Business View Magazine | March 2019

125 have started to recover. Bellevue is on a weekly schedule but Omaha will have recycling pick- up every two weeks, like some other communi- ties in the area, to save money.” In summing up the most important attributes of FirstStar Recycling, Gubbels shares, “The ma- jor thing that separates us from many material recovery facilities is we’ve always been very innovative; sometimes by necessity, because we’re a long way from end markets, but we’ve also recognized the fact that we have custom- ers on both ends of our business – the suppli- ers as well as the end markets. Our challenge, and our strength, is recognizing that both of them have to be treated well in order for the materials that flow between the two to actu- ally be successful.” PREFERRED VENDOR n Green Machine Sales, LLC - Tim Houlden and Mike Bachman of FirstStar Recycling visited vir- tually every brand of optical sorting technologies available in the US and chose Green Machine’s GREEN EYE® Optical Sorters. Tim and Mike are impressed with Green’s economical approach to meeting every system design parameter. “Green Machine designed a sortation system to meet our specific quality and production goals. The system has delivered”. FirstStar was sold once they witnessed the amazing volumes of clean plastics produced by the Green Eyes they vis- ited at TC Recycling, LLC in Mars, PA. Peter Men- dre, GMS systems engineer and inventor of the GREEN EYE® technology, says that “Our patented hyperspectral vision system coupled with my A.I. software produces the world’s fastest and clean- est multi-material optical sorter. For instance, on plastics alone our technology can sort every grade of plastic by polymer and color. Addition- ally, we are able to identify subset commodities like barrier bottles, thermal-form food containers, and bio-plastics.We are able to program mixed groups, isolate unwanted rejects, and produce clean material streams for any market”. FirstStar was impressed with Green Machine’s turn-key approach. GREEN MACHINE® designs, manufac- tures, and installs every system totally in-house and exclusively utilizes American-made compo- nents. John Green, owner, says, “It’s both patriotic and smart. Customers appreciate local parts availability and American durability. Plastics recyclers choose GREEN MACHINE® for our sort speeds and nearly limitless material selection capabilities. The exact same optical sorters also sort all grades of fibers, textiles, C&D, e-waste, agricultural waste, ASR, and much more. Every GREEN EYE® is ready to adapt to market changes –needed more now than ever. Soon to follow are hyperspectral robotics”! – www.greenmachine.com