A recycling company which was established by local couple Kurt and Edeltraud Kyck in the garage of their Bettystown home with only a pay phone for communication is this week celebrating 45 years in business and now employs 150 people.
KMK Metals Recycling started life in the garage of the Kyck family home in Bettystown but the business soon outgrew its humble beginnings and in 1985 it opened a new headquarters in the Cappincur Industrial Estate in Tullamore, Co. Offaly and a second large facility was opened in Kilbeggan, Co. Westmeath in 2016.
Speaking at a coffee morning to celebrate the milestone of 45 years in business, Kurt Kyck recalled that when he and Edeltraud started out the only connection they had with the outside world was via an A-B telephone kiosk!
“You had to put the money in and push B to try and make a phone call through an operator to check if your material had made it to Germany” he said.
“It was the era of telex and then we moved to fax machines. Fast forward to now and we are using all of the latest cutting-edge technology and even robotics.”
Addressing the KMK staff at the event, Kurt said: “Thank you all very much for supporting our business. It is actually you guys, the employees, who make me really happy.”
In the 80’s and 90’s KMK’s main focus was on precious metal recovery from production waste of the many electronics manufacturing companies based in Ireland at the time. KMK’s knowledge of metal residue and metal filter cake recovery options in Europe and the US led to a multifaceted development of the company, eventually leading to an extensive recycling activity in the area of hazardous metals recovery.
A pivotal moment came in 2004, when KMK Metals Recycling won the tender to manage the all-Ireland fridge recycling contract, which accelerated its expansion into consumer WEEE management. The WEEE Directive improved regulation of the collection, recycling and disposal of WEEE when it became law at European level in 2003 and it was brought into Irish law in 2005.
That year, Ireland’s two compliance schemes, WEEE Ireland and the European Recycling Platform (ERP) were formed and KMK Metals Recycling was awarded contracts to collect and recycle WEEE from all around the country.
Today KMK Metals Recycling provides extensive services including collection, sorting, treating and compliance to WEEE Ireland, the largest of the WEEE and batteries compliance schemes in Ireland.
A further waste stream was added to the Producer Responsibility list in 2008. With the Batteries Directive, Ireland was now required to collect and recycle household batteries from consumers. Once more with foresight and the support of WEEE Ireland, KMK Metals Recycling developed a collection and sorting system for household batteries. With the introduction of many new battery chemistries, the need to sort and isolate critical raw materials in Ireland is proving the innovation, investment and engagement with environmental concerns an absolute necessity.
Kurt Kyck was elected as President of the European Electronics Recyclers Association (EERA) in 2019 and continues to use this platform to focus on his aim to achieve a level playing field for all European WEEE recyclers and producers through a harmonised, legally binding standard for the collection and treatment of WEEE throughout Europe.
