Page 48 from: March 2008

K eep an eye on the international horizon for anew player in the global market for recycling
equipment. Marathon Equipment Company and its
Nexgen division intend to make their presence
known around the world with the ultimate goal of
being a major player.

Although Marathon believes it dominates the
vertical compactor and self-contained business in
the USA, it has only an 8% baler market share –
with not even close to 1% of the baler business in
Europe. And while Marathon sees little room for
growth in the compactor niche, its Nexgen division
sees not only the USA but also the rest of the world
as opportunities for growth.

Established in 1967, Marathon manufactured its
first Ramjet waste compactor in an abandoned gas
station in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. The com-
pany continued to grow and, in 1975, moved to its
company headquarters in Vernon, Alabama. Today,
Marathon also builds equipment in Fayette,
Alabama, Yerington, Nevada and Clearfield,
Pennsylvania in manufacturing space totalling
421 000 square feet. After 23 years as a privately-
held company, Marathon was acquired in 1990 by
Dover Corporation, a multi-billion dollar diversified
industrial manufacturing company.

Expansion into recycling

As the company achieved dominance in the com-
pactor business, the decision was made to expand
beyond the waste industry into the recycling indus-
try, and in 1989 Marathon introduced its first verti-
cal baler.

In 1992, a Side-Eject horizontal baler was creat-
ed. Designed to save time, labour and space, it had a
smaller footprint because the bale was ejected from
the side rather than the end, so the machine could
be positioned in a corner.

One year later, Marathon introduced its first line
of two-ram balers. Then in 1999, the company cre-
ated what it called ‘the most affordable horizontal
baler on the market for corrugated cardboard’.
Known as the Stealth, this was an instant success
because of its large charge box and price tag of
under US$ 20 000.

However, even with its various baler lines and a
US$ 40 million turnover, Marathon was known in
the late 1990s as a leading maker of compactors but
not as a baler manufacturer. That was to change.

Identity problem

In January 2003, Gordon Shaw was named
Marathon’s President and, to help revitalise the
company’s recycling systems, two industry veterans
were hired: Joe Szany as Director of Nexgen Sales
and Jim Cunningham as Director of Engineering.

Recognising the identity problem confronting
Marathon, Mr Szany broached the issue in a meeting
of company managers. Mr Shaw wasted no time in
deciding to call the baler line Nexgen, a name already
trademarked by the company for another purpose.

Nexgen’s product lines include:
* Balers: Galaxy 2R two-ram, TIEger auto-tie,

vertical and manual-tie (five models);
* RAZ-R mobile scrap shear, five models with 600

to 1800 tonnes of cutting force;

S U P P L I E R

Recycling International • March 2008 48

Nexgen is already the fastest-growing component of its parent

Marathon Equipment Company. But the manufacturer of balers and

mobile scrap shears is setting its sights even higher – on becoming a

name known throughout the world for its recycling equipment.

In 2008 alone, the aim is to double its number of overseas dealers.

By Jim Fowler

NEXGEN Galaxy2R baler in Conway, UK.

Earlier this year, Nexgen sold a Galaxy 2R,
the company’s fourth two-ram in the UK.

Nexgen has a range of five models of Galaxy
2R two-ram balers.

The world beckons
Marathon’s Nexgen

for

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