Balcones Resources, an Austin-based environmental services company, backed by leading circular economy investment firm Closed Loop Partners, announced today the acquisition of Single Stream Recyclers (SSR), Florida’s first artificial intelligence- (AI-) powered recycling facility based in Sarasota, Florida. This represents the growing footprint of best-in-class recycling facilities in the South focused on updating, optimizing, and reinvigorating recycling infrastructure in the United States to keep valuable materials – paper, plastics, and metals – in manufacturing supply chains.

The strongest businesses tend to be those that can retain talented employees. That has been a recipe for success for Balcones Resources in Austin, Texas. The facility enjoys a deep bench of experience, including an operations manager and shift supervisors who’ve been there nearly since the MRF opened in 2012. The operations manager, in fact, started as a sorter.

In response to the current situation with the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, the City of Austin, Travis County, City of Dallas and Dallas County have issued orders to shelter in place. Based on these guidelines, which strongly encourage essential businesses to stay open, Balcones Resources will continue to operate while complying with Social Distancing Requirements to the greatest extent possible.

Closed Loop Partners, a New York-based investment firm focused on building the circular economy, has announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Austin, Texas-based Balcones Resources through its private equity fund, the Closed Loop Leadership Fund. Maite Quinn, a managing director of Closed Loop Partners, says she and a fellow Managing Director Michael Gajewski will take seats on the Balcones board under the terms of the agreement.

The CEO of Balcones Resources says having Closed Loop Partners as its majority owner will help drive the recycling company’s growth, including expansion of its footprint.“We’re looking at some opportunities in other parts of Texas and the United States right now,” Kerry Getter, chairman and CEO of Austin, Texas-headquartered Balcones, told Resource Recycling. “That’s where we see the advantage: They bring a lot of credibility to the table because of their national presence, and we like to believe that we’re pretty good operators, and that’s something we bring to the table. With the combination of the two, we’ll be able…

A professional baseball player died here this weekend. You didn’t hear about it, because Dick Getter spent his entire career — from 1947 till 1960 — in the minors. He played for teams associated with the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers and Cleveland Indians and Chicago Cubs, but spent those 14 years on a seemingly never-ending tour of places called Iola, Seaford, Zanesville, Batavia.

Like David, Kerry Getter and Balcones Resources, Austin, Texas, use five stones to combat larger companies, and issues, in the recycling industry.When David went to confront Goliath, the boy carried five stones with him. According to many interpretations, this is because Goliath had four relatives who might seek revenge for his death.In the case of Balcones Resources, headquartered in Austin, Texas, the company also brings five “stones” to its daily fight against larger companies and the forces at play in the recycling industry, Kerry Getter, CEO of the company, says. These five stones—employees, customers, environment, share and wow—form the foundation…

Balcones Resources celebrated its 25th anniversary Feb. 5, marking the milestone with $25,000 in donations to nonprofits.Balcones Resources, Austin, Texas, celebrated its 25th anniversary Feb. 5. Balcones marked the milestone with a reception featuring the presentation of $25,000 in total donations to five Austin-area environmental organizations: EcoRise, Hill Country Conservancy, Keep Austin Beautiful, Shoal Creek Conservancy and Waller Creek Conservancy.Balcones Resources was conceived in late 1993 and began operations in 1994. Since its inception, Balcones founder and CEO Kerry Getter, the Balcones board of directors and shareholders have grown Balcones into a nationally recognized firm and one of the top…

Kerry and Becky Getter founded Balcones Resources in 1994 in Austin, TX. At the time, the only commodity being actively recycled commercially was white paper and the Getters saw the need to change the way Texas recycled. Balcones Resources first introduced the Anything that Tears™ program, which simplified office recycling and allowed property managers to quickly quantify their efforts through monthly environmental reports and a reduction of costs related to landfill hauling fees. Now, 25 years later, operating in three locations with 210 employees, Balcones Resources has facilities in Austin and Dallas, TX as well as Little Rock, AR, and…

When the Austin, Texas-based Balcones Resources set out to upgrade its facility in early 2017, the main focus was on automation. Managers at the material recovery facility (MRF) had a difficult time staffing a second shift that ran five days a week—an issue that robotics and optical sorters showed promise to alleviate. With the rising level of labor costs, the company felt the automation had the potential to decrease operating costs as well.Then, National Sword hit the U.S.

“Would you like to have a little Coke?” asks Kathy Bell Hargrave, cracking open a can of soda in her daughter’s kitchen. Some things we do in life without giving a second thought, but when we stop to think about them we realize they raise a lot of questions. “Every can that I open, every piece of paper, everything I want to recycle it,” says Bell Hargrave. “I put it all in a giant blue bin, but what happens to it? I don’t know.”She is not alone in her quest for answers. Judging from listener questions, many people think of…

Balcones Resources was founded in January 1994 in Austin, Texas. The company has grown from that single plant to become the largest privately held recycler in Texas. Today, Balcones operates plants in Austin and Farmers Branch (Dallas), Texas, as well as in Little Rock, Arkansas. Its Austin material recovery facility (MRF) processes residential and commercial single-stream recyclables and a variety of high-grade fiber. The Dallas plant focuses on commercial fiber and plastics, operating a sorting line and also processing preconsumer UBCs. The Little Rock plant is dedicated to processing high-grade fiber.