Innovation

Although the concept of recycling used materials in order to create a new product is quite familiar, what sets Bayshore Recycling apart from others is its ability to recycle over 10,000 tons of various materials a day. Considered New Jersey’s largest approved recycler, Bayshore Recycling is at the forefront of energy conservation and renewable energy. Gary Sondermeyer understands when most people think of recycling they think of plastic bottles but he reminds us when it comes to Bayshore Recycling, “We do everything [such as asphalt, concrete, brick, clean wood] including bottles and cans.” Bayshore Recycling also makes sure they can efficiently run their operations by being economically sustainable, revolving around a business model of the Tipping Fee. The company can get paid for accepting used and recycled materials and once they are transferred to Bayshore Recycling’s ground to be processed, they can transform the waste into an entirely new product to sell to all buyers. This business model, which has remained since Valerie and Frank Montecalvo founded the company in 1995, allows the company to not only promote sustainability and assist in the removal of single-use waste but also generate a profit to maintain its operations and machines to a high caliber. Gary Sondermeyer explained in an example how “...in the next 5 years, PSE&G expects to do $5 billion of work to upgrade their system” which ultimately translates to “lots of soil that [Bayshore Recycling will] be able to process” and make a profit.

This innovative business strategy is based on the foundation that the company is a for-profit company with the desire to convert waste into new products and function entirely on renewable energy. Bayshore Recycling processes and recycles tons of waste to be turned into new roads or bridges or other renewable sources rather than piling in landfills because they believe in being a green business. However, they are also pragmatic and understand that for any company to survive, it must make a profit, continue to thrive, and possess the latest technology to effectively and safely process the materials. This innovative business model emerged from the necessity of survival in what many would not consider a competitive market. We all know the phrase “It’s not easy being green,” and Bayshore Recycling is completely aware and has therefore made it its mission to maintain an economically stable company to preserve its purpose of being a sustainable operation for New Jersey.

Inspiration

Bayshore Recycling Corporation is a family business that began with the idea of starting off by doing contracting work using a single truck. Gary states, “They built this thing from the ground up, and bought a small truck and started doing contracting work and now built this recycling enterprise.” They were not sure how to get their business running at first but both Valerie and Frank knew that they wanted to enhance their contracting company by making it a material supplier. They began by recycling operations on two small industrial properties where they would process material they generated from their own job sites. The original idea was established by Valerie and Frank and their goal started off by being able to provide the highest quality recycling services and educational resources. They wanted to support the local community with resources that can result in the best and simplest positive changes for the community. Valerie and Frank began their ideas due to looking at the volumes of industrial waste that were created and their primary goal was to take all those materials and repurposed them and regrind them in order to be able to reuse them back to where they first came from. Their original idea was to benefit both the economy and the environment by making it a clean and safe environment for all. Their small idea of recycling the concrete, asphalt, brick, and block generated at the job site resulted in and blossomed into what now is a company that has different entities that are capable of recycling and that are fully permitted to do so.

The motivation or purpose for doing the innovation was to help clients in meeting their sustainable building goals through materials recovery services. Their motivation keeps on improving and increasing due to how they see how much their company has been able to accomplish over the past several years. As stated, “The corporate goal is to operate 100% green businesses powered 100% by renewable energy.” Their motivation is to take the recycled material by product and be able to create renewable energy from those materials. Their motivation since the start was to make a change in the way that the United States looks at energy and be able to make it as green as possible. Bayshore Recycling is a company that is motivated to reintroduce materials to the economic mainstream that would have been disposed into New Jersey’s landfills.

Overall impact

Bayshore Recycling Corp. has had its innovative features impact not only itself as a business, but additionally, it’s impacted the society and the environment around it. These everlasting impacts not only made them prideful in the long-term but also had some great short-term effects that carried their business further. Starting with the business side of things, Bayshore’s innovative recycling ways have been able to keep them in a hard-fought industry for many years now. Due to Bayshore being able to take multiple materials and things to recycle and replenish, their ability to take in various things allows them to generate revenue from many different aspects of recycling. From what Gary Sondermeyer stated in our interview with him, we understand that Bayshore gets tipped to take in recyclable materials and then sell them back as a new product to various buyers. “They get paid on the incoming and paid on the outgoing.” Along with this, they are open all the time, every single day, giving them the max opportunistic approach to maximize their profit and revenue sources whenever they want. How does Bayshore keep its title as New Jersey’s largest approved recycler? Well, one of the last major thoughts that Mr. Sondermeyer presented us with was, “If you’re not economically sustainable, then you’re out of it.” To keep this sense of economic stability and sustainability, Bayshore makes sure to stay on top of their technological advancements and such to ensure that they always have the upper hand in making things easier and more productive for them.

Societal impacts simply go to how their innovative product comes about. Bayshore recycles everything from your ordinary bottles and cans, to whole houses! This not only helps people easily recycle their materials but can also help businesses within the society that are looking for certain materials and products that can be made from these recyclable ones that Bayshore gets from all over the place. Bayshore is permitted by NJDEP to accept over 10,000 tons per day (TPD) of material, which indicates that the society around it has become very dependent on its recycling abilities and has benefited from its work. In better words, society benefits from Bayshore’s innovations through its normal routines. A lot of this also contributes to its impact on the environment. Of course, we all know of the impact that recycling, in general, has on the environment, but what Bayshore does, simply has a much more significant role. They take in things like asphalt millings, asphalt, concrete, brick/block, mixed, ID-27 Contaminated Soil, and much more! Typically, this stuff goes to waste, but Bayshore makes sure that all of it does not and instead is used to create something beneficial for our societies, their business, and the environment. Bayshore also has the long-term goal of being able to operate 100% green with 100% renewable energy. They also, in 2008, installed a 679 kilowatt (9,365 panels) rooftop solar energy system on their largest building that assists in powering operations, and then in 2018, a 1,500 panel, 423-kilowatt rooftop solar energy system was installed on their next largest building structure. Mr. Sondermeyer also states that “the only way to survive in a recycling business, is volume.” This speaks volumes as they truly do abide by that rule with the several ways they have impacted the recycling business.

Along with the various different impacts the Bayshore innovations have brought to their industry, there have been some additional short-term and long-term effects that they have provided. One of the major ones is the recycling industry in general. Being nominated and named New Jersey’s largest approved recycler as well as earning 42 awards in 13 years has both a short-term and long-term impact on how different businesses view them (not just recycling). With this tag attached to them, various businesses will look at that and try to figure out what they did to accomplish that feat. In the long-term, it is possible that businesses down the line also try to copy or at least follow the path that they took, leaving behind a blueprinted trail of success.

Business benefit

When everyone thinks of recycling, they just think of bottles and cans. However, Bayshore Recycling offers much more than that within their business. Vice President of Operations Gary Sondermeyer describes Bayshore Recycling as, “an unbelievable business opportunity.” Bayshore truly has a great business model. They get paid a tipping fee to accept material, then they process this material, and at the end of processing Bayshore manufacturers a product they can sell. Therefore, Bayshore Recycling gets paid for the incoming material and gets paid for the outgoing material as well.

Social and environmental benefit

Bayshore Recycling is always thinking for the benefit of the societies they serve. Having a strong and sustainable company like Bayshore that offers quality recycling services, but also educational resources is a great example of creating positive change in our world today. Additionally, the Bayshore family actively participates in and supports a variety of public, private, and non-profit organizations. In 2008, Bayshore Recycling installed a 9,365 panel rooftop solar energy system on their largest building and 1,500 panels on the rooftop on their next largest building in powering their operations. They are striving and looking forward to completing their corporate vision to operate 100% green businesses fully powered by 100% renewable energy.

Interview

Gary Sondermeyer, Vice President of Operations