Rumpke outlines recycling services, Cyclone acquisition and curbside plans to Sandusky commission

Blake Austin, municipal and public sector specialist for Rumpke Waste and Recycling, told the Sandusky City Commission on Jan. 27 that the company completed a recent acquisition and expects to expand recycling options available to residents in the region.

Austin said Rumpke finalized purchase of Cyclone Services of Vickery, Ohio, including its trucks, equipment and the hauling site in White's Landing. He said Cyclone had 67 employees at the time of purchase and that 63 are now with Rumpke; he described pickup as continuing with the same drivers and routes and said residents should notice little change beyond Rumpke branding on trucks.

The presentation outlined Rumpke's recycling operations and what the company will accept from Sandusky residents and the city's recycling center. Austin said Rumpke runs a single-stream curb/center recycling program and accepts glass bottles and jars, tubs and cups commonly found in the dairy aisle, and clear clamshell plastics (for example salad and produce containers). He described a dedicated glass separation facility in Dayton and said most recovered material is sold to end users within the United States, typically within a roughly 250-mile radius.

Austin described the company’s new material recovery facility (MRF) in Columbus as a major investment: more than $100 million, about 200,000 square feet and a targeted annual throughput near 250,000 tons compared with Rumpke’s previous facility capacity of about 150,000 tons. He invited commissioners and community groups to schedule tours of the Columbus MRF, which he said uses optical sorters and other automated systems.

Commissioners asked several operational questions. Commissioner White confirmed with Austin that current rates carried over from Cyclone are being held for the moment; Austin said any future rate adjustments would be communicated to customers in advance. Commissioner Johnson asked whether Rumpke would provide curbside collection; Austin said Rumpke is actively working on curbside recycling plans as part of the Cyclone acquisition but did not provide a finalized timeline or implementation plan.

A commissioner noted Sandusky has a municipal ordinance requiring businesses to offer curbside recycling and urged Rumpke to come into compliance. That same commissioner urged the city’s Blue Ribbon Commission to study a single-hauler model, saying the city currently has multiple haulers and that moving to a single hauler could yield township‑level savings for residents; the speaker did not provide a fiscal study to quantify that claim at the meeting.

Austin provided several figures and operational notes: Rumpke said it recycles about 1 billion pounds of material annually and provides service to roughly 450 communities across Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and parts of West Virginia; he also said the closest identified plastics end user to Sandusky is Evergreen Plastics in Clyde, Ohio. He said the Cyclone acquisition included the White's Landing hauling site and that most Cyclone employees were retained.

The commission did not vote on any contract or ordinance related to Rumpke during the meeting; the presentation was informational and followed by several clarifying questions from commissioners. The company representative remained available to provide contact information and to coordinate future tours.

The exchange underscores potential near-term changes in what local residents can recycle (notably glass and certain plastics) and flags curbside recycling as a service under active development by the new Rumpke team.