Reco Biodiesel to continue operating under new ownership

Inside Reco Biodiesel in Richmond, Virginia (Photo: Reco Biodiesel)

In December, Boxwood Partners announced the sale of Virginia American Industries, including VAI’s biodiesel refinery Reco Biodiesel located in Richmond, Virginia, to Shamrock Environmental Corp. Boxwood Partners is a boutique middle-market investment bank and was the advisor to VAI on the transaction with Shamrock Environmental, a portfolio company of CenterOak Partners, which is a private equity firm.

Shane Kasper, Reco Biodiesel plant manager, told Biobased Diesel Daily that operations at the biodiesel production facility have been status quo since the acquisition.

“It’s still early in the game, but their intention is to run it as before and make money,” Kasper said.

Although Reco Biodiesel’s website says it has the capacity to produce 5 MMgy, the plant is currently unable to reach that level.

“We can’t make that much with the equipment we have in place currently,” he said. “Two million [gallons per year] is probably the most we could do.”

He adds that, today, the plant is producing at an annualized rate of between 1.5 and 2 MMgy.

“We’re not very big, but we’re trying to do our part,” Kasper told Biobased Diesel Daily. “Used cooking oil is hard to come by, but we still have a supply line. Once fuel prices came back up, we switched to soybean oil for a little while to keep the plant going. We could get some used cooking oil, but not much.”

Mike Schleinkofer, president of Reco Biodiesel, said, “Shamrock has been a leading environmental services provider for many years, and we believe the resources they can provide VAI and its employees will greatly help the future growth and development of the company.”

VAI was established in 1998 and is the parent company to three additional entities including Florida-based Aqua Clean Environmental Company Inc., Florida Recycling Solutions LLC, and Virginia-based Reco Biotechnology.