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Recycling facility committed to reducing waste

Winter 2012

ALPCO Recycling Inc. in Macedon, N.Y., was into recycling before recycling was cool. As a result, they have established themselves as a fixture in this western New York community and the surrounding area.

In business since 1960, ALPCO offers a variety of recycling services designed to keep non-renewable resources and raw materials out of overburdened landfills. The family-owned company collects, processes and transports thousands of tons of recyclable materials every year.

Among the innovations at ALPCO's facility is a convenient residential drive-through that allows members of the community to drop off recyclables and household waste without ever having to get out of their vehicles. ALPCO also accepts e-waste such as televisions, computers, printers and monitors, and works with a regional agency to make sure that these items are recycled in a proper and controlled manner.

Heavy metal masters
On the commercial and industrial side of their business, ALPCO accepts and recycles both ferrous and non-ferrous metal. Ferrous metals include iron and steel while non-ferrous metals include aluminum, copper and brass. ALPCO sorts and processes these metals in various ways to ready them for shipment to mills.

ALPCO also offers its commercial and industrial customers a full line of roll-off containers ranging from 10- to 40-cubic-yards in size. It also owns, operates and maintains its own truck fleet consisting of van trailers, sanitary compactors, flatbed trailers, roll-off containers and boom trucks. Much of what goes into the roll-off containers is sorted in ALPCO's yard and recycled into new products and materials.

Doosan equipment plays a big role in sorting, demolishing and loading recyclables at ALPCO. The business currently owns two Doosan excavators and a wheel loader. They are all kept busy.

"We're very hard on the equipment," admits Al Plumb, co-owner of ALPCO Recycling along with his wife, Janelle. "When I buy a piece of equipment, I run it to work, and it works."

"We put more hours on equipment than most people," he says. "We start at 6:30 a.m. and run until 6:30 p.m., seven days a week. The machines work hard all day long. It's the way we have always been."

Doosan products hold up
Despite the long hours and non-stop schedule, the Doosan products have held up well.

"Everybody likes the Doosan machinery. I don't think there's been hardly any downtime," Plumb says.

ALPCO currently owns two DX340LC excavators. One is equipped with a hydraulic shear that cuts materials, such as car frames and steel I-beams. The other is set up as a material handler with a cab riser and a grapple that loads trucks with recycled material.

"We process scrap metal and then load it out and send it to mills or foundries," Plumb says. "The material handler loads 250 to 300 tons per day. Plus, it's used to rip motors out of cars."

Working alongside the excavators is a DL250 wheel loader with special solid tires and a grapple.

"The DL250 works in our construction demolition recycling yard all day," Plumb says. "It pushes loads back and sorts material."

ALPCO acquired the machines from Monroe Tractor & Implement in Henrietta, N.Y. Plumb says ALPCO has been working with Monroe Tractor since 1969.

"We've stuck with Monroe Tractor because they get the job done," Plumb says. "They always have all the equipment and the service. Our job is critical here because we don't have extra machines. When one of the operators calls me and tells me they're down, that's a priority."