A Memphis-based recycling company is relocating its processing center in Villa Rica to a 94,000-square-foot warehouse in town, spending an estimated $1 million to refurbish and equip the facility.

The relocation comes with Recycle Solutions Inc. expanding its services to provide manufacturers and distributors more options for the “reuse” aspect of the company’s “reduce, recycle, and reuse” initiatives.

Recycle Solutions will also increase its Villa Rica work force to employ 15-20 people. The company’s new location is at 102 Conner Road. The company said the site will be its permanent facility.

The Conner Road building was in very poor condition, said Villa Rica Mayor J. Collins.

“They came in and made it look good. Take that and add jobs to it as well, and it really adds to the community.”

Recycle Solutions, which moved to Villa Rica in August 2011, specializes in total recycling programs for mid- and large-size clients, helping them improve sustainability with what the company calls “innovative, cost-effective programs.” The company also has recycling centers in Memphis and Searcy, Ark., to accept all non-hazardous waste from clients throughout the Southeast.

“Establishing this new facility is a win for us and Villa Rica,” said Robin Cheatwood, operations manager for Recycle Solutions. “It enabled us to make great use of an abandoned building, improve cost-efficiency for more businesses in the South, keep tons of material out of local landfills, and employ up to 20 more people in the local economy.”

The building that Recycle Solutions has taken over was in foreclosure and was in bad shape. Company Vice President Mark Huber said Recycle Solutions spent about $750,000 to restore the property — including a new roof — and plans to add another $250,000 in equipment.

“There are a number of things we’re excited about,” Collins said. “One, they’ve really cleaned up the property, because it was an old abandoned building. They’ve done a lot to bring the area around to what we want Villa Rica to look like.

“The really good thing, with this type of recycling, they’re not taking just raw materials, their specialty is taking recycled materials and recycling those materials back to a provider, and that is unique to the recycling industry.”

“We’re not your traditional recycling company,” Huber said, citing the company’s “exponential” growth since 2002. “We built our business being a little more progressive. If there is there a way we can reuse and renew its life rather than chucking it away into a landfill, it turns into savings for the end user, the supplier, and pulls more of the cost out of the supply chain.”

Huber said companies incur significant expenses designing and purchasing custom packaging solutions to safely ship their products. Once the items arrive at their clients’ destinations, the packaging is usually thrown away, “even when most of it could be reused,” Huber said. “Recycle Solutions Inc. makes the recycling process effortless for clients by picking up this unsorted material and repurposing it for the distribution stream.”

The new warehouse will focus on recycled packaging components such as end boards, tags, H and U channels, clips, plastic sleeve plugs, wood core plugs and pallets. Clients then purchase these recycled products through a customized online ordering system.

“They’re making a commitment to Villa Rica,” Collins said. “It really has a positive impact on the community. The potential they have to expand is exciting for us. Now more than ever it is important to recycle.”