CYCLE SYSTEMS SCUTTLES HAULING

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, January 16, 1992                   TAG: 9201160088
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: C5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LISA SWIRSKY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
CYCLE SYSTEMS SCUTTLES HAULING
Cycle Systems Inc., a 75-year-old Roanoke recycling and waste processing company, said Wednesday it will sell its waste hauling division.
Terms of the sale to Waste Management of North America, based in Oak Brook, Ill. - a unit of Waste Management Inc. - were not disclosed.
Cycle Systems said it will retain and expand its recycling and processing operations in Roanoke and Lynchburg.
The agreement, said Cycle Systems general manager Jim Conner, will help the company expand its goal of offering regional recycling and processing waste that produces raw materials for future manufacturing.
Cycle Systems collects scrap materials and produces glass and newsprint that it sells to businesses in Western Virginia. It hopes to share markets for recycled plastics with Waste Management, said Bruce Brenner, president of Cycle Systems.
The deal will allow Cycle Systems to increase its recycling service area to include much of Western Virginia, primarily in communities along the Interstate 81 corridor from Bristol to Winchester, as well as areas around Lynchburg and Charlottesville.
Brenner said the company expects to increase the volume of material it handles over the next two years from 500 tons a day to between 800 and 1,000 tons.
The company cited the high overhead costs associated with collecting material to recycle as the main reason behind Wednesday's sale.
No layoffs are expected as part of the sale, said Harry Habets, vice president for Waste Management's region including Virginia.
"We expect to create an additional 30 to 60 . . . jobs between us and Waste Management over the next two years," Brenner said.
Waste Management Inc. calls itself the nation's largest provider of environmental management services, including waste reduction, recycling, collection, air pollution control systems and water treatment technology. The publicly traded company last fall said it had 62,000 employees and 900 U.S. operations as well as facilities in 20 foreign countries. It reported revenues of $6 billion and net income of $648.8 million in 1990.
Waste Management of North America has 26,350 employees and 9.3 million residential customers in 375 markets.
Guy Chance, an analyst following Waste Management for Scott & Stringfellow Investment Corp. in Richmond, said the company's stock value has grown 15 percent to 20 percent per year per share.
"This is nothing but good for Roanoke," Chance said of Wednesday's announcement.
Cycle Systems said it plans to expand its commercial processing plants in both Roanoke and Lynchburg to handle larger volumes of commercial waste. The company now collects and processes 500 tons of commercial waste a day for clients such as Dominion Bank and 7-Eleven convenience stores, Brenner said.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB