Company on a mission: Startup tire recycler aims to change Philly one tire, job at a time

PHILADELPHIA—When you love a city as much as Rodney Christian loves Philly, you're willing to do the difficult work. Because you see the greatest potential in the residents and the neighborhoods they call home, you set about proving to the world why you love your city as much as you do.

As founder of Recycledelphia, a startup tire collection and recycling company in the heart of Philadelphia, Christian is proving that a whole lot of passion, a dash of determination and a heaping helping of elbow grease can change the world. Or at least a city or two.

He's proving it by rolling up his sleeves, collecting and recycling scrap tires, educating the community about the importance of proper tire disposal and investing in his neighbors along the way.

"My (vision for Recycledelphia) was, 'Ok, let's take this blighted community, take that (scrap tire) rubber from the area and beautify it,' " Christian said.

The simple act of beautification—of removing stockpiled, discarded and abandoned tires—can change the entire perspective of a property owner or neighborhood. It's a visual reminder that someone cares enough to make a difference. When that happens, pride takes root, and you start to see long-lasting change.

"Once we clean up an area," Christian said, "even with owners and developers, there is a sense of pride: 'OK, now I can see a clean area.'

"Now translate that to the (entire) community," Christian said. "Once they see a blighted area that was destroyed by tires, debris, etc., and then we come along and clean that up—we beautify it—the pride in that area (is back). The community then takes ownership of that area. That blight will not be able to be duplicated again."

The story begins
Like most rubber industry professionals, Christian didn't set out to build a career in the elastomer space. It was more like the industry, and tires specifically, found him.

Recycledelphia grew up where Christian's father's business left off: on a 2.5-acre stretch of land near Wayne Junction on the city's northern side. That was where Christian's father ran a salvage yard, and when it was time to close up shop, the lot was rented to someone else. The man, who ran a towing business, used the lot to store the towed cars.

And, as it turns out, scrap tires.

"He had over 16,000 abandoned tires in the yard," Christian said. "The tires were so overwhelming … (that) one of the block committees saw it was a danger."

Looking back, Christian said, it was easy to see why.

"You could see (the tires) when you pulled up there; it was horrifying," Christian said. "It was just a sea of black tires. When we opened up the gate, tires were running out the gate."

What Christian and his father quickly learned was that, as owners of the property, they were responsible for the tires and their safe removal. It was a responsibility they didn't know they had. And it was a time-intensive and expensive task they didn't know how to accomplish.

So Christian did the only thing he could. He asked questions. Early on, however, he got few answers.

"No one knew how to get rid of the tires," Christian said. "So that is why we founded Recycledelphia, to help out the victims, and also see if we can cut down this epidemic of tire problems."

According to data released by the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association in 2017, about 60 million scrap tires were believed to be stockpiled in the U.S. It was a significant improvement from the 1970s when the country had more than a billion stockpiled scrap tires.

State and local efforts helped to improve these numbers, but the association reported that six states—including Pennsylvania—were believed to account for a majority of the stockpiled tires still in existence about five years ago.

In a news release issued last year, USTMA noted that the number of scrap tires generated annually grew by almost 7 percent, and that the total number of scrap tires recycled or reclaimed in the U.S. has not significantly changed since 2017.

Recycledelphia aims to change that.

A three-year plan
For now, Recycledelphia's mission is twofold: educate the community about the importance of proper scrap tire removal, and remove as many scrap tires as possible and transport them to recycling facilities.

"We are finding that, just in collections and removal, there is a need for that in this particular area," Recycledelphia CEO Kimberly Mann said. "We are talking about trucking companies, dealerships, community organizations. Someone that called us was with a supermarket and, in the back of the supermarket, someone had dumped hundreds of tires and they were like, 'what do we do with it?' "

Early on in his tire recycling journey, Christian had the same questions. And it was his ability to make connections that made his vision for his company and his city successful so far.

Christian connected with people who taught him what to do with the scrap tires and who could take them. He learned about the value the tires could have at the end of their service life. One of those people was Kim Dempsey-Miller, the 2021 chair of the ACS Rubber Division, who now is an investor in Recycledelphia.

Dempsey-Miller helped Christian and Mann chart their path forward. She opened their eyes to the potential recycled tires presented and helped connect them to others who would provide realistic expectations about what Recycledelphia could accomplish and when.

"Kimberly Miller, just in her experience in the rubber industry, has taught us a lot in the time we have spent with her," Mann said. "We prefer to take our time, get the licensing and the permits and the things we need, attend the classes and do what we can do and do that well."

Within the next three years, Recycledelphia hopes to have all of its licensing and equipment so it can recycle any of the tires it collects and begin using that reclaimed rubber to make products of its own—from playground mulch to molded goods.

"We have all kinds of great ideas of things we would like to use rubber and waste tires for, to transfer them into products that can be sold," Mann said.

The key is to take it one step at a time.

"We would rather take our time," Mann said. "It is better to build it brick by brick and take our time and learn the industry and make sure that we study and that we are mentored."

'We got you'
Recycledelphia is built on the premise that big ideas, coupled with some hard work, can change the community. But Christian and Mann believe that can't happen unless you change the lives of people, too.

So Recycledelphia is about second chances and third chances. Heck, even fourth chances, if they're needed. If you're willing to work and work hard, the company is willing to give you the chance you need—whatever chance that is.

"(Christian's) goal for the organization has been to make sure that there is employment for those who are underskilled and underemployed," Mann said. "A lot of folks are returning citizens and trying to get jobs, and they are underskilled."

And not just any employment, good employment. The kind of jobs that reward a good day's work with a good day's pay.

"He was right open to 'if you're willing to work hard and you can follow directions and you can get to work on time and do what we need to be done, we are going to pay you a minimum wage of $15 an hour. And I am going to teach you everything you need to know about this collections business,' " Mann said.

The idea of paying $15 an hour for tire collection and removal work wasn't something that Christian had to be talked into. He wanted to do it, he said, because it was the right thing to do. For the residents of Philly, and for the city.

"People thought we were crazy trying to get people $15 an hour," Christian said. "But I want to respect (my employees) as human beings and what they were doing.

"At the end of the day, on Friday, if you have a check that's not worthy, that's when the rough riot starts, on Friday night, because you ain't got enough money to feed your family. So we want to give enough that you can feed your family. I want to be able to change our community that way."

From her perspective, Mann already sees that happening. The community is changing, she said, because Christian is using his company to change the lives of people first.

"He really embraced a lot of young men who had a hard time finding jobs," Mann said. "Honestly, they may have been involved in some activities they should not have been, but here is someone who embraced them, brought them in, trained them, taught them and gave them some dignity about work, how to earn a paycheck and how to open up a bank account.

"I believe that has and will change the landscape in the city of Philadelphia because we are able to provide employment—gainful employment—training and education, and I think that is one of our major and main missions," Mann said. "It is our intention to make sure that we can hire as many people as possible and do the training and get them to work, and I think that is also key."

It's not just that Christian understands what a good-paying job can do for someone who needs it. He's experienced it. Throughout his lifetime he's had a number of jobs, some paying better than others. And he's learned a thing or two about what it means to work hard.

"I took a lot of dirty jobs," Christian said with a laugh, "and then you would look at your check and it's a little, measly check."

He also understands why it's important to be happy at the end of the day. That's why he's building Recycledelphia into the kind of company where employees feel comfortable.

It's possible, Christian said, to love a job without loving the work you do. And he knows better than anyone that tire collection and removal is hard to love. It's hard work—time consuming and labor intensive.

So Christian strives to create "a family atmosphere," one built on trust and friendship. He wants Recycledelphia jobs to be the kind of jobs that make it easier to get up in the morning.

"I always want everyone to come in and have a great time," Christian said. "We laugh, we joke and that is one of the things I want to make sure is a criteria for everyone that goes there. I don't want them to feel like, 'ugh, I have to go grab this tire today.' The work is already hard.

"Once we had that family atmosphere that we had, you want to get up and go to work in the morning. That is the whole thing," he added. "I worked in places where you made great money, but at the end of the day you were like, 'man, I was here all day?' The only thing that keeps you there is your paycheck, but that is not living to me.

"That's just surviving."