Upcycle Solutions to Move Into Larger Facility, Growing at Breakneck Speeds
Originally printed in the Union Leader
By RYAN LESSARD Union Leader Correspondent
LONDONDERRY — An electronic scrap consolidator in Londonderry is moving into a larger space after four years of rapid growth. Revenues in 2018 doubled that of the year prior to a total of $10 million, according to its owner.
UpCycle Solutions acquires, sorts and consolidates circuitry and electronic devices to be recycled for their precious metals; particularly palladium, gold, silver and copper. It receives shipments from around the world. The company also acts as a broker between data centers liquidating equipment and potential buyers.
Owner Bill Dorazio said gross revenues for his company have grown exponentially.
“It’s been great,†Dorazio said.
He said the revenues grew from $175,000 in the first year in 2015. That grew to $2.6 million in 2016, $4.8 million in 2017 and ultimately $10 million last year.
A year ago, he got a $200,000 line of credit from Citizens Bank to help with purchasing, but he expects to be able to extend that once he files his 2018 taxes to reflect the increase in business.
The company started in a 2,000-square-foot space on Rockingham Road and moved in 2016 to its current 10,000-square-foot location at 49 Harvey Road.
Recently, the company signed a lease for the entire 26,000-square-foot facility at 7 Delta Drive.
Dorazio said they plan to be moved into the new facility by the end of this week.
He said the company has been running lean and has been limited in its growth due to space issues at the Harvey Road facility.
“Right now, the space we are in is extremely inefficient,†Dorazio said. “We haven’t been able to go after any more accounts because we haven’t had the space to.â€
The company started with just him and a former partner. It now has four employees including himself. He also has an outside sales consultant who lives in Canada, and he is currently interviewing to hire two more in-house employees.
He expects there will be virtually no real renovation of the new space required. The sorting and consolidating is done by hand. But he hopes to invest about $60,000 in a new box truck and a few additional forklifts.
Dorazio said the company isn’t the only electronics scrap consolidator around, but they are unique in the scope of business they do, particularly in premium-level products they ultimately sell to recyclers who shred or smelt the devices for the desired metals. The fewer “contaminant†or undesired materials in the load, the more it’s viewed as a premium product.
“We do a lot of business with smaller recyclers in New England,†he said.
And business is booming, partly due to an uptick in demand and an increase in scrap.
Dorazio attributes the growth to an American culture and economy that increasingly relies on planned obsolescence of electronic devices like phones, computers and televisions, and the increased number of devices per household.
He said he receives about 20,000 pounds of cellphones a month.
Dorazio said he’s been in the recycling industry for 25 years. Prior to starting UpCycle, he worked for Colt Refining and Recycling in Hudson for 15 years.