A NEW LEAF

From its office in East Hartford, Conn., Oakleaf Waste Management helps oversee the fate of tons of solid waste and scrap materials, all without deploying a single truck, baler or compactor.

Instead, the company has established its own management outsourcing model as a service to retailers, distributors and other generators of steady streams of garbage, old corrugated containers (OCC) and other recyclable materials.

Oakleaf 's service goal for its customers, says its president and CEO Jim Barnes, "is to make life simple for them" when it comes to the waste and recycling aspects of their businesses.

AN EASIER WAY

An operating premise of Oakleaf Waste Management is that a range of corporations— including manufacturers, retailers and distributors in between—do not have as a core mission the management of their waste and scrap.

According to Barnes, many of the executives and managers who outsource their waste and recycling management to Oakleaf "are already wearing a multiple number of hats." He adds, "We can manage this aspect of their business nationwide without them expending their resource of time."

The premise is one that has been rapidly accepted, as Oakleaf has quickly grown to a company of some 450 employees operating both from East Hartford and offices in other parts of the United States.

The roster of client companies is impressive and wide-ranging and includes such national and multi-national firms as GE, The Home Depot, Sears, United Technologies, PepsiCo/Frito Lay, The Gap, TGI Fridays, Albertsons, Arby's and World Market.

The company's retail presence expanded greatly in 2006 with the acquisition of International Environmental Management (IEM), Roswell, Ga., in August of that year and Valet Waste Inc. of Tampa, Fla., in January of 2006.

IEM specializes in servicing shopping malls. "That is the sole focus of their business, and they have grown to serving more than 300 malls," notes Barnes.

Valet Waste, on the other hand, provides management services to multi-unit residential properties and developments, with more than 90,000 residential units served in several states.

While the acquisitions have been one source of growth, Oakleaf has also been expanding its own roster of clients and its menu of services. As scrap materials have grown in value and companies have taken environmental stewardship more seriously, a lot of that growth has occurred in the recycling segment.

On the Oakleaf home page of its Web site (www.oakleafwaste.com), the introductory text states, "We earn our keep by helping you reduce, divert and monetize your waste flow and by helping you meet your environmental goals. We'll provide you with a complete turn-key solution, from evaluation and design to implementation and management. With Oakleaf, you'll produce less trash, pay less to haul it—and you'll put up with fewer hassles along the way."

On the recycling side, added value is being created by Oakleaf 's Recycling Services division, according to Barnes.

While the recycling of old corrugated containers (OCC) and some other established secondary commodities is a given at most locations, the Recycling Services division led by Perry Moss conducts sight surveys and audits that help Oakleaf customers maximize their ability to recycle.

"The goal, every time, is to divert as much material as possible from the waste stream," declares Moss.

BOTTOM LINE DECISION

The outsourcing of waste management provides clients with a service that saves them management time and energy. Increasingly, though, the ability to identify recycling opportunities provides a significant bottom line difference that lets Oakleaf become an even more valuable business resource.

Both bottom-line and corporate stewardship reasons have prompted Oakleaf to pay a greater amount of attention to recycling since the company's inception in 1995. "More and more, customers are looking for opportunities to recycle—no question," says Barnes. "OCC is definitely the largest category we have," he adds.

Both Barnes and Moss point out that recycling is taking on new forms at Oakleaf. "OCC certainly remains the bulk of what is in our customers' waste streams, but we go a lot deeper," says Moss. "We look at plastics, metals, wood—you name it. If there is a market out there, we'll try to pull it out," he adds, noting that the company will soon announce a service to address the organics recycling stream.

A number of efforts, including deployment of devices such as the Tire Shark and the Pack-A-Drum and the activities of the Recycling Services division, are broadening the recycling focus.

Moss, a veteran of Smurfit Stone's recycling division, and his Recycling Services division has grown to become a team of several people located in different parts of the country performing site audits. "In the last several months, we have added more resources in the form of personnel to the recycling group," says Barnes.

Pallet wrap and other plastic packaging material has become one growing recycling segment, but the site audits can yield a number of benefits. "We still hear that customers did not know that a given material was recyclable," says Barnes. "A lot of times, before the audit, they are simply combining it with the waste stream."

Although the word "waste" is in their company name, Oakleaf has a bias toward recycling, says Barnes. "We want to divert as much of that material as possible," he remarks. "We don't own a landfill, so we're not motivated to fill up that landfill." The predominant reason that Oakleaf encourages its customers to recycle: "I can save them money," says Barnes.

Increasingly, though, corporate green initiatives are also prompting greater interest in recycling. "For years, customers were primarily focused on recycling when they could reduce their costs," notes Barnes. "If it cost them anything additional, they were not likely to do it. Now many are willing to spend more to get recycling done at different levels."

Cumulatively, such behavior can benefit both recyclers and the generators of the scrap materials, Barnes notes. "As governments or companies mandate more recycling, you start to build more demand for the [scrap] product," he comments.

NETWORK NEWS.

On both the solid waste and recycling fronts, Oakleaf accomplishes what it does not by owning trucks and compactors, but rather by working with existing waste hauling and recycling companies.

Barnes acknowledges that approaching haulers and recyclers could be a complicated endeavor initially. "When we first started, it was difficult to communicate our value proposition to the hauler," he remarks. "They had a 'show me' attitude, but fortunately we've been able to prove to the hauling and recycling industry that we're a major player."

"Money talks," says Barnes, and Oakleaf's ability to hit $460 million in the annual sales column—as well as its backing by New York private equity firm The Charterhouse Group—has allowed haulers to have faith that a contract with Oakleaf is a stable one.

On the recycling side, "We're not viewed as core competitors," Moss says of the relationship with sub-contracting recyclers "Frankly, they view us as a source of supply," he adds.

As with previous years, 2007 has been shaping up as a good growth year for the company. Among its major initiatives has been a branded container program for The Home Depot. Further acquisitions are possible, but even without them Barnes foresees "something in the area of 20 percent growth in our core business."

The author is editor in chief of the Recycling Today Media Group and can be contacted at btaylor@gie.net.