Leading the Industry

We are committed to stewarding towards a cleaner, safer, more ecologically friendly environment for generations to come. We are aware of the importance of conserving our planet’s natural resources by protecting the soil, water, and climate and will stop at no cost to ensure the safety of our environment from which we operate.

Our History

VLS Recovery Services was purchased by management in 2007 from Vopak North America with sites in Hockley, Texas, Mauldin (Piedmont), South Carolina, and Fitzgerald, Georgia.. With the purchase of the Armor Environmental in Mt. Pleasant, Tennessee in 2010, VLS invested millions of dollars in facilities improvements to meet the rising demand for its Waste to Energy services. Expansion continued to be a foundation for growth in sustainable services, and in 2012, VLS designed an Engineered Fuels manufacturing facility in Gray Court, South Carolina.

From 2012 to 2017, VLS continued major growth across divisions and across facilities. VLS increased capacity by 50% at Piedmont, built an Engineered Fuel facility at Armor, and expanded rail capacity at Hockley. VLS continued major investments with upgraded SSI shredders at Gray Court.

New Ownership

Our future begins with the strategy of our investors, and in 2017, VLS was acquired by Aurora Capital. The acquisition by the private equity firm continued a strategy of investment in VLS’ growth.

VLS grew significantly in 2018 with the acquisition of Beauchan Rail Services which specializes in railcar cleaning and product transfer services. The company also expanded in the engineered fuel market by acquiring Venti Industrial in Alabama. VLS moved the Venti operations and built from ground up a new engineered fuel manufacturing facility in Brent, Alabama.

In 2019, the company made two more acquisitions. The first acquisition was NuEarth, a specialty transportation services company operating in the southeast United States. Then, VLS entered into the marine sector with the acquisition of Tubal Cain Marine Services, a cleaning, repair, and gas free company primarily servicing the United States inland tank barge industry.

Seeing a growing need for waste-to-energy, VLS opened a grass roots Waste Management facility in January 2020 called VLS Houston adjacent to the Hockley Railcar Cleaning facility. And in December, VLS closed on the JBR Industrial Services business in Spartanburg, SC, which provides, waste management, industrial services, abatement, remediation, and railroad construction and repair.

With new leadership in John Magee, VLS continues expanding and growing to meet the needs of customers. The 2021 calendar year has already seen the acquisition of Pacific Trans Environmental Services and renamed it VLS San Diego. With facilities in El Cajon, California and in Tijuana, Mexico, VLS San Diego provides west coast services for waste management, industrial services, 10-day hazardous waste, and transportation services.

Our Future

We are well-positioned to continue market leadership across our lines of business. With employee safety as our main premise and sustainability as our guide, we will continue forward with value propositions for our clients and our suppliers. We look forward to serving our stakeholders, employees, clients, and suppliers with innovative and value-add solutions.