Berglund receives award for sustainable innovations in the railroad industry
Read more in Crain’s Chicago Business, or read below:
Hampshire, Illinois (July 19, 2023) – TiEnergy LLC, a family-owned railroad tie recycling and repurposing company that recently celebrated its 20th year in business, announced that its Founder & President Steve Berglund was awarded the “Notable Leader in Sustainability” recognition by Crain’s Chicago Business. TiEnergy partners with Class I, Class II, and Short Line railroads, commercial and industrial companies, and landfills across the United States and Canada to help them meet sustainability goals and reduce their carbon footprints. Berglund has pioneered innovative methods to give a second life to hard-to-recycle railroad ties and industrial wood, placing railroads at the forefront of the circular economy.
“I’m honored to receive this Notable Leader award from Crain’s Chicago Business, and thrilled that TiEnergy is being recognized for its impact on business sustainability,” says Berglund. “There are 20 million ties that are retired each year, and each repurposed tie saves 3.06 pounds of carbon. If each and every tie was upcycled, we could save 61,200,000 pounds of carbon from being released into the atmosphere annually. Our motto is simple: change the process, change the world—one tie at a time.”
These 20 million railroad ties that are retired each year have historically created a significant environmental challenge for railroads. Storing old ties in railyards is a fire hazard and utilizes valuable real estate, and woodchipper machines aren’t equipped to process the metal plates on each tie. To solve these challenges, Berglund patented a technology called The Tie Plate Picker – a machine that efficiently removes the metal hardware from each tie so the wood can be ground up. He created a substance called TIEROC, an aggregate substitute made from ground up ties that reduces the need for heavier, carbon-intensive alternatives. Landfills use TIEROC as a sustainable roadway for trucks, streamlining operations and preventing backlogs. These innovations have created a market for post-consumer waste that didn’t previously exist and opened new paths for industrial sustainability.
TiEnergy is a division of Midwest Companies, a company also founded by Berglund that manages industrial waste removal, hauling, construction and demolition, and related services.
About TiEnergy
TiEnergy is a family-owned company with a primary business of sustainable railroad tie removal, recycling and repurposing. Through innovative solutions such as TIEROC, an aggregate substitute made from recycled wood ties and out-of-service wood products, and patented technology that removes railroad tie plates, TiEnergy has created a new, environmentally responsible market for post-consumer waste. The company is a subsidiary of Midwest Companies, a sustainable waste management company that collects and recycles material waste for the construction, demolition, and railroad industries. For more information, visit http://tienergy.mmmrecycles.com.
