening demonstrates the commitment that has been made to increasing recycling rates—which is the right choice and allows the city to decrease landfill cost, preserve natural resources and reduce carbon emissions.”
Greenstar reports that it has experienced a dramatic increase in recycling rates across its Texas markets, particularly in San Antonio. Since implementing single-stream recycling, San Antonio’s recycling rates have increased by as much as 200 percent compared to the previous collection approach in some areas.
“Greenstar is committed to working with our city and commercial partners to invest in technology that brings recycling solutions and reduces program costs,” said John Rabon, Southwest regional manager, Greenstar. “Greenstar opted to build the facility in San Antonio because it has the largest recycling program in the State and will serve as an excellent hub to collect materials from key regions across Texas.”
The facility employs approximately 100 people and accepts single-stream materials from other recycling programs across the Central and South Texas region.
Greenstar says it selected Texas for its North American headquarters recognizing there is a significant potential on the commercial and municipal side to grow recycling. Greenstar invested more than $300 million in its U.S. recycling business throughout the last two years, $50 million of which has been invested in Texas. During this same period, Greenstar’s parent company, Ireland-based NTR, invested more than $700 million in its U.S. environmental businesses.
Greenstar handles 2 million tons of recyclables per year through a network of 14 processing facilities. More information is available at www.greenstar-na.com.