Twenty years of keeping recyclables out of landfills

Rich Palzewic

Staff

August 4, 2025

WISCONSIN RAPIDS – It’s been 20 years and counting since Express Recycling began operations in North Central Wisconsin – something Vice President/Co-owner Tim Zacher said the company can be proud of.

“In my mind, it’s a big achievement for anybody to be around for that long these days,” he said. “The best way I can describe it is it’s an honor. I think it’s a tribute to those who have worked for us in the past and those who are working with us now.”

Zacher said Express – with drop-off locations in Wisconsin Rapids (480 Strodman Ave.), the Town of Grand Rapids (2330 36th St.) and Stevens Point (2608 Water St.) – is committed to reducing the number of recyclable materials entering community landfills.

“It’s our goal to make recycling convenient for you,” he said. “We want to provide a quality service to the communities we serve. We’ve got 10 employees who do a great job of helping us achieve our goals. The business is always changing, but we try to be an all-encompassing recycling facility for the area.”

According to its website (expressrecycling.biz), Express recycles aluminum cans, brass, copper, stainless steel, lead, batteries, electronics and cardboard.

“We accept steel, but we don’t buy it – we’re not a salvage yard,” Zacher said. “Because iron and steel are usually purchased by the ton, they have to be stored and handled outside. We generally try to keep all of our metals inside to keep our shops aesthetically pleasing to our neighbors. For your convenience, our shops also accept – not purchase – appliances and small amounts of ferrous metals.”

Zacher said Express also offers document shredding and dumpster rental.

“We offer confidential document shredding at our 36th Street [Grand Rapids] location,” he said. “We got into that sector in about 2008, and that has been growing ever since.”

Zacher said document shredding is mostly done by appointment only.

“We also offer walk-in appointments on Thursdays between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.,” he said. “If requested, one of our associates will shred your documents while you watch.”

Shredding services, Zacher said, are typically done for banks, hospitals/clinics, law offices, printers, schools and residential properties.

“To add extra security, we provide locked containers so you can safely store your documents,” he said. “All containers remain locked at and after [customers] leave your facility. Containers remain locked until the documents are shredded at our facility.”

‘Wisconsin is doing a good job’

Zacher – whose brother, Matt, is the president and other co-owner – said he feels Wisconsin does a good job with its recycling.

“From my observation, I feel like the people in Wisconsin care [about recycling],” he said. “There are processes set up to make it easy for people to recycle and make a little bit of money on the side. Some of the items people bring in have value, and some have a negative value, such as electronics, so we have to charge a fee for some things.”

Zacher said in his visits to other states, he’s noticed some are not nearly as strong as Wisconsin in terms of recycling – “especially on the residential side of things.”

“I can’t really speak to other states with their corporate recycling, but speaking from a residential standpoint, we are doing things the right way in Wisconsin,” he said. “There are all kinds of walks of life across the country. The same can be said of municipalities/states across the country, too. Some areas are just not as strong as what we see here.”

As an example, Zacher said Wisconsin Rapids’ tax-paying residents have a standard, 96-gallon, single-stream recycling bin available for use.

“Like many other Wisconsin municipalities, residents can place a mix of plastics, aluminum, cardboard, etc., into the bins,” he said.

But since they are only 96-gallon bins, Zacher said Express is another resource for people.

“With people placing more and more Amazon orders, for example, that means there is a lot more cardboard lying around,” he said.

Because boxes take up a lot of space, Zacher said people take their extra cardboard and other recyclables to Express to help reduce volume in their bins.

“It comes down to volume,” he said. “If people just have a small number of recyclables, they’re not necessarily going to come to us,” he said. “We don’t provide street-side pickups – we’re strictly for drop-off. If community members have a great enough need [to get rid of their extra recyclables], they’ll find us.”

Zacher said people recycle for different reasons.

“Some people strictly recycle to make a few extra dollars,” he said. “Others don’t care as much about the money and want to recycle for the environment and do the right thing. Then, of course, we have our corporate customers that want to recycle for some of the same reasons.”

Investing back into the company

The philosophy behind Express, Zacher said, is to work smarter, not harder.

“That includes investing in better equipment,” he said. “We invested in a new horizontal baler for our commercial cardboard accounts. The baler allows us to compact a lot more, a lot faster. We invested in that last year.”

Zacher said in the case of the baler, it’s a good example of the ripple effect in helping the environment.

“Transportation is a big part of our business, so the more volume you can get in a semi load, that allows you to grow and help reduce costs,” he said. “With where we started, and the equipment we have now, we keep reinvesting into modernizing that equipment.”

Community involvement

Zacher said Express also does a good job giving back to the community – partly through organizing, promoting and operating a variety of fundraising recycling events throughout the year.

According to the company’s website, examples include the South Wood County Humane Society, the Portage County Humane Society, Ben Franklin Junior High, Assumption Catholic Schools, the Boys and Girls Club of Portage County, Port Edwards Elementary, Rudolph Elementary and Scouting America.

“We are always open to working with nonprofits,” Zacher said. “We haven’t done a lot of marketing and have depended on word of mouth in many ways [with that].”

While living in Durham, North Carolina, with his wife, Anne, Zacher said he recognized the way the Durham Bulls were a part of the community there.

And as an avid baseball fan, he said Express has sponsored the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (of the Northwoods League) as an advocate for bettering the community through the marketing or sponsorship of the team.

“We have always supported the Rafters with the hope that the team helps build the community spirit of Wisconsin Rapids,” he said.

Recycling history

In January 2005, Zacher said Express opened in Wisconsin Rapids at the Strodman Avenue location, the previous site of Ken’s Salvage.

Initially, he said the company only accepted used beverage cans – however, it quickly expanded to accept most other forms of nonferrous metals.

“Joe Kozicki started the business,” Zacher said. “Matt, Joe’s son-in-law, joined Express in 2006 after recently moving his family from Milwaukee. As Matt assumed responsibility for operations of the Wisconsin Rapids shop, Joe realized the need for a similar shop in Stevens Point, so Express opened that location in 2006.”

Zacher said in 2007, the Grand Rapids location was added before he came on board in 2008.

For more information on Express Recycling, visit its website or Facebook page.