Sonoco Recycling to Manage Recycling Services for the City of Durham, N.C.
Ted Voorhees, deputy city manager of Durham, said the city doesn't own or operate its own sorting plant, and therefore needed to find a contractor that could handle hauling and preparing recycled materials for resale.
"At the end of the day, Sonoco Recycling can provide all of the services we need, plus they are able to make assurances that they can handle Durham's recycling at no cost and no risk to the city," Voorhees explained. "They also have a proven track record for successfully working with municipalities and processing large volumes of materials."
Marcy Thompson, division vice president and general manager, Sonoco Recycling, said the relationship between Sonoco and the City of Durham goes beyond the recycling of materials. "We have made a significant commitment to the city, and we plan to integrate ourselves into the community through a number of outreach initiatives, including public education programs and partnerships with local elementary schools. We also have plans for a number of recycling events for the community that target various types of paper and e-waste," said Thompson, noting that materials collected from the city will be delivered to Sonoco's recycling facility in Durham before being transported to the Company's full-scale materials recovery facility (MRF) in Raleigh.
Sonoco Recycling's MRF accepts and processes corrugated boxes and other grades of paper as well as metals, plastics and glass. Sonoco, which processes and uses many of these recycled materials to produce recycled paperboard at its paper mills in the Southeast, utilizes most of that paperboard to produce new consumer and industrial packaging, making Sonoco one of the few cradle-to-cradle suppliers of packaging in the industry. The remaining paperboard and other commodities are sold to third parties.
Annually, Sonoco collects and processes about 3 million tons of recyclable materials globally and has a team of recycling professionals, many of whom are experts in waste management and manufacturing process improvement. Sonoco is also an exporter of recycled fiber, primarily to Asian markets.
About Sonoco
Founded in 1899, Sonoco (NYSE: SON) is a $4.1 billion global manufacturer of industrial and consumer products and provider of packaging services, with about 300 operations in 35 countries, serving customers in some 85 nations. Sonoco is a proud member of the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI), a global composite index that recognizes leading global companies in terms of economic performance, environmental stewardship and social responsibility. Sonoco also has been ranked as one of the 100 greenest large companies in the United States in Newsweek's inaugural Green Rankings, which evaluated the country's 500 largest companies on their environmental performance, green policies and reputation. Sonoco, which was listed 94th, had the best ranking of any U.S.-based packaging company. For more information on the Company, visit our Web site at http://www.sonoco.com/.
SOURCE: Sonoco
Sonoco
Robin Montgomery, 843-383-7509
robin.montgomery@sonoco.com