What Donco Recycling Solutions does

Donco Recycling Solutions is a privately held, family-owned industrial recycling company founded in 1959 by Robert Mendelson in Illinois and currently in its fourth generation of Mendelson family leadership. The company operates four wholly-owned subsidiary brands—Donco Paper (paper and fiber by-products), Ohio Pulp Mills (recycled bleached pulp from polycoated paperboard), Poly Recyclers (plastic by-products from high-tech manufacturing), and Ramblin Corp (recycling equipment financing and agricultural by-product markets)—unified under the Donco Recycling Solutions brand since 2009. The company's core function is to analyze industrial scrap streams from customers and create secondary raw material markets, transforming by-products into tradeable commodities.

Donco's technology base is industrial rather than digital: the cornerstone is Ohio Pulp Mills' proprietary process for recycling plastic-coated milk cartons developed in the 1950s, which the company cites as a model of cost-effective production. The business handles paper, corrugated, plastics, adhesives, agricultural products, chemicals, metals, rubber, and other unique industrial by-products, with an annual recycling volume of 200,000 tons. The company does not describe any software products, APIs, or digital platforms; operations are conducted through direct customer relationships.

Donco makes money by buying industrial by-products from manufacturers and selling them as secondary raw materials, generating margin on each transaction (transaction-fee model). Pricing is custom and quote-based with no public pricing disclosed. The go-to-market is sales-led and relationship-driven, with seven U.S. regional offices (Chicago, Green Bay, Atlanta, Denver, Asheville, New York) plus a global accounting center in Mt. Prospect and operations in Zimbabwe. Customer segments span small regional companies to Fortune 500 enterprises, with primary verticals in industrial manufacturing, paper and pulp, plastics, and agricultural/food manufacturing. The company emphasizes 24/7 phone-based customer support and direct sales coverage rather than digital channels, and there is no evidence of external institutional investment; growth has been entirely organic over 65+ years.

Name

Donco Recycling Solutions

Legal name

Donco Paper Supply Company

Website

https://doncosolutions.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1959

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Donco Recycling Solutions is a family-owned industrial recycling company founded in 1959 that transforms manufacturers' by-products (paper, plastics, organics, agricultural materials) into secondary raw materials, serving customers from small regional firms to Fortune 500 enterprises across North America and select international markets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Recycling Services

NAICS

Recyclable Material Merchant Wholesalers (42393), Paper Manufacturing (322), Plastics Product Manufacturing (3261), Materials Recovery Facilities (562920)

SIC

Paper Mills (2621), Plastics, Foil & Coated Paper Bags (2673), Miscellaneous Plastics Products (3080), Plastics Products, Nec (3089)

akta.pro primary industry

Post-Industrial Plastics Scrap Recovery & Regrind (IMANAMAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Packaging Waste Sorting & Recycling Technologies (Mechanical/Chemical Recycling, Sorting Systems) (IMALAMAL), Mechanical Plastics Recycling (Wash/Grind/Flake/Pellet) (IMANAMAC), Rigid Plastics Recycling (HDPE/PP, Injection/Blow Molded) (EUAIAKAF), Plastic Recycling Equipment & Technology Providers (Sorting, Washing, Extrusion) (EUAIAKAM), Recycled-Content Plastic Packaging (rPET, rHDPE, rPP) (IMALAMAC)

Keywords

• Industrial recycling services
• By-product recovery solutions
• Secondary raw materials trading
• Waste-to-revenue solutions
• Scrap material recycling

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Secondary Raw Materials Trading: Donco creates solutions to help companies efficiently recycle industrial by-products, generating revenue by buying and selling secondary raw materials including paper, plastic, and organic materials. The company transforms waste into valuable resources for a sustainable future.
2. Portfolio Company Operations: Operating subsidiary companies that provide specialized recycling services: Donco Paper (industrial by-product transformation since 1959), Ohio Pulp Mills (100% recycled bleached pulp production), Poly Recyclers (creative recycling of unique plastic by-products from high-tech manufacturing), and Ramblin Corp (recycling systems and agricultural by-product markets).

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Donco Recycling Solutions recovers and recycles industrial by-products including paper, corrugated, plastics, organics, adhesives, agricultural products, chemicals, metals, and rubber, transforming them into secondary raw materials for resale. The company operates through four portfolio businesses (Donco Paper, Ohio Pulp Mills, Poly Recyclers, and Ramblin Corp) and processes over 200,000 tons of material annually. It also designs, installs, and finances recycling equipment such as balers, shredders, and air systems for industrial customers.

Product overview

Donco Recycling Solutions is a portfolio of recycling companies offering industrial by-product recycling, reuse, and recovery solutions. The company operates as a unified platform comprising four sub-brands: Donco Paper (paper and fiber recycling), Ohio Pulp Mills (plastic-coated paper recycling and 100% recycled bleached pulp production), Poly Recyclers (plastic recycling for high-tech manufacturing by-products), and Ramblin Corp (recycling equipment financing/installation and agricultural by-product markets). Together they process over 200,000 tons annually of materials including paper, plastics, organics, adhesives, agricultural products, chemicals, metals, and other unique industrial materials, creating revenue streams and new markets for their clients.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Donco Paper Industrial paper and fiber by-product recycling service that transforms paper mill and converter by-products into secondary raw materials, creating revenue streams for paper producers and converters.
• Ohio Pulp Mills Pulp production service that recycles plastic-coated (polycoated) milk cartons and bleached paperboard into 100% recycled bleached pulp using technology originally developed in the 1950s.
• Poly Recyclers Plastic by-product recycling service that creates markets for unique plastic scrap, multi-material laminations, and 21st century plastic secondary raw materials from high-tech manufacturing.
• Ramblin Corp Recycling equipment and agricultural by-product service that designs, installs, and finances balers, shredders, and air systems with no capital outlay required, and creates markets for unique agricultural by-products including starches, fats, oils, and wood byproducts.
• Material Recycling & Recovery Solutions Comprehensive recycling, reuse, and recovery service covering paper, corrugated, plastics, adhesives, agricultural products, chemicals, metals, rubber, and other unique industrial by-products. Customers submit material details via the Donco website intake form for tailored recycling and recovery options.

Quantifiable outcome

• 200,000 tons of materials recycled annually
• +1 more outcomes

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered moderate.

• Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI)moderateOthersCharles Cyra, Executive VP, served on the Board of Directors of ISRI and the Paperstock Industries Chapter of ISRI (PSI). He served ten successful years as co-chairman of the PSI Standards and Practices Committee.
• Paperstock Industries Chapter of ISRI (PSI)moderateOthersCharles Cyra served on the Board of Directors of PSI and co-chaired the PSI Standards and Practices Committee for ten years.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves20 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Custom Polymers: Plastics recycling company that reprocesses industrial plastic scrap and post-consumer materials into reusable compounds. Directly comparable to Donco's Poly Recyclers subsidiary in handling unique plastic by-products from manufacturing.
• CarbonLite: Plastic recycling company that focuses on PET bottles and food-grade recycled resin. Comparable in scale and recycled-plastics focus to Donco's Poly Recyclers, though historically focused on post-consumer beverage container streams.
• Avangard Innovative: Specialized plastics recycler (NASDAQ: AWX) that processes post-consumer and post-industrial plastic waste into reusable commodities. Compares directly to Donco's Poly Recyclers and overall post-industrial plastics recovery model.
• Caraustar Industries: Recycled paperboard and tube manufacturer (now a Greif business) that converts recovered fiber into industrial paperboard products. Comparable to Donco's Ohio Pulp Mills operations in serving paper and pulp manufacturers with recycled-content solutions.

Broad incumbents

• Smurfit Westrock: Largest global paper-based packaging company, with deep relationships with paper mills and recovered fiber suppliers. Comparable to Donco Paper and Ohio Pulp Mills as a major buyer/seller in the secondary fiber and paper recycling ecosystem.
• Radius Recycling (formerly Schnitzer Steel): Large diversified metals and recycling company operating across North America. Comparable to Donco in the ferrous and non-ferrous scrap brokerage space, though at significantly larger scale and with a broader material focus.
• Republic Services: Major U.S. waste and recycling hauler with recycling processing operations. Comparable to Donco in handling commercial and industrial recycling streams, though primarily a hauler rather than a specialized by-product broker.
• Greif Inc. Global industrial packaging manufacturer with significant recycled fiber and paperboard operations following the Caraustar acquisition. Comparable to Donco in the recycled paperboard supply chain and to Ohio Pulp Mills' recycled pulp products.
• Waste Management Inc. Largest North American waste and environmental services company, with significant recycling brokerage and Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs). Overlaps with Donco across multiple material streams but at a vastly larger scale and broader service portfolio.
• Heritage-Crystal Clean: Provider of environmental and industrial services including waste recycling, parts cleaning, and oil re-refining. Comparable to Donco's industrial by-product recovery business, particularly in the chemicals and lubricants segments.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/donco-recycling-solutions

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Subsidiaries4 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 Donco Recycling Solutions