Greenwave Technologies receives debt payment extensions

Chesapeake, Virginia-based Greenwave Technology Solutions Inc., which operates scrap yards in Ohio, North Carolina and Virginia under the Empire Recycling name, has secured agreements to delay payments on some of its outstanding credit facilities.

The company says it has successfully restructured its senior secured debt, with its senior secured note holders having waived quarterly cash covenants until Sept. 30 and monthly amortization payments until July 31.

Greenwave has grown its scrap yard network in the past two years, but as of its most recently filed Securities and Exchange Commission financial statement, has accumulated a companywide deficit of more than $365 million while having only about $375,000 of cash on hand.

The recycling firm says its new debt restructuring measures will help in bring online its second auto shredder, installed in Carrollton, Virginia. “Greenwave recently received notification from Dominion Energy that its second automotive shredder is scheduled to be connected to the power grid no later than April 9, 2024, and will commence operations shortly thereafter,” the company says in an March 19 news release.

Greenwave says its second American Pulverizer automotive shredder is expected to double its ferrous recycling processing capacity. “By shredding the steel which we currently sell unshredded, we anticipate that we will be able to generate approximately 30 percent more revenue, with significant margins on that steel volume,” the firm says.

The margin will be important, since the firm has raised its top-line revenue while growing the past two years but nonetheless lost about $16.5 million in third quarter of last year (the most recent quarter for which results are available for the firm).

“We appreciate the continued support of our shareholders and debtholders at this inflection point in Greenwave’s growth,” Greenwave CEO Danny Meeks says. “We are simultaneously working to bring our copper extraction unit online as quickly as possible to further enhance the recovery yields—and cash flows—of our downstream recovery system. We are looking forward to an exciting next several months and reporting back on our progress.”

The 33-page SEC Form 8-K detailing Greenwave’s debt restructuring can be found here.