There are two companies that believe in recycling, one to make a profit off of its by product the other is simply recycling to do what's right for the environment. Here is a story of the recycling revolution and commerce.
Pulling up to the Recycling Revolution (RR), we were immediately greeted by the sight of a small business in the heart of Dallas that could use some TLC.
Pulling up to the Recycling Revolution (RR), we were immediately greeted by the sight of a small business in the heart of Dallas that could use some TLC.
The building is not as “sexy” as I thought it would be based upon the name. When hearing the term revolution, I envisioned soldiers in uniform or even better, mini-captain Planet heroes and the planeteers walking around. But instead, our class was greeted by a more astonishing pair – a mother and son working side by side for change. The owner, Eddie Lott is an eco-entrepreneur. Charming, funny, SMART and most of all, a visionary who believed that changing the world could also be lucrative. He reiterated that one could not come without the other. After traveling all over the world, he recognized the need for more responsible waste management. His mother, Maria Lott, believed in her son's vision and supported him to make that dream come to fruition.
Introducing the REVOLUTION…
Dry erase boards and recycled pieces of cardboard, were filled with text that encompassed RR. Eddie introduced intricate business plans outlining his goals; recycling revolution is out of the ordinary and out of the box. His model would use composting and working with other eco friendly organizations to deliver a service that is sustainable. With an overqualified skeletal staff working for minimum wage, as most of these blue collar employees hold Master's degrees. They are all working toward a vision and belief by Lott and with that vision he was not only able to talk his staff into giving all they have and using ther respoctive talents to achieve greatness but was also able engage corporate clients like AT&T and convince them to recycle by using his company.
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| (Left) Eddie Lott reviewing his master plan with students Photo by Amari Roskelly |
I was highly impressed. Now take a look at this. This beautiful piece of art is made from recycled glass! Maria gushed over how she saw school buildings and mosaics made from this material.
This beautiful glass art work can be used for countertops and such could potentially create a facility or one like it. RR recycles 10-12 tons a week of glass received. One of the points mentioned that I found fascinating was, that people will accept charges to be rid of waste but are not as willing to pay for the recycling aspect. RR services mostly Dallas and believes in “educating EVERYONE” on the recycling process by hosting educational orientations. The RR specializes in Single Stream recycling which is the convergence of multiple "separate" material streams (i.e. paper, plastic, aluminum, etc.) into one "single stream" container.
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| Me holding glass art Photo by Chris Graves |
- Paper
- Plastics #1-7
- Aluminum
- Cardboard
- Glass bottles
Eddie mentioned that some businesses have to pay to discard waste but do not have the same enthusiasm to pay for recycling. His mother, Maria frustratingly mentioned that she didn't understand the difference, as there is a cost that is incurred, regardless.Hopefully, the revolution will be televised, in this sense, and others will understand the importance of recycling and its benefits. Well, maybe Captain Planet is back afterall, and these are his planeteers.
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| "The Planeteers" Recycling Revolution Staff |
"I started this business to prove it was viable and it’s something I believe in,” said Lott.
It is important that everyone understand that recycling technology is so important because it not only keeps people employed but keeps technology out of landfills. Brian Lashley is the Director of Operations for Reverse Logistics at GENCO ATC. The company was formed at the end of 2010 when GENCO purchased ATC. Legacy ATC ( former employer) was a publicly traded company which began in the automotive industry by refurbishing transmissions. ATC entered the 3PL (Third Party Logistics) arena in 1998; contracting with AT&T Wireless. Legacy GENCO is a 114 year old privately owned company with multiple locations, 7K employees and customers like the U.S. Military, Home Depot, Walmart, etc. Together, there are 10K employees and are the second largest 3PL provider in North America.
How can you recycle that 3G I phone? Consumers can contact their service provider for options to recycle their old cellphones and electronics. Some will provide prepaid shipping labels for getting the devices to the returns center; most have drop off points at their retail locations.
GENCO provide services for 3 carriers and receive roughly 8M devices annually. Half of these units are exchanged or returned by customers who've purchased an insurance policy. The exchange units are consolidated and shipped to an OEM( Original Equipment Manufacturer) repair facility. The insurance units go through an asset recovery process to ensue CPI( Customer Personal Information) is removed and they're sold at auction.
" The other 4M handsets come to us from National Retailers( Walmart, Best Buy, Radio Shack, etc), Dealer Agents (e.g. kiosks at the mall), COR( AT&T Company Owned Retail) locations and Direct Fulfillment( Internet purchases)," said Lashley. "These units are triaged( looking for obvious physical or liquid damage) then processed through a test & repair operation to be refurbished and returned to the supply chain."
GenCo reduces waste by reclaiming as much as we can from the process byproducts. Their trash flows through a metal detector to catch any batteries or other contaminants and then it's separated and compacted to be used with our partner suppliers as recycled material. They test and reuse all returned cables and batteries to be packaged with the refurbished devices rather than buying new.
The plastic parts are replaced on the devices are sorted, categorized and sold at auction for reuse in secondary markets.
If they can not do the thre R's:
they sell at auction to recoup all the available value.
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