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Largest privately-owned U.S. environmental services company to add 85 jobs, invest $4 million in capital
Governor Rick Scott participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Advanced Disposal’s corporate headquarters and highlighted the expansion and relocation of its headquarters to Ponte Vedra in St. Johns County. The company recently purchased and merged with two other waste services company, creating the largest privately owned environmental services company in the United States. The expansion will ultimately create 85 jobs, retain an additional 35 and inject $4 million in capital into the state economy.
Governor Scott said, “In addition to keeping and expanding its headquarters in our state, Advanced Disposal Services has grown to become the largest privately-owned environmental services company in the nation. This great accomplishment sends a strong message to the rest of nation that IT’S WORKING in Florida. We have created the most business-friendly climates in the U.S and more than 330,000 private-sector jobs have been created here in a little over two years.”
As a full-service environmental services company, Advanced Disposal provides collection, transfer, disposal and recycling operations to more than 640,000 residential customers and more than 106,000 commercial customers in Florida alone. In total, Advanced Disposal serves 3.3 million residential customers and 200,000 commercial customers across 20 states and the Bahamas. It has more than 3,100 trucks running routes daily.
“The state of Florida and St. Johns County were chosen to be the headquartered home of Advanced Disposal and a handful of our most valuable assets – our employees – upon a thorough review of four states and five different communities. Florida and St. Johns County emerged as the forefront leader and final selection due to a number of positive financial factors and a business-friendly environment such as the state’s competitive corporate income tax rate and no personal income tax, in addition to the quality of life that goes hand in hand with being a Floridian and a resident of Northeast Florida,” stated Charlie Appleby, chairman and CEO.
Florida is home to more than 2,600 headquarters offices, 15 of which rank in the Forbes 500. Florida was ranked the second-best state in the nation to do business according to Chief Executive Magazine, thanks in part to its top-ranked business tax climate, low business costs and no personal income tax. The state offers a large and diverse workforce of 9 million and the nation’s No. 1 talent pipeline.
“When most people think of business sectors, they might think of aviation and aerospace, logistics and distribution, life sciences, or more commonly thought of industries,” said Secretary of Commerce Gray Swoope, who serves as CEO and president of Enterprise Florida. “But headquarters are a very important focus for Enterprise Florida, and our state has made great gains in attracting and retaining some of the best in the world. Our state offers all of the resources necessary for national leaders like Advanced Disposal Services, Harris, Hertz, and Digital Risk to operate and continue to grow.”
The project would not have been possible without strong partnerships between Enterprise Florida, St. Johns County, JAXUSA Partnership, the Department of Economic Opportunity and Workforce Florida.
Advanced Disposal has been approved for Qualified Targeted Industry incentives of up to $595,000 in performance-based tax refunds in return for creating new jobs at an average annual wage of $112,000 or more. The company was also approved for a state Quick Action Closing Fund of $200,000 and a $180,000 Quick Response Training Grant from Workforce Florida. St. Johns County contributed $162,120 to these incentives at the local level.
“We are delighted that Advanced Disposal chose to relocate their headquarters to St. Johns County,” said Melissa Glasgow, the county’s director of economic development. “Advanced Disposal has been a great corporate partner, and we appreciate the significant economic impact their business will provide in new job creation and tax base for our community. This project represents a perfect example of how a positive working relationship between the company, the county, Enterprise Florida and the state helped culminate a corporate relocation success story. Economic development is a top priority, and we look forward to a long and prosperous business association."
“We are thrilled to have Advanced Disposal’s new expanded headquarters in our region and look forward to the company’s long-term growth here,” said Jerry Mallot, president of JAXUSA Partnership. "More than 80 local companies have national or divisional headquarters here, and Advanced Disposal’s selection of St. Johns County as the site for its combined headquarters adds to our reputation as a leading destination for business. The company is joining a wonderful array of headquarters, which also includes four Fortune 500 headquarters and seven Fortune 1,000 headquarters.”
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Enterprise Florida, Inc. is a partnership between Florida’s business and government leaders and is the principal economic development organization for the state of Florida. Enterprise Florida’s mission is to facilitate job growth for Florida’s businesses and citizens leading to a vibrant statewide economy. In pursuit of its mission, Enterprise Florida works closely with a statewide network of economic development partners and is funded both by the State of Florida and by private-sector businesses.
Advanced Disposal is the largest privately owned environmental services company in the United States providing integrated, non-hazardous solid waste collection, transfer, recycling and disposal services in the Eastern United States. Advanced Disposal owns and operates commercial, industrial and residential solid waste collection operations, municipal solid waste landfills, transfer stations and recycling facilities. Advanced Disposal is dedicated to preserving the environment and ensuring that all operations are conducted in a manner that follows all local, state and federal laws in regards to environmental protection. Advanced Disposal is headquartered in Northeast Florida and has operations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Wisconsin and the Bahamas.
Waste Management (WM), the nation's largest environmental solutions provider, recently partnered with Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) to launch the innovative "Live Load" service model to meet the waste and recycling needs of all NCL ships in the Port of Miami including its newest ship, the 4,500-passenger Epic docked at the Port of Miami.
"The Epic is twice as large, with twice the waste volume, of any ship we were currently servicing," explained Dave Duddy, WM's Maritime Territory Manager. "Rather than stay with the old model using multiple roll-off containers and multiple pick ups, we use a more efficient semi-trailer with a side curtain to haul the waste in just one trip."
NCL source separates its waste materials on board, including glass, cardboard, paper, plastic, aluminum, steel, e-waste and dry waste. The materials are then sorted, processed (includes crushing glass, baling plastics and compacting cans), baled and placed on pallets. The 30 pallets are loaded by forklift directly into the curtain side trailer which arrives dockside featuring "just in time service" on the same day and time every week.
"The new service model is faster, cleaner and more efficient for our customer, and provides their passengers with a more pleasant experience as they leave the ship" said WM sales representative Sebastian Wagner. "It also benefits port operations by removing the waste immediately from the site, and offers better security from a border patrol standpoint."
The materials are delivered to Waste Management's Reuter Recycling Center in Pembroke Pines, the largest single-stream recycling facility in the Southeastern United States. The recyclables are consolidated onto outbound trucks ready for market. The dry waste is sent to the firm's nearby Wheelabrator waste-to-energy plant.
"We are able to provide solutions for all of the ship's solid waste needs including transport, recycling and waste-to-energy with zero landfilling of their waste," said Reuter District Mame Davis.
"Live Load Service offers us a paradigm shift in how we manage our waste materials." said Eric Wolff, Manager of Environmental Systems for NCL. "Waste Management listened to our needs and together we developed this innovative program. It offers us expanded recycling options with increased handling efficiency and measurable cost savings. Recycling material is not only the right thing to do, but the prudent thing to do! We are now using this WM service model for all NCL ships in the Port of Miami and have asked Waste Management to expand the service to other ports, including Boston, New Orleans, Port Canaveral and Tampa."
Southern Waste Systems/Sun Recycling is Florida's largest independent recycler of construction and demolition material. Our founders pioneered this industry having started refining our processes over 30 years ago.
In the past two years alone, we processed over 3 million cubic yards of material annually at an overall diversion rate of nearly 86%. Through ongoing R&D, along with upgrades and modifications to our process, our West Palm Beach facility is currently recycling over 92%.
With a focus on "Recycling for Zero Waste", our goal is to turn the highly recyclable materials we process into usable products that are turned put into the economy, saving valuable landfill space and preserving natural resources. Our process is a combination of mechanical technology and manual labor. Most are entry level jobs that through training programs turn into skilled labor positions such as mechanics, equipment operators and supervisors. We employ nearly 400 people. The economic impact of our facilities provide millions of dollars to the communities we serve and create valuable jobs.
Giving back to our community is a core value we hold at the highest regard. We partner with a variety of schools to assist them in fund raising while promoting recycling education. As one example, through the SWS "Recycling is an Art" program, we partner with public schools and Art Festivals by donating recycling bins and 10 and 20 Yard Construction containers to be used as canvases for local art students to paint recycling themed art. The finished products are displayed in the community. We then provide funding to the participants for art education programs in their schools.
The commitment on the part of our team led to Enterprise Florida honoring our company with the 2010 Governor's Business Diversification Award in the Green to Gold Category.
The "Green-to-Gold" is for Florida companies, universities or other organizations that through product or process best exemplifies 'green' leadership as it pertains to the state's goals to become a leader in this emerging field.
Nestlé Waters North America provides almost 800 jobs in Florida at its bottling facilities in Madison and Pasco counties, and in local offices statewide. In addition to its iconic bottled water brands like Zephyrhills® and Deer Park®, the company has earned a solid reputation as a leader in recycling. That's because more than 93 percent of non-product materials used in its two bottling facilities are sent to the recycling bin rather than the trash.
The company's impressive recycling rate is part of an overall waste-reduction strategy that included eliminating unnecessary materials from the production process, moving to multi-use shipping containers and, of most significance, changing employees' attitudes about recycling.
Nestlé Waters accomplished the latter by making it easy for workers to recycle, and much more difficult to throw items in the trash. In fact, the Zephyrhills facility even placed a lock on its dumpster. A manager's approval is now necessary to simply discard something as trash.
The benefits of reducing waste are obvious for the environment, but it also has yielded tremendous results for the plants' revenues – generating approximately $325,000 from recycled materials. In addition, it has greatly reduced the costs associated with trash pick-up. For example, in just one year, the company's Pasco County assessment for garbage dropped from $124,000 to $5,000, a significant savings for any company.
The results so far prove that the Nestlé Waters focus on recycling is paying dividends, but company officials aren't stopping there. Reducing the amount of plastic in the bottles, producing smaller caps and using recycled materials are all innovations that are underway now and expected to generate further savings in the future.
Two very important dates happen in November. November 11 is Veterans Day, a day to thank those individuals who have fought for this great country. November 15 is National Recycling Day - a day also important to Advanced Disposal. Advanced Disposal is honored to partner with Cell Phones for Soldiers - an organization that gives back through recycling.
Cell Phones for Soldiers is a 501(c)(3) organization that collects old cell phones for recycling. The proceeds from the recycled phones are used to purchase prepaid calling cards, which are sent to soldiers overseas to communicate with their families back home. During the week of Veterans Day, Advanced Disposal teamed up with a handful of local communities by placing the Cell Phones for Soldiers donation bag inside the recycling containers of residential customers. The residents were encouraged to simply place an old, unwanted cell phone inside the envelope, seal it up, and leave it in their mailbox. Postage was prepaid, and there was no charge to participants. Each donated cell phone provided soldiers overseas with 60 minutes of prepaid service to connect with their families over the holidays.
Participating Advanced Disposal Residential Customers:
In addition to placing envelopes in customers' recycling containers, Advanced Disposal coordinated inner-office drop boxes at all area hauling locations. Advanced Disposal also coordinated with various businesses and organizations by providing envelopes and drop boxes for office employees who wished to get involved.
To date, Advanced Disposal has collected more than 1,800 cell phones, resulting in more than 108,000 minutes of talk-time for our soldiers!
Advanced Disposal collected and recycled more than 10,000 plastic bottles during the 26.2 with Donna Marathon, The National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer, which took place last February in Jacksonville and area beaches. Next month, Advanced Disposal will sponsor the event for the third year in a row by providing the garbage collection and recycling services.
At last year's race, Advanced Disposal's Beautiful Bag Ladies were at the post-race celebration area to help runners and spectators do their part in "Going Green". Beautiful Bag Ladies collected attendees' recyclables and taught them about the importance of recycling to keep our community beautiful.
"As part of our on-going program of community involvement and commitment to the environment, Advanced Disposal promotes recycling through our Bag Ladies program," said Mary O'Brien, chief marketing officer for Advanced Disposal. "Thanks to our Bag Ladies and recycling containers throughout the race course, more than 10,000 plastic bottles and cans collected will now be diverted from landfills and recycled properly."
These plastic bottles will be turned into thousands of yards of carpet and even fleece jackets, like the ones many of the runners wore to keep warm before the race.
With 10,000 runners expected at the 2011 event, Advanced Disposal hopes to recycle even more plastic bottles and aluminum cans!
About Advanced Disposal Services, Inc.
Advanced Disposal is the fourth largest privately-owned environmental services company in the United States providing integrated, non-hazardous solid waste collection, transfer, recycling and disposal services in the Southeastern United States. Advanced Disposal currently owns and operates commercial, industrial, and residential solid waste collection operations, municipal solid waste landfills, transfer stations, and recycling facilities. Advanced Disposal is dedicated to preserving the environment and ensuring that all operations are conducted in a manner that follows all local, state, and federal laws in regards to environmental protection. Advanced Disposal is headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla. and has operations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
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