How do Nebraskans recycle? Depends. Are we talking Sandhills rancher, Seward state senator or Omaha banker? Patrick Leahy, CEO of Omaha-based Firstar Recycling, could tell you, in turn, I am pretty certain.
Patrick (see the previous column) announced support for Nebraska’s rural recycling at the Keep Nebraska Beautiful (KNB) Conference in Lincoln earlier this year. While this news piqued my interest, he also offered a valuable perspective on the industry as a whole through the lens of “the largest MRF (Materials Recovery Facility) in the Midwest”.
I cannot help but compare our goal of processing/shipping a million pounds (500 tons) in a year to the amount of recyclables Firstar marketed to end users in 2024 – 100,000 tons! This is “evenly split between business and single-stream residential,” Patrick explained. A staff of 110 employees working 24/6 takes advantage of automation and other technology to achieve this level of productivity. There are a lot of second-chance employees, such as immigrants and people released from the justice system, he said.
The initial question from KNB affiliates in the room: “Have you heard recycling is broken and do you agree?” set the tone. Patrick replied that it “does have challenges. (These) can be speed bumps or can shut you down. The response? Recycling is easy, people make it difficult.” No argument from me there as much as I appreciate the majority of our patrons who do it right.
Regarding contamination in the Hefty Energy Bag program, known for its orange bags, Patrick estimated less than 5 percent, maybe 2 percent, from residential. He said they receive 20 tons a month from their service. Through the first two quarters of 2025 KAB averaged three-quarters of a ton per month. That means each bag weighs two pounds on average, he said. Staff, most with at least five years on the job, check for containments. They look at commercial “orange bags” too, which weigh in at about 20 percent contamination. At KAB this material is sorted, primarily, from residential recycling though several businesses, including the Post Office, are adding to our orange bag volume. So, we strive to minimize contamination before they open our bags in Omaha.
How a company processes materials is influenced by economics. Prepping recyclables for transport KAB only gets paid for a few categories and pays to ship the rest. At Firstar the facility had pelletized plastic. Patrick said they shuttered that option as the market price fell. He described how the Omaha MRF had invested in a facility to produce plastic lumber, its current production and how they are developing end markets. “A lot of field turf installers like our product, they can pin down that turf with lumber. They have a lot of scraps (from installing turf) afterward. We take that in and turn it into green-colored lumber.”
Another question led back to pelletized plastic as Patrick was asked about his take on chemical recycling, “the process of converting polymeric waste by changing its chemical structure and turning it back into substances that can be used as raw materials for the manufacturing of plastics or other products.: (source: plasticseurope.org)
“Eighty percent of the pellets we sold went to chemical recycling industry,” he said. “Neither good or bad, depends on the company and how they’re following regulations. Some of the bills . . . say give it a pass for 10 years because it’s a nascent technology. My take on it is I don’t know.” He noted that one of Firstar’s customers used the process to make more plastic and another was making oil.
Again, considering what a material becomes, “Are you in a place where you can prioritize who you’re selling to to not downcycle?”
Illustrating the point with a common piece of litter, Patrick replied: “The ability to take a candy wrapper and turn it into a wrapper – technology is 25 years away. We feel we’re a bridge solution. . . . We’re not in a position to pick and choose our markets. We’re in a bidding war for #1 and #2 (plastics). They’re turning it back to bottles – who will not leave us high and dry.”
He emphasized that recycling anything is possible if you have unlimited resources.