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RoadRunner CEO Graham Rihm, of Aspinwall, in the sales division of his company's offices at RoadRunner headquarters in One PPG Place in Downtown. The company has a new contract with Allegheny County to help with their recycling through an  "Uber"-like model of truck dispatching.
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Allegheny County hires 'Uber-like' haulers to pick up its recycling

Stephanie Strasburg/Post-Gazette

Allegheny County hires 'Uber-like' haulers to pick up its recycling

Allegheny County has contracted with a new recycling hauler — one that employs “Uber-like” technology.

Downtown-based RoadRunner Recycling uses a web-based application to communicate hauling routes to small-fleet truck drivers who have empty truck beds and downtime to make some extra money.

“We tap into an excess capacity of trucking assets that are already in a city,” said RoadRunner CEO Graham Rihn. “We built software to say ‘OK, this hotel produces 18 yards a month of cardboard. Let’s make sure those 18 yards of cardboard are routed and hauled to where it’s sold.’”

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In addition to using trucks already on the road, another pillar of the company is that it keeps recyclables separate, bypassing the expense of single-stream processing and the tailspin in the international secondary materials market. Mr. Rihn and several recycling experts describe single-stream as a broken approach. Materials are never taken beyond a 50-mile radius outside a metro area to be sold, Mr. Rihn said.

New recycling bins at the White Oak park office on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018, in White Oak. The new bins are part of a new Allegheny County contract with the company RoadRunner, which provided bins for the county parks.
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“We’ve unlocked recycling. Recycling can work, and it can work profitably,” the 31-year-old entrepreneur said.

On July 1, RoadRunner began routing trucks to pick up recyclables from the county’s four Kane Regional Centers, the Shuman Juvenile Detention Center and nine county parks.

County manager William McKain said the $150,000 contract, which replaced its recycling contract with Republic Services, has potential to increase revenue and recycling.

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And, since “going green” is a passion of county Executive Rich Fitzgerald, Mr. McKain said, the contract is an exciting prospect.

According to the contract, pickup costs for cardboard or office paper range from $20 for 2 yards to $26.15 for 8 yards. However, potential reimbursement for those materials could be $2.81 for 2 yards of cardboard to $11.25 for 8 yards; paper reimbursement ranges from $6.56 to $56.25, respectively, and depending on whether its clean white office paper or mixed.

“We thought that with their revenue potential because they’re going to market, that it would ultimately reduce our cost,” Mr. McKain said. “And our goal was to increase our recycling.”

He said it’s too early to assess any cost savings the county has received so far.

Ron Liscio Jr., White Oak Park Supervisor,  throws a bottle into new recycling bins on Sept. 26, 2018, at the White Oak Park office in White Oak. The bins are provided by RoadRunner.
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He said cardboard and paper are the most ubiquitous recyclables produced by county properties — particularly at facilities like Shuman and the Kane centers where three meals a day are provided.

According to the county’s survey of its own recycling rates, county employees are putting 68 percent of their waste streams into recycling bins, compared with 21 percent in 2014.

Mr. McKain said diversion is a result of employee education and concrete measures, like banning personal trash cans at desks.

Allegheny County is not the only local client for RoadRunner, which focuses solely on commercial recycling. The company says GetGo and Heinz Field are among their 1,000 clients in the Pittsburgh metro area.

RoadRunner’s figures state that the company has 3,000 commercial clients in 10 U.S. cities, including Washington, D.C., where clients include the World Bank and George Washington University. RoadRunner claims that on average annually each client site increases its recycled volumes by 20 tons, compared to previous performance with other waste haulers.

Mr. Rihn, a Pittsburgh native who began the company in New York City in 2014, attributes the volume increase to company education, clearly marked bins that his company provides upfront and to close monitoring by subcontracted truck drivers, who submit photos of recycle bins to report contamination.

Mr. McKain said this was an appealing part of the way RoadRunner operates.

“We’re not going to sign a contract and walk away and come back three years later to find out if it’s working,” Mr. McKain said. “We’re monitoring it.”

In 2017, RoadRunner raised $25 million in investment, a significant portion of which came from Tulco, the firm owned by Thomas Tull, minority owner of the Steelers and former chairman and CEO of Legendary Pictures.

Ashley Murray: 412-263-1750, amurray@post-gazette.com or on Twitter at @Ashley__Murray.

First Published: September 28, 2018, 2:46 p.m.

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RoadRunner CEO Graham Rihm, of Aspinwall, in the sales division of his company's offices at RoadRunner headquarters in One PPG Place in Downtown. The company has a new contract with Allegheny County to help with their recycling through an "Uber"-like model of truck dispatching.  (Stephanie Strasburg/Post-Gazette)
Flags from different regions served by the recycling dispatch company RoadRunner hang above the sales division of their offices in One PPG Place in Downtown. The company has a new contract with Allegheny County to help with their recycling through their "Uber"-like model of truck dispatching.  (Stephanie Strasburg/Post-Gazette)
Ron Liscio Jr., White Oak Park Supervisor, stand next to new recycling bins provided by RoadRunner at the White Oak Park office in White Oak. The new bins are part of a new Allegheny County contract with the company RoadRunner.  (Andrew Stein/Post-Gazette)
New recycling bins at the White Oak park office in White Oak. The new bins are part of a new Allegheny County contract with the company RoadRunner, which provided bins for the county parks.  (Andrew Stein/Post-Gazette)
Account management representative Anna Berish, center right, works at her desk at the RoadRunner offices at One PPG Place in Downtown. Ms. Berish is one of the company's six "cultural ambassadors" who bring the company's values to fruition within the office, including implementing the office recycling program.  (Stephanie Strasburg/Post-Gazette)
Stephanie Strasburg/Post-Gazette
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