Action Environmental holds recycling facility grand opening

Joining a long list of businesses that are going green in the borough, Action Environmental Solutions held its official grand opening of a state-of-the-art recycling center in Hunts Point on Thursday, September 24.

Action Environmental Services, the carter used by the New York Yankees, opened the 30,000-square-foot facility recently at 400 Cassonova Street. The facility handles 300 tons of cardboard, paper, glass, aluminum and plastic every day, and is soon looking to double that number.

Using two different conveyer belts on an elaborate system that sorts and separates the waste, bales of the recycled material are collect together and sold to end-users all over the United States, and abroad.

“We are looking to shake things up and catch where the ‘green’ market is going,” said Action Environmental CEO Ronald Bergamini. “We hire local people through the NYC Environmental Development Corporation, and employ about 35 people from the local community.”

Bergamini said that while some Bronxites may be benefitting by finding Action their employer, much of the product that is marketed and created in the borough is sold oversees in places like China. The bales are loaded onto shipping containers, and then shipped all over the world for further processing into finished products – like cardboard boxes, lower-grade paper, aluminum, and ledger paper.

“Far and away, the largest market for recycled cardboard and other [paper] materials is China,” Bergamini said.

One of the unique features of the recycling plant is a dual main conveyer belt that includes two lines instead of one. This allows for continual operation if an issue should arise on one of the lines.

“We have our own base of customers, but this facility also allows us expand and take in recyclables from other carters,” said director of operations Greg Galietti. “What makes this facility unique is that not only are customers bringing in material for recycling, but we are working on creating recycled products that are marketable elsewhere, which can be a complicated process.”

While the plant first opened at the end of July, the grand opening ceremony was held on Thursday, September 24 as operations were completely up and running, and the company was ready to show off the brand new plant to potential new customers.

For more information on Action Environmental call (866) 270-9900.