MBL RECYCLING www.mblrecycling.com
2 COMPANY FOCUS MBL Recycling MBL RECYCLI The reusable exp
WINTER 2010 The American Business Journal 3 COMPANY FOCUS NG erts 2
4 COMPANY FOCUS MBL Recycling
Started in October 2002 with just one truck and 30 boxes, Wendy Gold and her brother Robert Lenzini have modeled the foundations of their family s generational business, Lenzini Excavating, initiating 37 years ago, into today s MBL Recycling, established as an operation that specializes in the recycling of construction waste and demolition debris. Slowly but surely, the company has modestly added to its fleet, which now counts to eight trucks and close to 400 boxes.
6 COMPANY FOCUS MBL Recycling Over time, the company has grown from its initial days of hand sorting to separate the waste material to a state-of-the-art facility that brings efficiency to the sorting process and new levels to both volume and productivity. The facility current stands at 41,000 square feet. Based in Palatine, Ill., where the company s new facility was developed in 2005, MBL Recycling offers full roll-off container services to its customer base, offering anywhere from 10 to 30 yard containers. The recycled material sorted, processed, source separated and is then sold back to the market. For example, recycled shingles are turned to asphalt in order to construct city roads. In 2007, MBL Recycling added concrete washout containers to its extensive line of services, further improving its position in the marketplace, tackling the market with a different style box, while the boxes also better comply with growing environmental standards. Programs and services The addition of 11,000 square feet to its new material recovery facility allows plenty of space for future growth. And as its volume has continued to grow, MBL Recycling has seen an increase in incoming streams from diversifying construction projects, further adding to both the demand and specification of the waste separation. Because of such a high volume with its customers, MBL Recycling was able to hold its percentage in the market as the company successfully navigated the impact of the global economic down-
WINTER 2010 The American Business Journal 7 turn, which was specifically damaging to the American housing economy. Business development Construction is really down here. Housing has come to a halt. We were pretty fortunate though because we never really focused much on housing, said Robert. We did a lot more commercial and it has slowed down but nowhere near the housing. Will next year be any better? It is still too early to tell. We see it from an excavating side because we can tell when they bring in bids and how much work is there for the spring, and there isn t much, added Robert, illustrating that the excavating business allows for a unique secondary insight into the future. We pinch ourselves everyday that we are here and still going. We are riding the storm and doing everything status quo until everything bounces back. We re always thinking of new things, but we have a couple hurdles here in Illinois that we are trying to work on now too (like getting into the drywall recycling market), said Wendy. We were able to pick up some of the slack from some of the other guys that were in the housing market. The shingles this year also brought our tonnages way up, said Robert. Before we used to have to ship [the shingles] to Wisconsin and they used them in asphalt mix. Just in the last year, Illinois recognized this and got a standard for it. We do a lot of work with Power Construction (based in Schaumburg, Ill.), a high profile contractor. We do a lot of hospital additions. We
8 COMPANY FOCUS MBL Recycling phones to scrap metals, e and has From PCs to paper, to g sees the Big Pictur in cl cy re ss ne si r planet. Acme certified Bu disposal and a healthie r te ar sm e, st wa s les big ideas for DID YOU KNOW: ctronics and scrap metals can have tremendous value. Obsolete, unused ele and WHAT YOU CANaDcuO: ram for your company stomized recycling prog into revenue. Call Acme to create siness electronic waste bu ur yo n tur n ca u yo find out how WHAT WE TAKE: ) 263 today 2 ( ME tment C A m n 951- appoi rap.co 6 n esc l 86 le a Cal chedu w.acm w to s isit w v or with Metal Content All Metals and Items es on Ph rs/ ve er /S ers PCs/Print Medical Equipment atalogs/phonebooks /C ard bo ard r/c pe Pa e Offic Acme Certified Business le Acme e-rase and e-cyc Recycling uction Acme document destr
WINTER 2010 The American Business Journal 9 just finished the Northwest Community Hospital nearby and that was a huge project. Astellas Pharma is another Power Construction job. It s a three-year project that just started this year, said Wendy. Materials accepted by MBL Recycling include: Steel Brick Wood Concrete Masonry Materials Asphalt Materials Rock Clean soil Cardboard Plaster Drywall Plumbing fixtures Non-Asbestos Insulation Shingles Electric wiring Piping But right now our only out is that we recycle our own stuff, so that is our little niche. Associated with the U.S. Green Building Council, MBL Recycling provides all LEED documentation for its customers, generating environmental sustainability reports on a monthly basis. The transition to go green is something that is becoming a really big thing with the general contractors they love to recycle, especially with some of the locations around us, said Wendy. Hooray for Chicago because they mandate 50 per cent recycling of construction. It is wonderful that they recognize that. As such, in 2009, the Illinois Recycling Association recognized MBL Recycling as the Recycler of the Year. Quality customer service MBL Recycling prides itself on providing the best possible service to its customer base. Service is a big thing nowadays. People call and they want their stuff. It is not all about the pricing because at least when people call us they know we are going to be there, said Robert. People are so thankful. You would be surprised at the phone calls people go out of the way to call here and say something nice about one of our drivers, or for us being there in a pinch. Everyone gets the feedback and gets to feel good about things, said Wendy. We treat all of our customers the same like gold. AB WWW.MBLRECYCLING.COM
AS SEEN IN THE WINTER 2010 ISSUE OF THE AMERICAN BUSINESS JOURNAL