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Matt Reed: Big-money recycling fuels WM deal

2013-02-24 12:09:44| Waste Management - Topix.net

<![CDATA[The biggest surprise in Brevard County's new deal with Waste Management Inc. is not the charitable donations competing trash haulers listed in proposals to impress commissioners. Such gifts to the Brevard Zoo or Economic Development Commission are (usually) smart PR by an industry many still fear is run by Tony Soprano's crew. But news of Waste Management's giving generated enough buzz that Commission Chairman Andy Anderson called a rare press conference Thursday to defend the selection. Whatever. A much bigger and surprising angle is the role recycling now plays in the financial equation -- its sway in negotiations, impact on residents' bills and prospects for profits for Waste Management and the county under their seven-year contract. You see, all that discarded paper, cardboard, plastic and aluminum you roll to the curb once a week has become a lucrative commodity around the globe, especially in countries such as China that are short on raw materials. And the contract for residential service in Viera, Merritt Island and other unincorporated areas calls for two things that should earn county government and the waste hauler a pretty penny: * Big, rolling recycling carts. Issued by the company, these let you toss all your stuff into one 64-gallon compartment without sorting. The convenience has nearly doubled the rate of household recycling in Palm Bay, Melbourne, Satellite Beach and other areas that adopted them. A new "material recovery facility." Picture a huge warehouse or semi-enclosed pavilion where machines and a staff of 35 sort that stuff from all those carts. Waste Management will build and own it somewhere in Brevard. From there, the company will bundle and sell material to regional brokers. If the primary goal of recycling was to spare the landfill and help the environment, Waste Management wouldn't need the building. Nor would county commissioners have listed it among the benefits supporting the agreement. After all, commissioners and Enterprise Florida have already agreed to subsidize through tax breaks a Rockledge recycling company, East Coast Paper Stock, that is about to break ground on the same type of facility off U.S. 1. The company has land, financing and machinery lined up for its 40,000-square-foot building. It, too, will create about 30 jobs. Why spend millions on another one? East Coast could handle the county's recycling material and would love the business, owners Jim and Jay McMenemy told me during a visit Friday. Otherwise they anticipate good returns from business customers and other counties that will haul refuse to be sorted in Brevard. "One hundred percent of the profits stay here," Jay McMenemy said as a truck from Waste Pro arrived at the contractor's current site. Tons of bundled office paper and crushed cans awaited shipment nearby. Soon, as East Coast does with business clients, Waste Management will own the sales and distribution of discarded newspaper, soda cans and milk jugs from residents' homes. "That's the nature of the business -- control, control, control," Jim McMenemy said. Waste Management's plans for the materials plant became an immediate negotiating point. If you're new to the story, Waste Management's initial proposal was higher than competitor Waste Pro of Florida Inc. But commissioners preferred its proposed services, including more yard-waste trucks, and asked a team of staff to try to negotiate a lower price. Under a "request for proposals," officials can choose value over price. That's not allowed under a stricter request for bids. So, how did the company manage to so easily drop its proposal of $14.5 million a year to $11.9 million -- matching Waste Pro's lower price? Turns out, Waste Management had tried to pass along the cost of building the recycling center to county customers. Backing that out -- at county negotiators' insistence -- accounted for more than half the drop. Now, about 100,000 Brevard residents will pay about 33 cents more per month for new carts and automated service. Waste Management will receive about 8.75 pounds per week of valuable recycled goods per household, compared to about 4.75 pounds now, company numbers show. That's an extra 10,400 tons per year. And Brevard County gets a cut of the proceeds, based on a formula, from Waste Management's higher sales.

Tags: deal matt reed recycling

Reed Krakoff - Coach's driving force

2013-02-17 19:00:42| Apparel - Topix.net

Thanks to Reed Krakoff's creative talent, Coach has grown from a family firm to a global player, and its colourful bags now hang from the glossiest shoulders.

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Block, Sprint, Waddell & Reed finish week with gains

2013-02-16 01:41:45| Auto Parts - Topix.net

H&R Block ended the trading sessioni with a gain of 1 percent, while big-local plays like Sprint, up 0,7 percent, and Waddell & Reed, up 0.8 percent, held up through the day.

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Waddell & Reed up 1 percent, YRC slides after Fridaya s big gain

2013-02-12 00:34:33| Auto Parts - Topix.net

Among the winners, Waddell & Reed rose 1 percent, O'Reilly Automotive gained 0.8 percent, UMB Financial was up 0.9 percent, and Layne Christensen advanced 0.7 percent.

Tags: s big gain percent