Created in 1980 as an off-shoot of Independence Excavating, whose impressive resume includes demolition, sewer services and major earthwork - including site work at Jacobs Field, the new home of the Cleveland Indians - Independence Recycling has grown into a major league success story of its own. From humble beginnings as a local recycle contractor with a single portable crushing and screening plant started primarily to handle demolition materials generated by its sister company, today the company employs 60, operates nine portable horizontal shaft impact crushing plants producing in excess of 3 million tons of spec product per year and services a broad customer base east of the Mississippi River.
Independence Recycling owns several yards, including its main location in Cleveland and others in Orlando, Tampa, Lakeland and Fort Myers, Fla., where contractors can dump their asphalt and concrete recycle material free of charge. This creates a win-win situation by saving the contractors from hefty tipping fees at the landfills, while allowing Independence Recycling to generate a reusable, saleable product for its customers.
Two of the company's nine portable plants remain predominantly stationary because of the sheer volume of material coming into the locations - one located at a quarry off of nearby Kelly's Island and a second based at the Orlando facility - while the rest of the plants are on the road, hustling to crush 10,000- to 50,000-ton jobs throughout the eastern U.S. Each plant is capable of producing a variety of spec products to meet the customer's demands. "We will go anywhere it's affordable to crush, and we will even crush for some of our 'friendly' competitors from time to time," said Independence Recycling Operations Manager Ron Brocco.
For more on the story, read the September issue of ROADS & BRIDGES.
