Kubi’s American recycling dream

When Kubilay Karul moved from Istanbul to Los Angeles in 2008, he was a 24-year-old with just one suitcase and big dreams but unable to speak a word of English. Seventeen years on, Karul is a regional general manager at SA Recycling, directing facility operations across Southern California and playing a key role in the region’s overall performance and growth.

BY MARTIJN REINTJES

‘You like hamburgers? I don’t mean McDonald’s, I mean tasty, freshly baked hamburgers. You like? Good, we’ll have hamburgers for lunch later at “In-N-Out”, my favourite place. You’ll love it.’

It’s Friday morning 8 am in Anaheim, a city in northern Orange County, which neighbours Los Angeles County. Kubilay Karul has just picked me up from my hotel and we’re on our way to downtown LA to visit some of SA Recycling’s yards.

A one-hour drive – if we’re lucky – through busy LA traffic to the first stop on our tour. For Karul (or ‘Kubi’ as friends and colleagues usually call him), driving time should never be lost time. ‘The nice thing about a Tesla is you can put it on auto-pilot, so I’m handsfree and can concentrate on calls rather than the freeway,’ he says with a big smile, while the car zigzags from one lane to the other without its driver touching the wheel.

‘This is one of the things I love about LA and California: we’re early adopters of modern technology and AI. Smart cities are not a faraway future. It’s happening now. San Francisco already has fully automated Uber taxis with no driver in the front seat. It may seem crazy but you ask yourself: will taxi drivers still have a job in five or ten years from now? Probably not.’

COMING TO AMERICA

Kubilay Karul came to the United States from Turkey in 2008. A 24-old  who had earned his college degree in Istanbul and served in the special forces with the Turkish military. He moved to America with the intention of getting an MBA.

Karul’s brother-in-law happened to know Terry Adams, the brother of SA Recycling’s George Adams. When Karul told his family he wanted to move to the US, they encouraged him to come to southern California and visit the Adams family.

When Karul arrived, he hardly spoke a word of English. He went to language school and quickly picked it up. ‘But most of all, he had great energy, a winning personality, and a disarming smile,’ says recycler and entrepreneur George Adams in his management book “Create the Connection”. ‘People instantly liked him. He was also a quick learner.’

READ THE FULL STORY IN THE 2025 JULY/AUGUST ISSUE OF RECYCLING INTERNATIONAL >>