FeedsAuto recycling firm to expand in Van Buren
A plan to expand an automotive recycling facility will bring new jobs to Van Buren Township and move a junk yard away from a residential neighborhood at the same time.
The Van Buren Township Board of trustees approved a special land use request Tuesday that will allow LKQ, Inc. to consolidate its operations from three separate buildings in two locations to the township.
“I think it’ll be an excellent location,” said Clerk Leon Wright.
Formed in 1997, LKQ is one of the largest auto recycling company in the country, said Doug Cortellini, a spokesperson for the firm. They provide used, refurbished and aftermarket parts for automobiles, he said. The primary customer base is professional repair shops and insurance companies, but the public is allowed into the facility, too.
“We’re not part of the traditional junk yard industry,” said Cortellini. “Recycling is part of what we do, but it’s not all we do.”
The new operation will shift from Huron River Drive to Schooner Drive, according to township officials. Cortellini said the company would eventually consolidate its Keystone Livonia operations there. Growth drove the move, he added. They have about 65,000 square feet of space in two buildings in Livonia. The Van Buren site offers an existing 150,000 square foot warehouse on 27 acres of land.
He said the firm would have about 96 employees—25 taking apart cars, another 30 in the call center and about 20 drivers. The employees from Livonia would be shifted to Van Buren Township and 10 more jobs would be added within a year.
The company purchases cars that have been in wrecks and strips the parts from them. They use the fluids recovered in their own vehicles, cleans up and resells the parts and scraps whatever can’t be used. Cleanliness—both in the cars they purchase and in the land they’re stored on—is important, said Cortellini.
“People think we are dirty and nasty, but we think we’re just the opposite.”
Township Trustee Jeffrey Jarr said his only concern with granting the special land use was opening the door for a full-scale junk yard operation there.
“I think this will work well on this site,” he said. “I don’t think it’ll be a problem.”
Cortellini said it means an eventual closure of the junk yard on Huron River Drive, but that probably won’t happen right away. He said that land would eventually sold off, but whatever goes there would ultimately be more visually appealing.
“Picking up a storage yard and moving it overnight will be hard to do,” he told the trustees. “I think it’ll take at least six months.
“We’re not going to support a competitor in that location,” he added of the land. “We’re not in a hurry to do anything with it.”
