Recycling Services Inc.

Recycling Services, Inc. (RSI) is a privately held Illinois corporation that was formed in April of 1984. There are three principal owners, Michael J. Finn, David Levinson and Jane L. Erkenswick. Capitalized with $10,000, David Levinson and Michael Finn formed the company to respond to the growing solid waste problem in Illinois by making recycling available to businesses and the general public.

Initially the company focused on developing office paper recycling programs, generally in the downtown Chicago market. In its first year, it opened the Lincoln Square Recycling Station – a buy-back center located on the North side of Chicago. In 1985 a second station in Chicago’s West Town neighborhood was opened. However, it soon became apparent that a processing facility was necessary and in the fall of 1986 RSI opened a facility suited for this combination of retail and commercial collections. 1992 proved to be a pivotal year. The company moved to the Brighton Park neighborhood and its current location of 3301 W. 48th Place. Simultaneously the company purchased a larger, faster Logeman 345 AT baler and added the Fiber Options division and a new partner Jane Erkenswick. In 1999 the company purchased Great Lakes Secondary Fibers adding printers’ scrap recycling.

2000 was another pivotal year. The company realized that to process more recovered fiber it would have to add capacity, and a million dollar capital improvement project was undertaken. The company purchased a second, faster Bollegraaf 100-F baler. Additionally, the company built 5 new loading docks. In 2002, with a State of Illinois Grant, the company added a state of the art Star Screen System to mechanical process office fiber and corrugated containers (OCC). This increased total processing capacity by adding efficiency, safer labor and faster processing times.