The first thing to ask is if the company that you’re considering offers service in your locality. It is crucial to have a representative of the company available, otherwise a well-structured recycling program may be hard to implement. Click here!
Are they able to market your material properly? Sadly, there are not always profitable and strong markets for recyclable products. Contracting with a firm that understands market fluctuations and is financially stable and experienced is important.
Be sure that they are a reputable company. When markets are good and challenges are minimal, many “startups” jump into the recycling industry. When the markets turn, these companies may be gone.
Owns and operates the company its own fleet? It can be challenging to rely on subcontractors for equipment like trailers, recycling, transport and transportation.
Can the company provide on-site equipment such as compactors and balers? The wrong equipment will cause you headaches, and increase your costs in terms of collecting and packaging recyclable materials.
Make sure that the staff and the company have the necessary experience. Ask for a current list of clients that the recycler is servicing. Visit several of them to determine if there are any long-term satisfied customers.
Visit and tour the recycling facility. Some recyclers are only brokers and have no processing facilities. It is not a problem, but it may create additional costs and problems with the rejected loads. This makes handling materials “less than a trailer load” difficult. All loose materials must also be processed by subcontractors, which incurs additional costs.
Are they able to collect, market and sell different materials? There are also many firms that specialize in one type of material such as metals or paper. It’s fine to only produce one type of scrap. For example, a large commercial printer may produce paper, aluminum-litho, and film scrap. You will need to find other vendors for the materials that your recycler does not handle.