Brightmark Energy, RecycleForce partner on hiring, plastics recycling efforts
Brightmark Energy, RecycleForce partner on hiring, plastics recycling efforts
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Brightmark Energy, a San Francisco-based waste and energy solutions company, and RecycleForce, an Indianapolis-based 501(c)3 social enterprise that provides electronics recycling services and employs formerly incarcerated individuals, plan to collaborate around training, hiring and recycling. Brightmark has committed to hiring RecycleForce-trained individuals for jobs at its advanced plastic recycling plant in Ashley, Indiana. RecycleForce will also provide Brightmark with up to 1,700 tons per month of difficult-to-recycle plastics from televisions, computers, car seats and similar products for processing at the Ashley facility.
“I recently visited RecycleForce’s facility in Indianapolis, and I left feeling so inspired by the important work they do,” says Brightmark Energy CEO Bob Powell. “Brightmark is incredibly proud to be collaborating with an organization that provides such vital services to the community and to formerly incarcerated folks—and their families by extension—who are trying to change their lives for the better. We look forward to building a long and fruitful partnership for both of our organizations. I can’t wait to see RecycleForce’s qualified trainees on our factory floor as Brightmark employees.”
RecycleForce provides 300 formerly incarcerated men and women with workforce training, case management, peer mentorship and job opportunities each year, the company reports in a news release on the partnership. Some benefits of this include reduced recidivism and increased employment produced $1.20 in economic value for every dollar invested in the program. The recidivism rate of RecycleForce participants is 25 percent versus about 77 percent nationwide, RecycleForce reports.
“We recycle many tons of plastic every year, but when we receive plastics that are contaminated with food waste or other [nonrecyclable] materials, they have to be sent to landfills,” says Gregg Keesling, president of RecycleForce. “Our partnership with Brightmark will enable us to instead recycle these plastics and will open up significant capacity for us to attract new suppliers of recyclable materials, and in turn, increase the amount of feedstock we provide to Brightmark. This means more revenue for RecycleForce, and more revenue means we can counsel, train and prepare more returning citizens for the workforce.”
Brightmark provides a predictable market for residual plastics like those from e-waste, which were previously considered unrecyclable by electronic scrap processors. After China and other countries stopped accepting imported postuse plastics, many recycling processors have ended up with a glut of plastics with nowhere to send them but landfills, Brightmark reports in a news release on the partnership. Through the companies’ multiyear agreement, an annual volume of supplied plastic feedstock material will grow over time as RecycleForce expands its operations and is able to take on more of these types of materials.
“Right now, I’ve got 10 semitrucks worth of plastic sitting here ready to ship out to Brightmark’s plant as soon as it’s up and running,” says Andrew King, inventory and quality control director at RecycleForce. “That’s 10 semis worth of product that I haven’t been able to process because of the China recycling glut we’re facing in the United States. The second these trucks leave our lot for recycling with Brightmark, we can bring in more materials.”
In addition to the feedstock and hiring commitments, RecycleForce program participants will play a key role at Brightmark’s Ashley plant. Brightmark reports that these individuals will lead workforce trainings for the facility’s new staff on workplace safety, forklift operation and other operational needs.
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Source: Recycling Today
Brightmark Energy, RecycleForce partner on hiring, plastics recycling efforts
<![CDATA[Brightmark Energy, a San Francisco-based waste and energy solutions company, and RecycleForce, an Indianapolis-based 501(c)3 social enterprise that provides electronics recycling services and employs formerly incarcerated individuals, plan to collaborate around training, hiring and recycling. Brightmark has committed to hiring RecycleForce-trained individuals for jobs at its advanced plastic recycling plant in Ashley, Indiana. RecycleForce will also provide Brightmark with up to 1,700 tons per month of difficult-to-recycle plastics from televisions, computers, car seats and similar products for processing at the Ashley facility.“I recently visited RecycleForce’s facility in Indianapolis, and I left feeling so inspired by the important work they do,” says Brightmark Energy CEO Bob Powell. “Brightmark is incredibly proud to be collaborating with an organization that provides such vital services to the community and to formerly incarcerated folks—and their families by extension—who are trying to change their lives for the better. We look forward to building a long and fruitful partnership for both of our organizations. I can’t wait to see RecycleForce’s qualified trainees on our factory floor as Brightmark employees.”RecycleForce provides 300 formerly incarcerated men and women with workforce training, case management, peer mentorship and job opportunities each year, the company reports in a news release on the…