Interview with Harold Kirstein, President of Greenstar-Kensington

In 1910, Harold Kirstein’s great-grandfather was a “rag man” or “trash man” who used to pick up newspapers, glass bottles, rags and other usable trash. Over the last century, handling of recyclables has changed from a horse and wagon business to multi-million dollar automated processing business. Kirstein’s great-grandfather’s business evolved into American Recycling and the company became part of Greenstar in 2008. 

Greenstar, America’s fastest growing recycler, is headquartered in Texas. The company currently processes 2 million tons of recovered paper, plastic, glass and metals a year through 16 material recovery facilities.

GMC: When we think of a "green" company, the first thing that comes to mind is recycling; particularly recycling of paper products, glass, and plastics. We don’t often take a closer look at the company doing the recycling. In the early 1900s, cities began to provide regular collection of trash; how has the business changed over the last 100 years?

Kirstein: I’ve been in this business for over 40 years. Things stayed pretty much the same from 1910 until the late 60s and early 70s. Automated process machinery such as high-density balers brought about dynamic changes.

Of late, the biggest changes are geared more towards “single stream” recycling and larger capacity balers for other recyclables. In the past, a state of the art baler could process five tons of material an hour. Now 30 to 40 tons an hour is the norm. As a result there is a big increase in capital costs. Machines used to cost $100,000, now they cost millions. 

GMC: People might assume that a recycling company is green because - after all - you’re recycling.  How are you expressing your environmental commitment? What are you doing within your plant to make your operation green? 

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Consumers are willing to pay more for a variety of products that are environmentally friendly and sustainable -- better known as "green," according to a Burst Media study.

The survey revealed that 90% of respondents have incorporated some level of greenness into their daily lives -- 8.8% are completely green, while most are aspirationally green. To help lead green lives, respondents cite the Internet as the best source of information on green products and practices.

The trend of green consumers turning to the Internet poses an "incredible" opportunity for marketers, says Chuck Moran, chief marketing officer for Burlington, Mass.-based Burst Media.
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This article was originally posted on MediaPostBlogs on November 25, 2009 and is reproduced here with her permission.

Green marketing is no longer solely the responsibility of the marketing department. Successful marketing actually depends on, well, the new marketing team; the members of that team however, may surprise you.

As businesses embrace a sustainable model, they move from a shareholder to a stakeholder focus; the latter is a more diverse group, and its members are participants in receiving and transmitting your messaging. That is really good news when done properly; it can be detrimental for an organization that doesn’t get it right.
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