The Traylor Group

The Traylor Group is a 40 year old, family-owned and operated recycling company based in Fort Payne, Alabama. We serve a diverse list of clients ranging from small grocery stores to billion dollar Fortune 500 companies. We pride ourselves in our unique ability to provide comprehensive waste and recycling solutions anywhere in the world. From industrial scrap to office waste, let us be a partner and show you how we’re revolutionizing recycling.

The Traylor Group provides a full suite of recycling services including waste stream audits, equipment provision and service, consulting, brokering and material logistics. For the past 40 years, we’ve been able to slowly separate ourselves from the competition by offering an ever-increasing portfolio of waste and recycling services. We specialize in completely integrated, turn-key recycling solutions tailored to the individual needs of our customers. No two organizations are the same, so the first and most important step in partnering with our customers is gaining a thorough and comprehensive understanding of their unique goals, business processes and waste streams.

Our History

The seeds of our origin were planted in Memphis, Tennessee by Bill Traylor. The year was 1972 and Bill had been in the refrigeration business installing and servicing commercial coolers for grocery stores. Bill noticed the enormous amount of cardboard boxes being thrown away or burned and, having an entrepreneurial spirit, saw an opportunity to not only reduce the waste disposal costs for the grocery stores he serviced for his refrigeration company, but also reimburse them for their scrap cardboard. Additionally, Bill would provide the recycling equipment necessary to compact the cardboard into dense bales at each location. At the time, this was a fairly new idea in the South, but it caught on fast. Soon enough, Bill sold his refrigeration business and began recycling full-time.
In 1976, unsatisfied with the quality of recycling equipment on the market and ever the entrepreneur, Bill founded Waste Processing Equipment, Inc and began manufacturing his own line of “Max-Pak” balers. Waste Processing Equipment, still family-owned, manufacturers a full line of recycling equipment known for their dependability and rugged construction with equipment installed on six continents.
In 1981, Bill patented a flat-bed semi trailer able to haul a standard forklift. The driver would collect the bales of cardboard at each customer location and, when the trailer was full, off-load those bales at the paper mill. By the early 1990s, Bill was one of the largest private haulers of flat-bed corrugated cardboard tonnage in the Southeastern United States.In 1992, The Traylor Group, Inc. was officially formed and since then, we have expanded our material markets to include all grades of paper, plastic scrap and light metal grades and our recycling solutions now include turn-key programs, consulting, brokering, logistics and equipment installation and service.

Our Values

• To leave a cleaner and healthier planet by decreasing landfill contributions, reducing carbon emissions and developing innovative, financially beneficial, recycling solutions.
• A zero-landfill scrap rate for all of our customers.
• To reduce our customers’ waste costs by exploring unique markets for their scrap and offering a full range of turn-key, tailored recycling solutions unmatched by our competitors.

Turn-Key Recycling Solutions

For the past 40 years, one of the attributes that has set us apart from our competitors is our ability to offer a range of recycling solutions virtually unmatched in this industry. Based on a comprehensive understanding of our customers’ unique waste streams and scrap processes, we offer custom tailored, turn-key recycling solutions. We use the full suite of our solutions available which include specialized equipment sales, delivery and service, innovative markets for hard-to-recycle waste, comprehensive logistics solutions, waste stream consulting and a brokering department that ensures you receive the maximum dollar for your scrap materials. Individually, these solutions provide only limited value, but when combined as a turn-key package and managed by a single company, they provide drastic increases to your bottom line by cutting waste costs, streamlining your scrap process and reducing your landfill contribution. Let us be your partner and show you how our turn-key solutions are truly revolutionizing recycling.

Waste and Recycling Audits

The first step in any of our recycling solutions is an analysis of your waste stream to better understand not only what your organization throws away, but, more importantly, how much you throw away. What percentage of your scrap can be recycled? How much value would that add to your bottom line? These are all questions that can be answered with our waste audit. Organizations contribute millions of tons annually to landfills without realizing that a large percentage of their scrap volume is not only recyclable, but valuable. Our waste audit provides a categorization of the material you are currently disposing and the associated volumes. This information, correlated with the market values of your material and with any special equipment or logistics arrangements needed to implement your recycling program, allows us calculate the increase to your bottom line that could be obtained by implementing our recycling solution. Our waste audits give invaluable insight into your scrap rates and allow you complete control of your waste streams.

Logistics Solutions

Oftentimes there is a logistics gap between your recycler or broker and the actual point of generation of your waste stream. This can lead to miscommunication, inefficiency and wasted time and money. By designing and implementing a custom logistics solution, we eliminate this gap and increase the efficiency of your waste stream while adding maximum value to your bottom line. Our comprehensive logistics solutions, tailored to your unique business and waste streams, are managed and coordinated by us – removing all the guesswork and details associated with handling your material. Additionally, as an integrated company, we employ all of our own drivers and own all of our equipment. Whether it’s dedicated or dropped trailers, live-loaded export containers, flat-bed services or custom solutions, our goal is to integrate handling your material into your day-to-day operations and ensure that your scrap logistics are as seamless and efficient as possible.

Consulting Solutions

Customers are easy to come by – a partner you can trust is a different story. Our consulting solutions start by partnering with your organization and gaining a thorough understanding of your waste streams, scrap processes and goals. Many companies become overwhelmed with the staggering number of details and options available to them in the recycling industry. They need a knowledgeable partner who not only cares about their goals, but also has ample experience that they can trust. Over the past 40 years we’ve gained a comprehensive and in-depth knowledge of the recycling industry and its markets; whether you need help with equipment decisions, logistical concerns, scrap values, designing custom material flows or a combination of them all, we have the means and the know-how to find a solution to your problem and help your organization achieve its recycling goals. Let us show you what we can accomplish by working together.

Recyclers and Waste Haulers

There are few other companies that understand the recycling and waste industry better than we do. For nearly 40 years, we’ve worked with fellow recyclers and waste companies to move their product, implement their recycling equipment and design comprehensive recycling solutions for their customers. Additionally, our partnerships with waste haulers across the country have given us invaluable insight into the waste hauling industry and its unique requirements and needs. Our exclusive markets and end-users across the globe allow us extensive logistics and pricing flexibility for your recyclable material. If you collect and produce recyclable material, we can help you increase your bottom line and achieve your goals. Whether you’re interested in brokering your material, acquiring recycling equipment for a customer, need help managing exporting and logistic arrangements or are interested in custom recycling solutions, we’ve built a name in the recycling industry that you can partner with and trust.

Residential and Municipal

Our road to a cleaner environment and a brighter future starts in the home. It starts with educating ourselves and our children on the value of recycling and the role it plays in preserving tomorrow. Unfortunately, residential and curbside recycling can be challenging due to unpredictable material streams, tight government budgets and ineffective execution of the program itself. Over the years, working closely with local governments and civic organizations, we’ve developed a comprehensive knowledge of recycling on the residential level and its complexities. Working through concept design and logistics arrangements, and using our unique suite of recycling solutions and expertise, we effectively developed, implement and manage residential and municipal recycling programs. We work closely with local waste haulers and city governments to ensure the programs are executed efficiently and within budgetary constraints. Our location in Tupelo, Mississippi provides a full suite of curbside and residential recycling solutions.

Warehousing and Distribution

Your organization may operate its own warehouses and distribution centers or you may be a supply chain management company who works with multiple customers. Either way, both warehouse and distribution operations generate substantial scrap volumes from re-packing lines, order fulfillment, item assembly and inventory management. As the dedicated recycling partner for one of the largest third-party supply chain companies in the world, we’ve developed an extensive knowledge of the warehousing and distribution industry. Capitalizing on this partnership, we’ve designed material flow processes for recyclable material, installed and serviced custom equipment and managed the material logistics for hundreds of warehouse and distribution locations across the country. Over the past 40 years, we’ve become intimately familiar with the industry and its unique recycling needs, waste streams and goals.