URI Students Launch Recycling Company
Updated: Friday, 27 Apr 2012, 6:47 PM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 25 Apr 2012, 11:31 AM EDT

• By Matt Smith

NARRAGANSETT, RI (WPRI) - Two URI undergraduate students have launched a recycling company that is saving local auto companies hundreds of dollars in recycling costs each month.

Dylan Gregory of South Kingstown and Cory Harrigan of Narragansett invested

their own money to purchase 12 dumpsters of various sizes and contracted with several vendors that pay the students in return for the recyclables they collect.

The company is called Scrap Specialists Recycling and is based out of South Pier Road in Narragansett.

In the fall of 2011, the two students partnered with a local auto body shop with three locations.

By testing out the waters, they dropped off a dumpster at each location, collecting paper, boxes, plastics, auto parts and scrap metal.

The students then removed and sorted the material, bail them, and then sell the recyclable materials.

"Recycling is something that needs to be done, and people shouldn't be charged for it," Gregory said.

The auto body company is saving $200 to $400 a month by allowing the students and their company to keep their dumpsters there and empty them themselves.

Scrap Specialists Recycling now has a half dozen customers and everything they earn is invested back into the business to purchase more dumpsters.

Copyright WPRI

By Emily Greenhalgh
PBN Web Editor
Twitter: @EGreenhalgh
4/25/12

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – University of Rhode Island undergraduate students Dylan Gregory and Cory Harrigan have launched a recycling company targeting the automotive industry, the university announced Wednesday.

The company, Scrap Specialists Recycling, placed 12 various sized dumpsters at several vendors around the state for no charge.

The students sell the recyclable materials after they have been collected and sorted, so the companies save fees for dumpster rentals and charges related to emptying.

“We both had a pre-existing passion for environmental issues, and when we took a class on energy economics, we saw that there was a lot of opportunity for energy savings through recycling,” Gregory said. “Recycling is something that needs to be done, and people shouldn’t be charged for it.”
Beginning last fall, Gregory and Harrigan partnered with auto-body business Crown Collision, which has three locations in the Ocean State.

“Crown Collision previously had to pay a monthly fee for dumpsters as well as a tipping fee each time the dumpsters had to be emptied, but now we have our dumpsters there, empty them as needed, and don’t charge them anything,” said Gregory. “They’re saving $200 to $400 per month per location, and we make our money by selling the recyclable materials.”Through the success the partnership with Crown, Scrap Specialists started targeting other automotive companies. They currently have half a dozen customers.

“We see great potential with the automotive industry,” Gregory said. “As far as I know, we’re the only company targeting them and the only ones handling all the recyclables in one container at no cost to them.”

While the company isn’t profitable yet – everything they earn is invested back into the business to purchase additional dumpsters – the students hope to turn the Scrap Specialists Recycling business into a viable full-time company when they graduate.

Companies interested in contracting with Scrap Specialists Recycling can contact Gregory at 401-429-3247 or Dylan@scrapspecialists.com.

URI students Dylan Gregory, left, and
Cory Harrigan started a recycling company
called Scrap Specialists Recycling.
(Photo courtesy of URI)

By JOHN OTTERBEIN/ecoRI News contributor

URI students Dylan Gregory, left, and Cory Harrigan started a recycling company called Scrap Specialists Recycling. (Photo courtesy of URI)NARRAGANSETT — Dylan Gregory and Cory Harrigan became partners last summer, developing a business that helps keep recyclable materials from being needlessly buried in the state landfill.

The two University of Rhode Island undergraduates invested their own money to buy 12 Dumpsters, and Scrap Specialists Recycling was born. Their enterprise operates out of 386 South Pier Road, and saves several automotive businesses hundreds of dollars every month by properly disposing of their recyclables — for free.

“We chose to start with automotive businesses because such a large percentage of their waste is recyclable,” Gregory said. “There isn’t anything in a car we can’t recycle.”

Beginning last fall, Gregory and Harrigan tested the waters by partnering with Crown Collision, a successful auto body business with shops in Rhode Island. The students dropped off a Dumpster at each location and instructed employees to toss all recyclables — paper, boxes, plastics, auto parts and scrap metal. When a Dumpster is full, the URI students remove and sort the materials, bale them and vendors haul the bales away.

The money vendors pay for the recyclables is put back into the business so Scrap Specialists Recycling can buy more equipment and take on more clients.

“We encourage people to take a ride to the landfill in Johnston. It is truly humbling to see that towering heap of trash which is going to be there for thousands years,” Gregory said. “It’s even more sickening to know that 70 percent of that garbage could have been recycled.”

Crown Collision had to spend between $200 and $400 a month to keep a Dumpster at each shop to dispose of all its waste. Now, Crown Collision doesn’t pay anything for its scrap disposal and all of its scrap materials are recycled.

“We give our clients an incentive to recycle by cutting their disposal costs,” Gregory said.

Harrigan and Gregory already are developing plans to expand their business to include more recyclables-producing industries, the development of their own scrap yard and a composting project.

“We currently have seven accounts and are constantly looking for new ones to adopt our recycling program,” Gregory said. “Our current goal is to reach 30 to 40 accounts so we can expand our business and increase recycling awareness.”

In fact, Scrap Specialists Recycling was started because both Harrigan and Gregory want to increase recycling awareness and emphasis the importance it has for a sustainable and cleaner future. They hope awareness will increase when people see these new projects in place.

“We believe recycling is essential in the transformation of awareness that must take place in the coming years,” Gregory said. “Reducing our consumption and reusing the ‘waste’ we produce is vital in our society if we are to become sustainable.”

For more information about Scrap Specialists Recycling, send an e-mail to Dylan Gregory at Dylan@scrapspecialists.com.

Photo Courtesy Dylan Gregory URI students Dylan Gregory,
left, and Cory Harrigan, right, have founded Scrap Specialists
Recycling, a company through which they can cut down
local businesses’ waste costs and help the environment.

By Shaun Kirby
skirby@ricentral.com

NARRAGANSETT—The idea to found a recycling business came from a casual conversation between two college friends, Cory Harrigan of Narragansett and Dylan Gregory of South Kingstown. The dialogue burgeoned as the discussed the need to develop incentive for businesses to recycle, and now the two undergraduates at the University of Rhode Island are owners of Scrap Specialists Recycling, investing their money to purchase 12 dumpsters and contracting their collection services with local vendors.

“Dylan and I have always made every effort to recycle but we know that many people don’t think twice about throwing a bottle into the trash,” said Harrigan. “The residential recycling business is flooded with vendors offering their services, so we began to examine other areas where we could fill a niche, and were shocked to find out that large producers of recyclable materials are commercial and industrial businesses, and that many of these businesses don’t recycle.”

“If a business currently wants to recycle, they have to pay additional fees for additional dumpsters, or one for each type of recyclable material,” he added. “Once we identified the problem, we began to brainstorm solutions.”

Harrigan and Gregory have thus begun to canvass local automotive businesses and offer their own recycling services, cutting down on costs for transport and recyclable separation.

“After more discussion, we came up with our current service, which offers on-site recycling solutions for any size business free of charge,” said Harrigan. “Although our main clientele are auto body businesses, we are targeting any business that produces ‘waste.’”

“With our idea, we have eliminated one main issue with recycling by providing an incentive for industrial and commercial businesses to recycle,” he added. “Through publicity, sponsoring events, and giving back to the community, we are trying to raise awareness for the benefits of recycling, which include not only less garbage in the landfill, but massive embodied energy savings.”

Their first customer was Crown Collision, an auto body company which has offices in Bristol, Middletown, and Pawtucket. Harrigan and Gregory dropped off a dumpster at each location, and instructed personnel at Crown Collision to throw all of their recyclables, from paper material to scrap metal, into the dumpster. The students sort through and bail the recyclable material when each dumpster is full, and vendors take the separated material away.

“Crown Collision previously had to pay a monthly fee for dumpsters as well as a tipping fee each time the dumpsters had to be emptied, but now we have our dumpsters there and empty them as needed,” said Gregory. “They’re saving $200 to $400 per month per location, and we make our money by selling the recyclable materials.”

Gregory and Harrigan have since entered into contracts with other automotive businesses to dispose of their recyclables, and Crown Collision has come away impressed with the students’ dedication to the environment through a successful business model.

“Scrap Specialists Recycling offer services which make sense financially as well as environmentally, and both businesses agree that a universal recycling scheme is long overdue and much more can be done to reduce our waste streams,” said Pamela Harrigan, Vice-President of Crown Collision. “We at Crown Collision take pride in working with the young and ambitious individuals at Scrap Specialists Recycling, a company that is new and exciting, and it’s rewarding to help passionate college students make a difference in the world.”

“Crown Collision also recognizes the importance of integrating sustainable techniques into our business and see many more ‘green’ opportunities appearing in the future,” she added. “We feel obligated to do what we can to reduce our impact on the environment and understand that every bit counts.”

The two URI students, as they approach graduation and look toward turning their nascent recycling business into full-time positions, stressed the impact which the University’s Environmental and Natural Resource Economics (ENRE) program has had on their understanding of how sustainable, ecologically conscious communities and businesses should operate.

“The ENRE faculty and staff truly motivated us to think outside the box,” said Gregory. “The current system isn’t working, and we have studied countries with over 90 percent recycling rates, while in the U.S., we recycle at most 15 to 20 percent of our waste stream. This is truly unfortunate.”

“Over the past four years at URI I have had the distinguished privilege of getting to know each and every professor on an educational level and on a personal level,” he added. “As we speed towards graduation, I see our relationships developing into professional relationships. URI is a research institution, and we enjoy having the opportunity to be in an atmosphere where change is common and accepted. It’s positive and means you are moving forward. There is no answer in stagnation.”

As Scrap Specialists Recycling grows under the hard work of Gregory and Harrigan, the two students hope that the experience will not only provide significant cost-cutting measures for local companies, but create a more environmentally aware business community that recognizes the health of the globe is an investment which everyone must make.

“We believe recycling is essential in the ‘transformation of awareness’ that must take place in the coming years,” said Harrigan. “Reducing our consumption and reusing the waste we produce is vital in our society if we are to become sustainable. Unfortunately, with the economic downturn environmental issues have taken the back seat.”

“By creating this business and taking recycling to a new level, we hope our efforts will have a ripple effect and encourage people to take similar actions,” he added.

For more information about Scrap Specialists Recycling, contact Gregory at (401) 429-3247.

Media Contact: Todd McLeish, 401-874-7892

KINGSTON, R.I. – April 25, 2012 – Two University of Rhode Island undergraduate students have launched a recycling company that is saving local automotive companies hundreds of dollars in recycling costs each month.

The students, Dylan Gregory of South Kingstown and Cory Harrigan of Narragansett, call their company Scrap Specialists Recycling, which has an office at 386 South Pier Rd., Narragansett. They invested their own money to purchase 12 dumpsters of various sizes and contracted with several vendors that pay the students in return for the recyclables they collect.

“We both had a pre-existing passion for environmental issues, and when we took a class on energy economics, we saw that there was a lot of opportunity for energy savings through recycling,” Gregory said. “Recycling is something that needs to be done, and people shouldn’t be charged for it.”

Beginning last fall, Gregory and Harrigan tested the waters by partnering with Crown Collision, a successful auto body business with offices in three locations in Rhode Island. The students dropped off a dumpster at each location and instructed company personnel to toss in all of their recyclables – paper, boxes, plastics, auto parts and scrap metal. When the dumpster is full, the students remove and sort the materials, bail them, and vendors haul the bails away.

“Crown Collision previously had to pay a monthly fee for dumpsters as well as a tipping fee each time the dumpsters had to be emptied, but now we have our dumpsters there, empty them as needed, and don’t charge them anything,” said Gregory. “They’re saving $200 to $400 per month per location, and we make our money by selling the recyclable materials.”

The success of their first efforts led them to solicit other automotive companies.

“We see great potential with the automotive industry,” Gregory said. “As far as I know, we’re the only company targeting them and the only ones handling all the recyclables in one container at no cost to them.”

The company now has a half dozen customers, and everything they earn is invested back into the business to purchase additional dumpsters.

“Once we get 30 or 40 customers, we’ll have more capital to work with and be able to pay ourselves a little something,” said Gregory.

Harrigan is studying abroad in New Zealand this semester, where Gregory said he is finding some great new ideas and different ways of thinking about recycling, especially about the composting of food waste. That’s an idea that Gregory took to local farmers, and together they are exploring how best to launch a local food composting initiative at URI.

The students’ company is a labor of love for both Gregory and Harrigan, and they hope it will turn into full-time jobs for them both when they graduate.

“I love getting in the dumpster and sorting recyclables,” Gregory said. “I absolutely love what I do.”

Companies interested in contracting with Scrap Specialists Recycling can contact Gregory at 401-633-4112 or Dylan@scrapspecialists.com

Pictured above
Dylan Gregory (left) and Cory Harrigan