Rumpke Renovates Recycling Site, Plans System Upgrade

A closed recycling facility in Louisville, Ky., that is owned by Rumpke Consolidated Cos. Inc. is undergoing a $750,000 renovation and is scheduled to reopen in September.

The facility that will serve residents, businesses and Jefferson County Public Schools will offer a "dual-stream" recycling system at first, and Rumpke officials plan to shift to a "single-stream" system in two years, according to Matt Rumpke, regional vice president for the Cincinnati-based company.

The facility is being renovated because the Louisville market for the sale of recycling material has improved since the company closed the facility in 2001, Rumpke said.

The 66,000-square-foot Louisville facility initially will employ 10 people, a number that will increase as volume increases, Rumpke said. The size of the plant is not expanding.

The facility was closed after the company lost a contract to perform recycling work for the city of Louisville, Rumpke said.

But he said his company will be competing for the Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government contract in 2006.

Rumpke was outbid for the Louisville Metro contract by Houston-based Industrial Disposal Supply Co. in 2001.

However, Rumpke kept a presence in the Louisville area doing mainly hauling of recycled materials to other locations.

With the renovation of the facility, Rumpke's primary customers will be individual businesses, residents and Jefferson County Public Schools, which is one of the company's largest commercial accounts, Rumpke said.

About 80 percent of Rumpke's Louisville business comes from residential accounts, and the other 20 percent is commercial accounts, Rumpke said.

Winning the Louisville Metro contract would speed up the installation of the single-stream recycling system, Rumpke said.

The cost to switch from dual stream to single stream would be between $1 million and $2 million, according to Steve Sargent, corporate director of recycling for Rumpke.

Exactly when that conversion will take place depends on how successful the Louisville operation is, Sargent said.

If the contract is won, the single-stream system could start in 2006, Rumpke said.

"We've got a track record of doing this (conversion), and it really works better," Sargent said. "It allows the customer to commingle the materials, and it allows (Rumpke) to add new materials to the market."

Sargent added that Rumpke customers are calling for more plastics, so his company would benefit from the single-stream system.

"There are not enough plastics being generated for the domestic demand," he said. "The demand is there. We just have to find a way to get it to the customer." American City Business Journals.