Entrepreneur starts recycling business in St. Pete

Monday, June 23, 2008

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Recent college grad Greg Foster (right) started a recycling business in St. Petersburg.

PINELLAS COUNTY (Bay News 9) -- A recent college graduate has started a recycling business in a city that, while known for "being green", hasn't jumped on the recycling bandwagon.

Recycling has been an issue in St. Petersburg over the years, according to St. Petersburg City Council Chairman Jamie Bennett, who is frustrated with the lack of interest by city residents.

"We've had polls of the citizens," Bennett said. "And we found out that everybody wants it but very few people want to pay for it."

So, Greg Foster took a gamble with his life savings and started his own recycling company: St. Pete Recycling Solutions.

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"I sat down for a couple months and tried to calculate what I planned to be spending on gas," he said. "What I planned to be spending on labor, all the insurance costs."

Almost six months later Foster's subscriber-based business is gaining steam.

"Tuesdays and Wednesdays are our busiest days at this point," Foster said. "Where we have 150 to 160 people on Tuesdays and then about 270 people on Wednesdays."

The service is currently only available in portions of St. Petersburg.