Recycling services were halted in 2015 after the fire, but the organization plans to partner with Rogue Disposal to return REACH to limited recycle — the processing of newspaper and cardboard materials — in September.

“We currently have no plan to get into curbside, residential recycling,” said Sam Porter, chief executive officer of REACH. “That’s the material that’s got a lot of garbage in it, smells bad, attracts all the rodents … It’s going to be a cleaner product that we get in, it’s going to be inside underneath the sprinklers, and we’re going to bale it up and get it out very rapidly.”

The organization is also in the works of rolling out several new developments and equipment, including improvements to the electric system and energy-efficient lighting, new siding on the east-facing building, and generally de-cluttering and cleaning up across the 20-acre property.

“I remember how cluttered this was,” Moe said, standing outside the facility, where the nonprofit has largely cleared the space of debris or materials.

“Our plan is to not let it get like that. We’ve cleaned the entire property for the most part and we don’t want to operate like that. We’re hoping to take a little more pride in the facility than we did in the past, and Sam brought a lot of that with him. There’s no reason it can’t be presentable.”

REACH has approximately 140 people on staff, including participants and employees, according to Moe.

The nonprofit also provides day services for developmentally disabled individuals to develop job-related and interpersonal skills.

The additions of essential equipment such as a new baler, a new mill known as the “hog” that grinds wood products into sawdust, and an expansion of its partnership with Jeld-Wen are also notable upgrades.

Expanded partnership

REACH began cutting a moisture barrier product for Jeld-Wen doors earlier this year, a material imported from Korea by a company named Decotone, according to Moe, in addition to building pallets for the global company.

The product helps the door to dissipate the amount of heat that can be transferred through the doors, Moe said.

“It will cause that moisture not to transfer and ruin the paint on the door,” Moe said.

“We’re providing a service that is helping manufacture their doors,” Porter added. “They are obviously a terrific community member, very committed to the area just as we are.”

There is also an added emphasis on ensuring safety for participants and materials, especially in the case of a fire on site.

“All of the material that comes in will be stored inside the building, so it won’t be blowing all over,” Porter said.

The non-profit is also dedicated to becoming a Blue Zones Project-approved work site.

New additions and programs are welcome after a tumultuous year for the non-profit for Porter and staff.

REACH re-energizes

“We’ve been hit with really a double-whammy this year,” Porter said, adding that it could actually be considered a ‘triple-whammy.’

The nonprofit has extremely scaled back massive plans to expand the Maywood Drive facility through potential state tax credit funding.

“We started a year ago with a fire and then shortly after that, we lost the micro-tax credits program,” Porter said. “The third thing has been some legislative changes on the way that we can conduct business.

“We operate a sheltered workshop here. At one point, we had about 100 adults with developmental disabilities who worked out here in our wood mill. Since July of last year, we’ve not been allowed to bring any new people in. We’re trying to find and create jobs for them in the community.”

REACH opened a satellite paper-shredding campus on Shallock earlier this year as an additional way to incorporate REACH participants in the outlying community.

“It’s working — it’s doing really well,” Moe said.

“We’re actively looking for a second site and maybe a third site to do some operations,” said Greg Stathos, projects manager, who was hired on in May.

Additional building space in the community would help expand the non-profits reach, and staff hope to find those interested in the non-profits mission to help.

“We want to make it a public drop-off location for paper recycling material, so it would be open to the public,” Stathos said, adding that a sorting facility offsite for materials such as cardboard, and yellow and white paper is also needed.

Materials would then be processed through a new baler, which could arrive at REACH as early as mid-August.

“By the end of the month, we’re going to be making bales,” Porter said.

“We’re pretty proud of where we are right now,” he added. “We’re at a really exciting time.”

To read this article and others on the Herald and News website, please refer to the link below:

REACH Renews Recycling (Herald and News)