4th Generation Recycling

What 4th Generation Recycling does

4th Generation Recycling (4G Recycling) is a fourth-generation, family-owned industrial and commercial recycling brokerage founded in 1910 by Phillip Kirstein and currently led by CEO Brent Kirstein and President Zachary Kirstein. Headquartered in Deerfield Beach, Florida with regional offices in West Hartford, Connecticut and Santa Monica, California, the company purchases over 750,000 tons of recyclable commodities annually from commercial and industrial clients across North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Europe. Its service portfolio spans paper and cardboard recycling (corrugated, boxboard, mixed paper, high-grade print papers, pulp substitutes), metal recycling (aluminum, steel, copper, brass), plastic recycling (PET, HDPE, LDPE, EPS, PP, plus specialty and hard-to-recycle substrates), electronic/battery/bulb recycling, organic materials, and solid waste management, along with on-site equipment placement (balers, shredders, compactors, grinders). Vertical specialization is concentrated in packaging manufacturers, envelope manufacturers, print industries, grocery and retail distribution, and plastic manufacturers, with named enterprise references including automotive manufacturers, IBM, national envelope producers, national printers, and grocery distribution centers.

The company's core technology platform is the proprietary 4G Real-Time Reporting Portal, which provides customers visibility into tonnages, material grades, weights, and revenues, and is positioned as a workflow-integrated tool for finance and sustainability teams. A market monitoring system tracks mill demand and short- and long-term commodity conditions daily, with rebates to customers tied to independent trade journal indexes (LME, Platts, Argus). Logistics are delivered through a network of over 500 asset carriers and local partners across all markets, enabling a guaranteed next-day pickup service, and a $30 million credit insurance policy underwrites counterparty risk. The business model is asset-light in plant and equipment ownership; revenue is generated through take-rate spreads on brokerage transactions (paper, cardboard, plastic, metal commodities) plus equipment placement commissions as a manufacturer representative for multiple baler and shredder brands. The company's customer acquisition model combines enterprise field sales, inside sales with a stated five-minute response SLA, and a free waste audit program that converts prospects via customized program design. International reach is material: more than 500 containers of recyclables are shipped monthly to buyers in over 14 markets across Latin America, Europe, and Asia, balanced against long-standing domestic mill relationships to stabilize supply chain economics across commodity cycles.

4G is privately held with no disclosed institutional investors, no IPO activity, and no parent entity. Ownership and operational control are concentrated in the Kirstein family across four generations, with an active management bench including VPs of Operations, Commodity Sales, and Sales, plus Directors of Finance, Sustainability, Commodity Sales, and West Coast operations. The company positions itself as one of the top ten largest private recyclers in North America, the largest buyer of envelope scrap in North America, and a leading pulp substitute recycler, with the proprietary 4G Portal and century-long brand as its principal differentiators against regional and national competitors.

Name

4th Generation Recycling

Legal name

4TH GENERATION RECYCLING, INC

Website

https://4grecycling.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1910

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

4th Generation Recycling is a fourth-generation, family-owned industrial and commercial recycling brokerage that purchases over 750,000 tons of paper, plastic, metal, and specialty recyclable commodities annually from enterprises across North America and exports to 14+ international markets, supported by a proprietary 4G Real-Time Reporting Portal.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Recycling Brokerage Services

NAICS

Recyclable Material Merchant Wholesalers (423930), Recyclable Material Merchant Wholesalers (42393), Waste Collection (56211)

akta.pro primary industry

On-site Recycling Programs (Single-Stream, Source-Separated) (BPABALAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Recycling Transfer & Consolidation (Single-Stream, Dual-Stream, Source-Separated) (EUAIABAC), Post-Consumer Plastic Collection & Sorting (MRF/PRF, Bale Supply) (EUAIAKAA), Specialty Materials Recovery (Carpet, Mattresses, Bulky Items) (EUAIADAL), Consumer Electronics Recycling (TVs, AV, Small Electronics) (BPALAIAH)

Keywords

• Industrial recycling services
• Scrap metal recycling
• Paper recycling brokerage
• Plastic recycling solutions
• Commercial waste management

Headquarters

HQ city

Deerfield Beach

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Recycling Brokerage and Commodity Sales: 4G purchases and markets recyclables (paper, cardboard, plastic, metal) from commercial and industrial clients. Revenue generated through commodity price differentials, processing fees, and brokerage commissions. Sells to domestic mills and exports to international markets across Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Pricing tied to independent trade journal indexes.
2. Equipment Placement Services: Provides balers, shredders, compactors, grinders, air systems, custom bins, loading ramps, roll cutters, and carts. Acts as manufacturer representative for multiple equipment brands. Offers no out-of-pocket customized equipment solutions for manufacturing and distribution clients.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

4th Generation Recycling (4G Recycling) is a family-owned industrial and commercial recycling brokerage that purchases paper, cardboard, plastic, metal, and other recyclable byproducts from commercial and industrial clients, then markets these commodities to domestic mills and international end-users across Latin America, Europe, and Asia. The company also places and services recycling equipment such as balers, shredders, compactors, and custom bins, and provides a proprietary 4G Real-Time Reporting Portal for tracking tonnages, grades, weights, and revenues.

Product overview

4th Generation Recycling (4G Recycling) is a family-owned industrial and commercial recycling services company offering a comprehensive, integrated suite of recycling solutions. The company operates as a single unified service offering centered on recycling brokerage—coordinating logistics, marketing commodities to global end-users, and providing real-time reporting through its proprietary 4G Portal. The portfolio encompasses paper recycling (corrugated, boxboard, mixed paper, printer high-grades, pulp substitutes), metal recycling, plastic recycling, electronic/battery/bulb recycling, organic materials, and solid waste/trash management. Equipment placement services (balers, compactors, shredders) are offered as a bundled component. Services are delivered across diverse industry verticals including packaging, envelope manufacturing, print industries, grocery/retail, and plastic manufacturing, with nationwide and international reach across North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. The company also provides program optimization, sustainability consulting, and national accounts management as integrated components of its recycling brokerage offering.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Recycling Brokerage Services Global recycling brokerage for paper, plastic, and cardboard commodities. Includes logistics coordination, commodity marketing, and sustainability reporting for commercial and industrial clients.
• Equipment Installation & Placement On-site recycling equipment solutions including balers (vertical, closed door, auto-tie, 2 ram), compactors, shredders, densifiers, roll cutters, loading ramps, carts, and custom bins. Includes site assessment, installation, and maintenance support.
• Corrugated, Boxboard & Mixed Paper Recycling Paper and cardboard recycling services handling OCC, DLK, BBC, mixed paper, SBS, SOP, and CBS grades with guaranteed next-day pickups and maximum rebate structures.
• Metal Recycling Aluminum and metal recycling programs for manufacturers and industrial clients, handling aluminum, steel, copper, and brass with spot market and long-term pricing models tied to LME, Platts, and Argus indexes.
• Printer High-Grade Paper Recycling Specialized high-grade paper recycling for printers handling offset, bond, C1S, C2S papers, coated book, sorted office, SBS, groundwood, and pulp substitutes with mill partnerships for revenue maximization.
• Pulp Substitutes Recycling Pulp substitute recycling programs for Hard White, Soft White, and Unprinted SBS grades, described as the leading pulp substitute recycler in North America handling thousands of tons annually.
• Trash/Solid Waste Management Large-scale solid waste management programs including customized trash solutions, compactor and dumpster placement, efficient waste workflow implementation, and regulatory compliance reporting.
• Plastic Manufacturing Recycling Tailored plastic recycling solutions for manufacturers handling PET, HDPE, LDPE, EPS, PP, and hard-to-recycle substrates including composites, foils, UV printed materials, copolymers, and laminates. Services include purchasing scrap, material sorting, tolling, compounding, and extrusion.
• Envelope Manufacturing Recycling Specialized recycling programs for envelope manufacturers, described as the largest buyer of envelope scrap in North America, handling envelope cuttings, specialty materials like Tyvek and Duraguard, and plastic window recycling.
• Grocery & Retail Recycling Recycling programs for grocery and retail distribution centers handling cardboard, packaging, plastic, and organics with on-time logistics and online reporting.
• Print Industry Recycling Customized and scalable recycling solutions for printing industry operations including web-presses, sheet-fed presses, direct mail, and bindery equipment, with real-time insights via 4G Portal.
• Packaging Manufacturing Recycling Recycling solutions for packaging companies handling high-volume cardboard, DLK, CCNB, SBS, TMP, and OCC with equipment modernization and sustainability support.
• Sustainability & Environmental Impact Services Sustainability consulting and environmental impact services including carbon footprint improvement, circular economy creation, regulatory compliance, and custom sustainability program development.

Quantifiable outcome

• Guaranteed 5-minute response time to customer service inquiries
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Domestic Mills (various)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing relationships with domestic mills as end users for recyclables. Mills include those in paper, plastic, metal, and tissue manufacturing sectors. Provides supply chain stability and access to U.S. market pricing.
• International End Users (Latin America, Europe, Asia)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerExport partners in over 14 international markets across Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Monthly shipments of over 500 containers to these markets. Balance between domestic and international commodity sales provides supply chain consistency.
• Equipment Manufacturers (multiple brands)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorManufacturer representative for multiple baler, shredder, compactor, and equipment brands. Offers direct purchase and no out-of-pocket financing programs. Invests in hundreds of equipment projects for suppliers to maximize material handling efficiencies.
• Local Carriers (500+ asset carriers)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartnership with local carriers in all markets to ensure timely removal of recyclables. Network of over 500 asset carriers providing trailer, compactor, or bin service. Essential for guaranteed next-day service capability.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Waste Management: Largest North American integrated waste and recycling services provider with extensive MRF and brokerage operations. Competes with 4G for commercial and industrial recycling accounts but operates a much broader hauling and disposal portfolio.
• Republic Services: Second-largest North American waste and recycling company with recycling processing, commodity sales, and sustainability services. Overlaps with 4G's commercial brokerage model while offering bundled disposal and hauling capabilities.
• GFL Environmental: Large North American environmental services company providing solid waste, recycling, and soil remediation. Competes with 4G for industrial and commercial recycling volumes while offering vertically integrated hauling infrastructure.
• Waste Connections: Major North American solid waste services company with growing recycling operations. Provides comparable commercial recycling services to 4G's enterprise customer base, with bundled disposal and hauling offerings.

Direct peers

• Sonoco Recycling: Specialized paper and fiber recycling subsidiary of Sonoco Products that brokers OCC, mixed paper, and pulp substitutes to mills. Closest direct comparison to 4G's paper-focused brokerage and high-grade paper programs.
• Hugo Neu: Privately held metals recycling and processing company with global commodity trading operations. Directly comparable to 4G's metals recycling brokerage business and international commodity sales footprint.
• Schnitzer Steel Industries: Public metal recycler with ferrous and non-ferrous scrap processing and trading operations. Directly comparable to 4G's metals recycling segment in terms of commodity sourcing, processing, and mill-direct sales.
• Cascades Recovery: Recycling division of Cascades Inc. specializing in fiber, plastics, and OCC recovery for North American mills. Directly comparable to 4G's paper and pulp substitute brokerage programs.

Regional players

• Casella Waste Systems: Northeast US-focused waste and recycling services provider. Overlaps with 4G's New England footprint and commercial recycling programs, but with a more regionally concentrated geographic strategy.

Others

• Greif: Global industrial packaging manufacturer that operates recycling and recovered-fiber operations as part of its containerboard and packaging business. Adjacent to 4G's packaging manufacturing customer segment with overlap in fiber recycling programs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/4th-generation-recycling
• Xx.com/4grecycling
• Facebookfacebook.com/4GRecycling

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about 4th Generation Recycling