Rumpke expands Indiana recycling center

Rumpke Waste & Recycling, headquartered in Cincinnati, unveiled its newly expanded Medora Recycling Center in Medora, Indiana, during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Oct 30.  

According to the company, the 9,520-square-foot facility features a larger tipping floor to accept recyclables, push walls to better contain material and an overhead enclosure.

The expansion was partially supported by a $175,000 grant from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management’s (IDEM’s) Recycling Market Development Program. Rumpke invested an additional $175,000 in the project.

“Rumpke is committed to providing access to recycling services for residents and businesses in Jackson and surrounding counties, and the Medora Recycling Center is an important part of that mission,” Steve Sargent, director of recycling for Rumpke, says. “With increased recycling volumes and stricter quality standards in place, these upgrades will provide the capacity necessary to effectively process good, clean material for years to come.”

Since opening in 2017, the facility has processed nearly 22,000 tons of old corrugated containers and residential recyclables. Loose cardboard collected from area schools, businesses and institutions is baled at the Medora facility and shipped to Pratt Industries in Valparaiso, Indiana. Residential material is transported to the Medora facility, compacted and sent to Rumpke’s regional recycling facility in Cincinnati for final processing.

“We’ve developed long-term marketing contracts with end-users in the Midwest—many of which are right here in Indiana—who accept recyclable material to create new products,” Sargent says. “The effects of a circular economy are on full display in Indiana, and we’re proud to play a role in helping fuel that process through the Medora Recycling Center.”

Rumpke sends some of its glass to Ardagh Glass in Dunkirk, Indiana, and Johns Manville in Richmond, Indiana. Other end-users within the state include Perpetual Recycling in Richmond, Indiana, and Brightmark in Ashley, Indiana.

Rumpke owns and operates 11 recycling facilities and processes 1 billion pounds of recyclables each year, the company says. In the past 10 years, it has invested more than $60 million in recycling infrastructure throughout the Midwest.