March 16, 2009

Day in and day out, we hear about companies taking an economic beating. But it is not all doom and gloom. There are many companies in our area that are expanding, despite the current economic climate.

Peter van der Linde owns one of those businesses. For the past three years, he has been working on the paperwork so he could break new ground in the recycling business.

He based his company on the philosophy that one man's trash is another man's treasure.

"This isn't boy wonder saves the planet," said van der Linde. "Recycling is not a fad. It's an important and indispensable component of our existence, good times and bad times."

In December he opened a different kind of recycling business in Troy.

"We go after everything on the planet: Brick, block, wood, concrete, demolition. Anything we find that's labeled junk, or trash, that's candy to us."

A positive for consumers, it's not just curbside pickup and you don't have to sort a thing.

"You put it all in one bin, you bring it to us," said Mike Ledford, President of van der Linde Recycling. "We do all the grunt work, you get the glory for it."

Dump truck after dump truck from other companies unload their heaps of leftovers at the facility. Trucks from van der Linde's own fleet pull in with household pickups. The facility is built to suck down one hundred tons of recyclables an hour. 90 percent of what is dumped is recovered.

"We grind the wood and we've got people literally standing in line to take the wood," said Ledford. "Two or three times a week, I meet with people who want to purchase the metal. "

To make sure van der Linde didn't under serve he market, he invested eleven million dollars into the facility. So the question is, is this a money making business?

"That's a good question," said van der Linde. "It's a feel good business. We know that much. It feels really good to be reclaiming and recycling in these huge volumes."

He says it is that emotional component that drives him to re-chart the direction of what was typically landfill trash.

Van der Linde also says he feels good about the jobs created with the business. More jobs are expected now that the company received a permit to run 24-7, opening a second shift.