Evergreen Recycling bought
Rob Dorinson and most of his 100 employees at Evergreen Recycling are expected to start working Thursday for Republic Services, which provides trash collection services in the Las Vegas area.
The two companies announced Tuesday that Republic is acquiring Evergreen for an undisclosed price. Dorinson’s workers will join 1,400 local employees of Republic Services, a publicly held company with $8.2 billion in fourth-quarter revenue last year.
Evergreen will operate as a separate business unit of Republic Services and will focus on recycling commercial, industrial and construction materials.
While Evergreen is believed to be the biggest independent in the nonresidential waste recycling, Republic Services will continue to compete with a dozen other independent recyclers, said Bob Coyle, vice president of government relations and public affairs at Republic Services.
Businesses are starting to recycle more of their waste materials because of a growing commitment to protect the environment and to cut costs, Coyle said.
“People are more focused on sustainability, and people want to be green,” Coyle said. In addition, he said, business owners know that they can reduce the cost of waste collections by separating out materials that have value for recycling.
Republic Services was collecting materials for recycling from 325 commercial and industrial customers in January 2008 and now counts 2,500 recycling customers, Coyle said.
Dorinson, Evergreen’s founder and majority owner, also noticed growth in the recycling business.
“The state and the community is right on the verge of expanding its recycling. It will take a lot of resources, human and financial, to advance the cause of recycling,” Dorinson said. “We have the passion, and we’re merging that with the resources of Republic, and we think that’s a winning combination.”
Dorinson established Evergreen in 1997 to serve the commercial, industrial and construction industries. The company collects plastic, wood, cardboard, concrete, asphalt, dirt and glass for recycling. The company ships most of its recyclables to out-of-town manufacturers who use the materials to make new products. Plastic bottles, for example, can be converted into toys or carpet.
Evergreen sells glass to Realm of Design of Las Vegas for grinding into a substitute for sand in concrete. The Moapa Band of Paiute Indians uses landscaping and waste wood from Evergreen for rebuilding soil.
Contact reporter John G. Edwards
at jedwards@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0420.