An Industry Leader in Recycling

Casella’s recycling programs provide the perfect example of the teamwork required for successful resource management. Households and businesses do their part by separating recyclable materials from their trash, and Casella does its part to collect, sort and process those items into high-quality raw materials for manufacturers to use in new products.

Like any partnership, recycling works best when everyone is committed to playing their individual roles. We live in a closed-loop environment, where everything is connected. An innovative approach to managing today’s waste includes the realization that renewing the life cycle of the products we consume is a critical step in reducing waste. The concept of managing solid waste means giving trash new purpose and a new life. It’s about turning waste into a resource.

From the company’s first recycling center in Vermont in 1977 to its current infrastructure of seven recycling facilities, Casella has been a pioneer in the recycling processing field. Today, Casella is leading the industry with investments in recycling infrastructure, research and development driving the next generation of recycling technologies and innovative recycling programs that are making recycling easier for our customers.

CLOSING THE LOOP ON HARD-TO-RECYCLE MATERIALS

On their journey to zero waste, many of Casella’s customers reach a point where the road gets more difficult. They are recycling cardboard, metal and other traditional recyclables, and have programs in place for food waste. The dominant streams in their waste dumpsters are now items like plastic tubing, wooden reels, film plastics, and packaged food and beverages. It is a collection of materials unique to their business, with no off-the-shelf recovery solution.

Still, many of these items may be quite valuable in the right quantities and the right place. To capture these materials, Casella has established the Aggregation and Recovery Collaboratives (ARC), or Casella ARC Operations. Through the ARC program, local organizations are brought together to establish practical resource recovery operations tailored to their unique needs.

The first Casella ARC operation was developed in Lebanon, NH, with Hypertherm, a manufacturer of industrial cutting systems. The operation has helped to increase their recycling rate from 43% to over 97%, while also enabling innovative recovery solutions through risk- and reward-sharing, aggregation and densification technologies, and efficient access to reuse and recycling markets. The model can be tailored to handle any combination of materials, allowing for the recovery of numerous items that were previously considered “unrecoverable.” Although these items are often lightweight, they have high embedded energy, carbon and other resource value, and are highly worthwhile to recover.

Establishing a successful Casella ARC operation requires very close collaboration among the partnering stakeholders. Casella brings expertise in logistics, handling, processing equipment and commodity markets. Generator partners bring a commitment to waste reduction, volumes of recyclable items and, in some cases, tangible assets such as equipment, vehicles or warehouse space. Most importantly, all partners contribute a willingness to work together to create enduring solutions to serve their unique local materials recovery needs.

RESOURCE SOLUTIONS

Casella’s Resource Solutions segment unites the company’s recycling, organics and customer solutions business units, delivering an efficient resource to help customers meet their waste and recycling goals. Beyond this, the group executes the strategy of sustainable growth as a powerful driver of new business, a builder of talent and an engine of innovation.

With the Resource Solutions team, Casella is able to deliver more services to current industrial, institutional, commercial and municipal customers. Beyond traditional waste and recycling services, Casella provides specialty recycling, organics recovery and advanced resource management services. This holistic approach positions current customers to achieve their sustainability goals and draws new customers.

To successfully deliver complex resource management services, Resource Solutions has fully embraced Casella’s strategic commitment to the growth and development of its people. Customers entrust their sustainability programs to Casella, because they trust the company to bring a depth of knowledge and the leadership skills to champion sustainability goals and manage complex organizational change.

Sustainability requires strategic innovation and execution. The most fertile ground for innovation is the space where Casella’s expertise overlaps with the expertise of its customers. Immersed in their customers’ operations, the Resource Solutions team is constantly inventing practical solutions to real world problems, and rapidly advancing the technologies and capabilities of sustainable resource management.

PLEDGE ON PLASTIC RECYCLING

Casella’s primary recycling goal is to produce high-quality materials that manufacturers want for their products. Casella officials take pride in the quality of the company’s recycled material, and to protect it, they’re willing to invest considerable time and energy. This is an essential component of building a thriving recycling industry.

With concern about plastic in the environment at an all-time high, Casella is committed to help solve this monumental problem. The company pledges that all plastics collected on its residential recycling routes and processed in its Zero-Sort recycling facilities will not be shipped to locations outside of North America. Casella is dedicated to establishing new, responsible domestic partners to identify end markets and find a better use for its recycled materials.

Zero-Sort recycling is a single-bin recycling service that helps transform more discarded materials into new products. By allowing residents and businesses to avoid sorting recyclable material, the process becomes easier. Participants just need to focus on filling the bin, and Casella takes care of the rest. Zero-Sort facilities handle many types of recyclables including cardboard, paper, plastic, metal and glass that is baled, remarketed and transformed into new products.

Led by its Zero-Sort recycling facilities, Casella recovers more than 650,000 tons of recyclable materials.