Enter Bill Bailer, a 33-year-old chemist with a background in industrial- waste management. Bailer formed Progressive Disposal Group Inc. in Newtown Square to help solve the industrial-waste disposal problem facing smaller operations.
He began in January, and said he has arranged to handle the hazardous- waste disposal of 12 companies. His firm is in the start-up phase, but already Bailer is projecting $1.2 million gross revenue for his first full year of operation.
"The major waste-management firms just aren't interested in small waste generators, those that fall into the 220-pound-a-month category. I saw it as an opportunity to carve out a niche in the marketplace," Bailer said.
The company's four chemists analyze the waste, package it in approved containers and label it. The chemists then fill out required forms and arrange for haulers to truck the material to a disposal site. Bailer has a contract with a commercial incinerator plant in Arkansas, one of seven such plants in the country, to dispose of much of the waste.
"Incineration is the ideal way to deal with waste," Bailer said, ''because it is permanently disposed. Unfortunately, some of the waste cannot be incinerated - about 20 percent - and we have to use a secure landfill for disposal. I think, though, we'll soon see the end of landfills, probably in the next 10 years as new methods of waste treatment are developed."
The company is hoping for fast growth in its marketing area, which covers Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey. It has retained an independent sales- representative organization to tell Progressive's story to the 3,700 hazardous-waste producers that have been identified by the EPA in the three- state area.
