A Canadian recycling company is entering the U.S. market in Bellingham, resulting in more jobs and waterfront activity.
Last month the Port of Bellingham commissioners agreed to lease six acres of property near the Bellingham Shipping Terminal to ABC Recycling. The agreement will allow ABC to store recycled metal on the undeveloped property while it waits for ships to arrive at the shipping terminal to export the material elsewhere. Additionally, ABC plans to barge in recycled metal from its Vancouver Island yards and truck it to a site in the county for processing, according to lease documents.
The lease agreement is for 15 years with one option for an additional 10 years. The lease rate is around $199,000 per year.
ABC anticipates exporting scrap metal by ship every 6-8 weeks, said Mike Hogan, spokesman for the port. It will be the first regular ship cargo activity at the shipping terminal since Georgia-Pacific shut down its pulp mill more than 20 years ago, Hogan said.
“ABC has operated as a family-owned company since 1912 with a long history of giving back to their community and they fit well within the strong recycling culture of Whatcom County,” Hogan said in an email.
According to port documents the company plans to hire six people to work the property, known as the log pond. It also plans to hire 20 people once it establishes a site in Whatcom County.
The company did not respond respond to emails requesting further details about its plans for Whatcom County. According to its website, ABC Recycling is a family operation, with Joseph Yochlowitz starting the scrap business in 1912 in Vancouver, British Columbia. It now has nine locations in British Columbia.
According to port documents, ABC plans to export about 81,000 metric tons of recycled metal out of the Bellingham shipping terminal during the remaining months of 2022. In subsequent years the plan is to export around 242,000 metric tons annually. The company will also bring in about 20,000 metric tons by barge for the rest of 2022, rising to about 60,000 metric tons annually in the coming years.
Port Commissioner Ken Bell said the deal is an important one as Bellingham continues to look for ways to increase shipping activity in the area and bring more family-wage jobs to the waterfront. Bell, who operated a company that was in competition with ABC Recycling before selling it in 1999, respects ABC.
“Their ability to grow the business is phenomenal,” said Bell, adding that it’s been a slow, steady climb and he’s excited to see what it can do in the U.S. market.
The only other steady activity seen at the Bellingham Shipping Terminal recently is the barging of large rocks for a multi-year project to stabilize a jetty on the Columbia River. Bell said the crane the port acquired last summer recently completed the certification process, which may make Bellingham more attractive to shipping companies.
“We make logistical sense for the market,” Bell said.
Dave Gallagher has covered the Whatcom County business community since 1998. Retail, real estate, jobs and port redevelopment are among the topics he covers.
