Keystone's Innovative Recycling System Wins Award for Environmental Excellence

HARRISBURG (April 22)—Pennsylvania SBDC client Keystone Pallet & Recycling will be honored tonight at an Earth Day gala event recognizing the recipients of the 2008 Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence. Kathleen A. McGinty, Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), will deliver the keynote speech.

Since the company launched in Milton in 2004, Keystone Pallet & Recycling prevented more than 1,672,000 pounds of wood waste from being sent to the landfill. Keystone’s clients are saving about $8,000 per year in avoided disposal costs. The company’s wood pallet collection system reduced annual diesel fuel consumption by 2,600 gallons, saving $7,200 per year in fuel costs and preventing 330 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

In announcing the 2008 recipients, Governor Edward G. Rendell acknowledged that Keystone and the eight other awardees “look at environmental challenges as opportunities to do things differently…These awards recognize and celebrate that unique perspective and can-do spirit that makes Pennsylvania a progressive place to do business.”

Pallet recyclers keep wood pallets from entering the landfill by collecting, repairing and reselling used pallets. After a brief stint working with a pallet recycler in Ohio, Keystone owner Matt Roberts decided to bring the concept back to Pennsylvania and approached the Bucknell University Small Business Development Center (SBDC) for assistance. SBDC business consultants helped Mr. Roberts create a comprehensive business plan and referred him to the SBDC’s Environmental Management Assistance Program (EMAP). Consultant Denise Bechdel offered advice on environmental compliance and suggested that Keystone apply for a Small Business Advantage grant from the Pennsylvania DEP. With Ms. Bechdel’s assistance, Keystone Pallet & Recycling applied for and received four successive grants—a total of $29,850.

"The Environmental Management Assistance Program (EMAP) has been a vital tool used during the start up of my business... Overall, EMAP has provided my business with an invaluable service, which I will continue to use in the future."

-Matthew Roberts, Owner
Keystone Pallet & Recycling

A challenge for recycling businesses is to find and maintain a steady source of materials. Traditionally, that involves driving to collect the materials, increasing fuel costs coupled with long travel distances. Keystone, however, devised a way to collect more used pallets. The company installs on-site mobile collection units at its larger sites, which are picked up only when full. Mr. Roberts was able to use his nearly $30K in grant funds to assist with the purchase of several 53-foot portable recycling collection units as well as a larger truck, reducing the number of trips to smaller collection sites. These investments have resulted in significant decreases in miles traveled, diesel fuel consumption and associated fuel and maintenance costs.

Mr. Roberts acknowledges the assistance of the SBDC’s environmental program in starting and obtaining funding for his business, declaring that “the Environmental Management Assistance Program has been a vital tool used during the start up of my business... Overall, EMAP has provided my business with an invaluable service, which I will continue to use in the future."

While Mr. Roberts is in the unique position to have received funding four years in row, many SBDC clients have benefitted from DEP Small Business Advantage grants. The grant program offers up to $7,500 in funding, provided on a 50 percent cost share basis, to small businesses in the Commonwealth to implement equipment or process changes that result in energy efficiency or pollution prevention. Businesses working with EMAP garnered 30 percent of the $1 million in available funding in the 2007-2008 cycle: 51 clients received $300,195 for projects as diverse as heating and cooling system upgrades, energy efficient lighting systems and a solar power system. In addition to saving the businesses a combined $223,226 annually, these upgrades are expected to conserve resources and prevent the emission of 2,225 tons of carbon dioxide each year.

Click here for more EMAP Success Stories