Geocycle is a specialist company based in Dundee, Michigan, that converts industrial waste into an alternative fuel (AF) source for cement producers. It has just announced that it is investing US$ 7 million to expand its Dorchester plant. This will enable it to increase production by a third and create some 20 jobs.
The company takes in waste from industries around the southeast that are unable to or do not want to send refuse to landfills or incinerators. It shreds the solid materials and processes them into a fuel source, thereby offsetting the use of coal as fuel in cement plants in upper Dorchester and lower Orangeburg counties. Among the 500 or so waste items that the company can recycle are inks, used oils, plastics, carpets, and textiles. Geocycle’s customers include Holcim’s Holly Hill cement plant.
The company is expanding in anticipation of a rebound in cement production once the construction industry starts to pick up. A spokesman has said that despite the current downturn in the economy companies are responding favourably to having sustainable means to dispose of their waste materials.
Geocycle was formerly known as Energis LLC, which was created in 2002. It entered the South Carolina market the same year that it bought a fuel-processing business near the Holly Hill cement plant from Safety-Kleen Systems. Geocycle now has nine locations around the country.