User:Synthality/Air Cycle Corporation 2

Air Cycle Corporation is a privately-held American recycling and waste management company headquartered in suburban Chicago. The firm offers environmental consulting in addition to its core business providing fluorescent lamp,  ballast,  battery, and electronic waste recycling products and services to  commercial and institutional facilities.

History
Air Cycle was founded in 1978 as a manufacturer of air control systems for McDonald’s Corporation restaurants and other companies. The business expanded in the late 1990s to include recycling and other environmental products including its flagship product, the Bulb Eater&reg;, an award-winning drum-top lamp crushing system that reduces storage and labor requirements for spent  fluorescent lamps prior to recycling.

In the mid-2000s, Air Cycle introduced additional recycling products and services, among them the EasyPak&trade; prepaid mail-in recycling program and bulk waste brokering services. In 2005, based on the “blue-chip following” for Air Cycle’s Bulb Eater product, the publicly traded clean technology firm GreenShift Corporation acquired a 30% stake in the company in return for investment capital and strategic business development services.

Propelled by double-digit growth in the late 2000s, Air Cycle began developing custom, web-based recycling programs for corporate clients including Marriott International and  CB Richard Ellis. In 2008, the company launched Greener Results, its environmental consulting division. As of 2010, other major Air Cycle clients include Whole Foods Market, Lincoln Property Company, and  Sonepar.

The Bulb Eater&reg;
Air Cycle manufactures and sells the Bulb Eater lamp crushing system. The Bulb Eater is designed to reduce the cost of recycling fluorescent lamps for large facilities. The Bulb Eater has been the subject of several studies on the cost-effectiveness and safety of storing spent fluorescent lamps prior to recycling through drum-top lamp crushing. According to Air Cycle, nearly 6,000 Bulb Eater machines are currently in use worldwide.