Schupan COO Tom Emmerich Looks to the Future of Recycling in Michigan

<p>“It's been a great partnership over the years,” Emmerich says. “Not only are we at <a href="http://www.schupan.com">Schupan</a> big Michigan State fans, we're fans of what you do and what your radio station puts out to the greater public. You cover a lot of really important subjects and we are thrilled to be a part of that.</p><p>“Schupan is a locally owned, Kalamazoo, Michigan based company. The owner is MSU alumnus Marc Schupan and his family. Mark is the CEO and the company has been around for 53 years; it has evolved into an amazing organization. When we talk about Schupan, we have five different business operating units. We started in the scrap business, your regular industrial scrap. We have aluminum and plastic sales distribution and manufacturing businesses.</p><p>“Schupan Recycling is our beverage container recycling business. We have a materials trading division that does business internationally. Then we have electronic scrap recycling that we call asset management. So that's Schupan. When we talk about Schupan Recycling, it's the beverage side of the business where we handle a large percentage of all the containers in the state of Michigan.”</p><p>What's the state of the company and the industry? Where is recycling and Schupan going?</p><p>“That's an interesting question. I think you could ask anybody in any industry the same thing and you'll get somewhat of a similar answer. The pandemic has probably been good for some companies and some organizations and some industries, and it's been really hard on others.</p><p>“Being a diversified organization, we have divisions that have done pretty well through it and the future looks pretty bright. Then we have other areas, in particular our manufacturing and distribution, that are having a much harder time coming out of it. All in all, our company is strong. Our future is bright. Do we have challenges? Of course, but I'm very excited. In fact, we just initiated a strategic roadmap. That's our long-term vision for where we're going to go as an orga