PADNOS Takes on Recycling Challenges with Sustainability City

PADNOS is a fourth-generation family-owned recycling business based in Holland, Michigan. Founded by Louis Padnos in 1905, the company annually converts approximately four billion lbs. of scrap paper, plastics, metal and electronics into reusable resources at 26 locations throughout Michigan and Indiana.

Throughout its years of experience working with customers from a variety of industries, PADNOS staff observed that many companies were struggling with recycling for several reasons, from load sizes to sorting issues. As a result, many potentially recyclable materials were taking up needed industrial space or going straight to the landfill.

“A lot of companies today are under pressure to reduce their carbon footprint,” explains Kari Bliss, Principal Sustainability at PADNOS. “They are trying to increase recycled content in their products as well as set carbon and landfill reduction goals, but they aren’t quite sure how to get there. We saw an opportunity to help our customers reach their objectives.”

Sustainability Team Educates, Advocates, Innovates

The PADNOS Sustainability Team engages in a variety of activities including public education and advocacy, legislative review, and helping large OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and suppliers communicate and achieve their sustainability goals. Whenever possible, Bliss says the team looks for opportunities to bridge customers’ recycling issues for a win-win.

She cites the example of a major Michigan retailer with an excess of large pill bottles in its pharmacies. The white high-density polyethylene (HDPE) bottles are used for deliveries to pharmacies and have a number of components that pose challenges to recycling, including an excessive volume beyond the capabilities of the county recycling service. Additionally, “the bottles are considered ‘contaminated’ because they are colored white,” Bliss explains, “and we had to figure out if a market existed for them.” 

The team soon discovered that one PADNOS customer already was buying HDPE from the company to make counterweights for cabinetry manufactured by several West Michigan office furniture companies. “We saw the opportunity to pelletize the bottles and keep these materials circulating within our geographic space,” Bliss says. “Now there’s a little pill bottle in almost every counterweight made in Michigan.”

Sustainability City Opens Its Doors 

In 2021, PADNOS created a space devoted exclusively to customer learning and innovation. Dubbed Sustainability City, the18,000 sq. ft. facility, located in Grand Rapids, Michigan provides ample room for the team to “dive deep into our customers’ scrap materials, solving some of their toughest challenges,” Bliss says. 

Interested customers can begin by scheduling a visit by a PADNOS team to their own facility to review their recycling efforts on their home turf. “We want to look at each customer holistically, so we can understand what they are dealing with at their recycling sites,” Bliss explains. “Every company has its own challenges, from labor costs and available space to sorting capabilities. It’s helpful to see upfront what we are dealing with, because once a customer’s load is actually entering one of our recycling facilities, it’s a narrow gateway for evaluating what’s onboard.” Following the PADNOS team’s visit, customers interested in stepping up their recycling regimen are invited to Sustainability City to discover solutions to their specific challenges.

Sustainability City guests have run the gamut from Michigan’s automotive and office furniture leaders to “university and national research labs,” Bliss says, although the majority are larger manufacturers. The PADNOS team spends time educating visitors on the ins and outs of large-scale recycling, since most are unfamiliar with the process on an industrial level. 

Although responses to visits vary by company and industry, Bliss says that since opening Sustainability City’s doors in early 2021, PADNOS has helped steer millions of lbs. of industrial waste away from landfill and into recycling.

PADNOS was recognized as a 2022 West Michigan Sustainable Business of the Year by West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum.

More information about Sustainability City and its programs is available by contacting Bliss at kari.bliss@padnos.com.