In the three years since establishing his waste removal business, it has become apparent that Todd Porter has a green thumb for business.
Since Porter first rolled out of Ravena to his first service job in the company truck with his business partner in 2011, Junk King has grown to three trucks and has moved into a warehouse twice the size in Colonie.
“Every year we gain a truck,” said Porter. “This year we’ll be working on Number Four.”
Porter’s business model is one built on a foundation of great customer service. In each of the past three years, Junk King has received the Angie’s List Super Service Award for maintaining an A-average rating on the popular customer review Internet site. “We focus on customer service,” he said. His team of employees is described as clean-cut and personable, and is continuously schooled on how to treat clients. “They spend hours each week in customer service training. We focus on making people happy.”
Something as simple as disposing of a television or computer needs to be handled properly, said Porter. As of January 1, it is against the law to throw a television or e-waste out with the trash. Electronics devices often contain hard metals and other harmful contaminants.
Junk King is a certified waste consolidation center through the Department of Environmental Conservation. Special attention is placed on remaining environmentally safe. When called upon, a truck will arrive to pick up that old television, where it is properly wrapped and hauled away to their facilities before it is sent away to be recycled. Porter warns that some competition, often advertising in want-ads, have not obtained proper industry certification. When those individuals obtain recyclable material, he finds they often dispose of it into local landfills.
“I wanted to go into business, and I researched what green businesses to go into,” said Porter. “The Green aspect is that we recycle and track everything.” Items that can’t be recycled or are still in good shape are donated to local and national charities. Junk King staffers sort out which items are recyclable, which can be donated and which are garbage. In 2014, Porter estimates his company was responsible for recycling more than 228,000 pounds of material. Accounting for donated material, the positive impact on the environment is that much greater. “Of course, we want to minimize what goes into landfills.” ––
For more information, call 621-0510 or visit www.junk-king.com.