Crystal clear vision

To go from a small division tucked away in another company to an environmental services leader requires a vision that inspires big ideas.

Crystal Clean’s vision is clear: to protect the earth’s resources by helping businesses run more cleanly. It’s simple, but not easy, especially now that the Illinois-based company serves more than 100,000 customers nationwide and doesn’t plan to stop growing anytime soon.

It wasn’t always this way. In fact, Crystal Clean’s journey—outlined in our cover story, "Building a cleaner future"—started as a division of Heritage Environmental Services designed to serve smaller customers. But as demand grew, the division spun off to form its own entity and, nine years later, became a publicly traded company on the Nasdaq.

The company didn’t stop there. Since Brian Recatto became president and CEO in 2017, Crystal Clean has evolved significantly. It expanded its West Coast presence through a strategic acquisition, launched a significant new product, added hazardous waste treatment and transitioned back to a privately held company under new ownership by J.F. Lehman & Co., where it is now commonly known as Crystal Clean.

Today, it has a nationwide network of more than 120 facilities, 2,300 employees and a fleet that eclipses 1,000 vehicles. Each year, Crystal Clean collects 92 million gallons of used oil, processing 75 million of them at its re-refinery to create new products. Talk about realizing a vision in a big way.

Crystal Clean’s story is a reminder that evolution is key to thriving no matter what industry you operate in. This particularly resonates with me now. You might have noticed a few new names within our editorial team, including my own. I joined GIE Media Inc. in September as the managing editor for both this publication and our sister magazine Construction & Demolition Recycling.

My journey to the waste and recycling industry is far from a linear one. In college, I pursued journalism with the wide-eyed vision of ending up on ESPN, pivoted to covering rubber manufacturing and most recently ventured into marketing.

Now, I’m here and I’m excited to learn about a new industry. I’ve already met some interesting people at our recent Corporate Growth Conference in Chicago (If you missed it, be sure to get next year’s dates, Nov. 18-19, on your calendar.) and look forward to meeting many more in the coming months.

Even as the industries I’ve covered have changed throughout my career, like Crystal Clean, my vision remains the same: deliver stories that bring value to our readership. When was the last time your company was forced to evolve? Please share your story with me at chsweeney@gie.net.