The recycling loop, step by step

1. Inbound. A tote fails triage — the bottle is too degraded, the cage too damaged, or the previous contents too uncertain for resale.
2. Disassembly. The bottle is separated from the cage. Pallets (wood or steel) are set aside for reuse or repair.
3. Grind. The HDPE bottle goes through a shear shredder, then a granulator. Output is flake, sized 10–25 mm.
4. Steel shred. The cage goes through a hydraulic shear. Output is mixed galvanized steel, densified and palletized.
5. Outbound. HDPE flake ships to a regional recycler that re-pelletizes for industrial plastic manufacturers. Steel ships to a mill in Cayce, SC.

What happens to residuals

We do not accept totes with uncleared chemistry still inside. If you need help with that, we partner with a licensed cleaner in east Charlotte who can handle most common residuals — we'll make the introduction.

For totes with trace residuals (small amounts, known chemistry, non-hazardous), we handle disposal as part of the intake. Email us with details and we'll confirm before pickup.

The traceability promise

Every tote that enters the recycling stream gets a line in our ledger: arrival date, source, previous contents, weight, and destination. If you need a recycling certificate for your own ESG or waste-manifest reporting, we can issue one.

What we send to the mill

• HDPE flake: 10–25 mm, visually sorted, <0.5% contamination. Buyer: regional re-pelletizer.
• Mixed galvanized steel: shredded cages, baled. Buyer: Cayce SC mill.
• Wood pallets: repaired and reissued where possible, otherwise chipped for local landscape mulch.
• Brass & stainless fittings: segregated, sold by weight to a metals recycler.

Why the landfill is a last resort we've never used

Landfilling a tote loses the embodied energy of the HDPE, the galvanized steel, and the transportation that put it together. Recycling, even at its least efficient, recovers some of that. Reusing recovers nearly all of it. Since day one we've never paid a landfill tipping fee — it's a line item we're proud not to have.

Environmental certifications and compliance

• Zero-landfill policy: Internally audited annually. Zero landfill tipping fees paid since founding. We maintain a running waste manifest that documents every outbound material stream — HDPE flake, steel shred, pallet wood, and fittings. Available on request.
• Charlotte-Mecklenburg solid waste compliance: Our recycling operation is registered with the county as a material recovery facility. We report tonnage annually.
• EPA compliance (non-RCRA): We do not accept RCRA-listed hazardous waste. Totes with hazardous residuals are referred to a licensed cleaner before entering our recycling stream. We maintain documentation of all refused totes and referrals.
• OSHA compliance: Our shredder and grinder operators are trained per OSHA 29 CFR 1910.147 (lockout/tagout) and 1910.212 (machine guarding). Annual refresher training documented.
• Recycling certificate issuance: We issue per-load recycling certificates compatible with ISO 14001 environmental management systems, GRI sustainability reporting, and CDP climate disclosure frameworks.

Waste stream details: where every material goes

Material recovery rates

Not all recycling is equal. Here are our actual recovery rates — the percentage of inbound material weight that becomes usable secondary raw material:

• HDPE: 94% recovery. Losses come from contaminated sections (cut out before grinding), fines that pass through the screen, and moisture weight.
• Steel: 98% recovery. Galvanized steel is nearly 100% recyclable. Losses are limited to zinc dust from the galvanizing layer.
• Wood: 85% recovery (as repaired pallets or usable chips). Losses from rotted, painted, or chemically treated sections that cannot be chipped safely.
• Brass/fittings: 99% recovery. Metals are the easiest material to recycle — nearly zero process loss.
• Overall material recovery: 95.2% by weight. The remaining 4.8% is moisture, label stock, and process fines — none of which goes to landfill. Fines are sent to a waste-to-energy facility.

Downstream partners

We don't sell our recycled materials on the open market. We work with a small number of trusted downstream partners who take consistent volumes:

• HDPE re-pelletizer: A family-owned operation in eastern North Carolina that specializes in post-industrial HDPE. They re-pelletize our flake into industrial-grade pellets sold to pipe and container manufacturers. We have been their IBC-source supplier since 2020.
• Steel mill (Cayce, SC): A regional EAF (electric arc furnace) mill that accepts our baled cage steel as #1 shredded scrap. Turnaround from bale to melt: typically 2–4 weeks. Our steel is valued for its cleanliness — no paint, no organic contamination.
• Pallet recycler (Charlotte): A local operation that repairs and resells GMA-standard pallets. They take our repairable stock and return ~60% to circulation. The rest becomes landscape mulch.
• Community gardens (Mecklenburg County): We donate pallets and chipped wood to three community garden programs. Total donation: ~200 pallets and 8 cubic yards of chips per year.