Hopkins Grease Company

The Hopkins boys like to call themselves the “OGB”, the original grease boys as their family have been in the waste cooking oil recycling business since 1947.

Our current owners, Mike and Tim’s grandfather, Glen “Bud” started the business with one truck and one large rendering company client. He contracted with local diners to purchase their waste cooking oil to sell to the rendering business as a full circle recycling process.

In the 1950’s Fox Valley Grease and Blending was opened in Elgin and a small processing plant was built to handle the increasing volume. Bud’s teen-age sons, Mike and Mel Hopkins began working at their father’s plant, driving routes, learning the business and helping to grow the industry in the 1960’s.

In 1971, Bud passed away and his wife Toni picked up the reins while Mike and Mel came back to the area after completing their service in the Marines. Toni and her two sons ran Fox Valley Grease Service and saw the size of their business expand.

As the business grew, the Hopkins Grease Boys were instrumental in developing the “barrel body” trucks that changed the industry as the fast-food trade was beginning to flourish. Hopkins opened a second facility in downstate Illinois and expanded operations to Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin and Kentucky. Hopkins Grease Boys were known as the premier recyclers in the Midwest.

In the 1980’s Mike’s teen age sons began to work with their father, just as Mel had in his teenage years. The boys, Mike and Tim, learned the routes and the business from their father and became an integral part of the Hopkins team. In 1996, Mike passed away and the boys and Mike’s wife, Cathy renamed the company M.W. Hopkins & Sons, Inc in honor of their father and husband. Mike and Tim now run the operations as Hopkins Grease Company and are extremely proud of the family business and its ongoing operations.

Since 1996 Hopkins Grease has added bulk collection services, grease trap maintenance and power rodding and water jetting services. A full fleet of vehicles and valued employees provide specialized services out of their Lake in the Hills facility throughout the Chicago suburbs, including Crystal Lake, McHenry, Algonquin, Woodstock, Elgin, Barrington, Schaumburg, and the surrounding areas.