Illinois-based trash collector acquires Indianapolis company ahead of 2026 city contract
Approximately 60 employees from the locally owned and operated company will join Lakeshore Recycling Systems as part of the deal, officials said.
Recycling
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IBJ Podcast: Indy’s fast-rising chief of community outreach on potholes, curbside recycling, rural roots
In eight years, Butler grad Natalie van Dongen she risen from an internship with the mayor’s office to the city’s point person for addressing the concerns and complaints of nearly 1 million people.
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Republic Services opens $180M recycling facility in Indianapolis
The new complex spans two buildings that can separate, grind down and sanitize plastic waste and then shape it into recyclable food-grade containers such as milk jugs or water bottles.
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Indianapolis commits to incinerating municipal trash through 2035
The Indianapolis Board of Public Works voted narrowly Wednesday to continue sending the bulk of Marion County’s waste to an incinerator that burns trash to create steam energy through 2035.
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Indianapolis won’t begin universal curbside recycling until 2028
In November, a Department of Public Works staffer revealed to the Board of Public Works in a public meeting that the Hogsett administration is now planning for a rollout three years later than the original target.
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Articles
Contract reshuffle, planned $63M facility upgrade set stage for 2028 curbside recycling rollout
City officials have said they will need until 2028 to educate Indianapolis residents about what they can and can’t recycle and how to use recycling bins.
Indianapolis approves 10-year contract with new trash, recycling service
The company will also be involved with the city’s transition to universal curbside recycling, expected to begin in 2028.
Cooking oil recycler cleans up at IMS, Gainbridge
Filta Environmental Kitchen Solutions filters customers’ used cooking oil for reuse. It also cleans customers’ fryers and carts off used cooking oil to be recycled into biodiesel fuel.
Republic, Blue Polymers seek $9.9M in tax breaks on south-side recycling complex
Together called the Polymer Recycling Complex, the two side-by-side buildings are expected to work together to recycle plastics from curbside collection and then use that recycled plastic to create new products.
IBJ Podcast: RecycleForce founder on new HQ, hiring ex-offenders and his own story of second chances
Here’s how a kid from Winchester got involved in the drug trade, moved to Jamaica and became a straight-laced business leader, and then returned to Indiana to help ex-offenders restart their lives and make an honest living.
Fishers surveying residents about trash collection preferences
Fishers is trying to learn if residents want the city to contract with a single trash-collection company or continue to let residents and homeowners’ associations choose who collects waste in their neighborhoods.
Republic Services to build plastics recycling operation on south side
Republic Services called the development the “nation’s first integrated plastics recycling facility,” designed to address increasing demand from consumers and packaging manufacturers for recycled plastic.
Canadian chemical firm plans recycling facility, 125 jobs in Indiana
Nova Chemicals Corp., a producer of sustainable polyethylene based in Calgary, Alberta, announced plans Tuesday to establish its first mechanical recycling facility, in Connersville, Indiana.
Pilot project to boost Marion County’s low recycling rate getting mixed reviews
In 2020, the city diverted only about 15% of all residential, commercial, industrial and construction waste from landfills, through a combination of recycling and composting. That was far below the U.S. rate of around 35%.
Curbside recycling could bring jobs, business
Moves to finally rid Indianapolis of its distinction as the nation’s largest city without universal curbside recycling will benefit current recycling-focused businesses and could spur economic development.
Ray’s Trash Service acquired by Waste Management
Ray’s, based in the Hendricks County town of Clayton, was founded in 1965 and offers waste-management and recycling services in 17 central Indiana counties, including Marion and all surrounding counties.
Indy 500 waves green flag on sustainability with lofty goals
IndyCar’s latest push to go green includes T-shirts made from recycled plastic bottles. The shirts are the centerpiece of “The Penske Initiative,” which hopes to hold carbon-neutral races by 2050.
U.S. plastics recycling rate slumps below 6%, analysis finds
Though plastics use fell in the early days of the pandemic, consumption has rebounded along with economic activity. Meanwhile, plastic waste exports have plummeted in the wake of import bans by countries such as China and Turkey.
Italian firm opens $30M plastics recycling plant in Anderson
SER North America has hired 25 employees at the plant with the goal of adding 15 more by the end of the year.
Indiana Recycling Coalition rebrands as Circular Indiana
The not-for-profit said with the rebranding, it is expanding beyond recycling by aligning itself with “the changing landscape of sustainable materials management.”
Reentry not-for-profit RecycleForce breaks ground on new headquarters
RecycleForce says the 102,500-square-foot facility will allow it to recycle 12 million pounds of electronic waste and employ 600 people annually, doubling its capacity.
Reusable packaging set to go mainstream at major grocers, restaurants
Loop, a two-year-old company that collects and sanitizes reusable containers, is partnering with Kroger, Walgreens, McDonald’s, Burger King and Tim Hortons.
Steel dust recycling project on brownfield site dropped amid opposition
The canceled development was a joint venture between Indianapolis-based Heritage Environmental and Monterrey, Mexico-based Zinc Nacional, which had said the project planned for the site of a former BorgWarner automotive factory would have created up to 90 jobs over several years.
China’s ban on scrap imports a boon to U.S. recycling plants
U.S. paper mills are expanding capacity to take advantage of a glut of cheap scrap. Some facilities that previously exported plastic or metal to China have retooled so they can process it themselves.