Houston-based Greenstar North America, the country’s
largest private processor of recyclables, today announced with its Irish
parent company, NTR, continuing innovations in sustainable environmental
services. The overall development program includes $300 million in
investments in solar, wind and single stream recycling capabilities.
“These announcements support NTR’s
strategy and our commitment to continued investment in renewable energy
and recycling businesses with strong future growth potential,”
said Jim Barry, Group Chief Executive of NTR plc. “We
are excited to be involved at this early stage in taking these
businesses forward to the next level.”
Greenstar North America continues to grow its recycling business with
significant investment in single stream recycling capacity across the
U.S. Currently, Greenstar’s single stream
processing capacity is 500,000 tons per year with announced expansions
bringing capacity to over 1 million tons per year by the end of 2008.
“We believe that single stream recycling
technology is critical to the future of the recycling industry,”
said Steve Ragiel, CEO, Greenstar North America. “The
process decreases the cost of collection, and increases the convenience
of recycling by placing all materials into one bin. However, due to the
upfront investment required, only 30 percent of all recyclables in the
U.S. are currently processed through single stream. Those markets who
have converted have seen recycling rates increase dramatically.”
Greenstar provides single stream services across Delaware, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Texas and surrounding areas. It is adding new facilities
and upgrading its equipment with automation and optical sort technology
currently employed in its European operations. The optical sort and
automation technology significantly enhances the efficiency and recovery
rates of single stream recycling. “We entered
the market through partnerships with some of the most innovative and
entrepreneurial recycling companies in North America,”
said Ragiel. We are working to introduce both residential and commercial
single stream processing across all our facilities, which will be an
important component of our service offering to our local municipal and
collection company customers.”
Greenstar’s parent company NTR, based in
Dublin, Ireland, is a leading international developer and operator in
renewable energy and sustainable waste management. On April 17, NTR
announced an agreement to invest $100 million for a controlling interest
in Stirling Energy Systems, Inc. (SES), a Phoenix, Arizona based
developer of utility-scale solar powered electricity generation plants.
On April 24, NTR announced an additional renewable energy project with a
$150 million investment in Wind Capital Group, a leading wind energy
developer in the Midwest.
Industry-Leading Environmental Initiatives
Along with its investments in wind, solar and single stream recycle
processing, Greenstar and NTR are actively pursuing industry-leading
environmental initiatives. Greenstar North America has recently joined
the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA)
Climate Leader Program. Through this program, it is one of the first
recycling companies to be recognized as a leader in climate change
management and it will be required to report its emissions reductions
every year. As a partner in the program, Greenstar has committed to
reducing its impact on the global environment by completing a
corporate-wide inventory of its greenhouse gas emissions, setting
aggressive reduction goals, and annually reporting its progress to the
EPA.
In addition to its prestigious EPA designation, Greenstar is currently
rolling out a program to help its customers keep track of carbon
emissions reductions associated with recycling use. The industry-first
Carbon Reporting program, currently under pilot with a sampling of our
municipal, hauling company and national customers including Target,
Office Depot, Tractor Supply and others, allows customers to monitor
Green House Gas emissions and the impact recycling has on the company’s
carbon footprint. The program will be available, on request, to all
customers by month-end.
“It is extremely important to us that we look
for ways to reduce our carbon footprint and help our customers do so as
well,” added Ragiel. “And,
thanks to our company’s industry-leading
strides with the EPA as well as the Carbon Reporting program, we are
paving the way for our industry to find new and innovative ways to be
even greener.”
About Greenstar North America
Greenstar is America’s largest private
processor of recyclables backed by one of the world’s
largest private recycling companies. Greenstar provides sustainable
recycling solutions in the recycle processing, commodity upgrading and
commodity trading sector of the solid waste market. Greenstar entered
the U.S. market in 2006 and quickly established a platform for growth by
partnering with some of the leading companies in the industry: Mid
America Recycling, Delta Management Group, Todd Heller Inc, Joseph
Damato Paperstock and Recycle Management Company. The company handles
1.5 million tons per year of recyclables through a network of 15
processing facilities. For more information visit www.greenstar-na.com.
About NTR plc
NTR plc is a leading international developer and operator in renewable
energy and sustainable waste management. The company has a market cap in
excess of $2 billion. NTR has operations in Ireland, the UK and the US.
For more information visit www.NTR.ie.
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