Recycling Business Never 'Tires'

 

Joseph Matteo is in the business of reinventing the wheel. In fact, he's done it more than 30 million times. That's how many scrap tires Matteo's company, Magnus Environmental Corp., has converted into tire chips over the last 13 years. Tire chips are ground-up tires that can be used in civil engineering projects including septic systems, landfills, and road construction.

 

Matteo, whose background is in real estate development, first became interested in scrap tires when he had to remove a large number of them from a property he bought. He recognized that there was a market for a tire removal company in his region and set up shop in Wilmington, Delaware.

 

With the current push to "go green," one would think that a company specializing in large-scale recycling and litter cleanup would be a favorite of government agencies and civil engineering companies trying to show their commitment to environmental protection. However, Matteo says that before his company could begin grinding tires, they had to deal with the "slow grinding wheels of the government."

 

In order to sell tire chips, multiple government agencies had to approve the chips for use in civil engineering projects where stone and sand were conventionally employed. With his "business riding on developing these end uses," Matteo brought in engineers and professors to hold workshops for government regulators to show that turning old tires into chips "was taking a problem item and turning it into a safe and often better material."

 

Matteo also dug in when it came time to draft legislation in Delaware to put in place a tire tax to fund the cleanup of old tire piles. Matteo says that he was supported in his efforts by state Sen. David McBride (D), who helped the company negotiate the hurdles presented by government regulations. He also got help from Delaware's Department of Environmental Protection, which later awarded Magnus Environmental the department's first Commissioners' Award in 2003.

 

Magnus Environmental's tire chips are now widely used in Delaware and New Jersey for engineering projects. States are also turning to the company for tire-removal projects, including a 4 million-plus tire job in South Jersey.

 

Matteo never gets too comfortable with his success. He says that reinvestment in the company and customer service sustain Magnus Environmental's position in the market. "We engage in constant research to find new and better uses for our product." Even with Magnus Environmental's innovations in engineering and recycling, Matteo prefers to emphasize his company's service. "We get the job done on time, every time, and for half the cost."

 

To share a Success InSight of your own, e-mail Greg Galdabini at ggaldabi@uschamber.com or call him at 202-463-5563.