Turin-based Farid wins the tender for New York’s waste collection system
A contract worth 250 million, using 100 per cent Italian technology – CEO Orecchia: “We want to expand in the US market; we’ll soon be setting up a company in the US”
For Farid Industrie, a long-established Turin-based company and part of the German Zoeller Group, the challenge is twofold: on the one hand, to export Italian technology in the waste collection sector overseas; on the other, to reinvest in production capacity to meet this market challenge. “This opportunity arose in 2023,” says CEO Marco Orecchia, “and we were able to seize it thanks to the experience of the owners and the expertise we have developed over the years.”
A project which, when fully operational, will be worth 250 million euros by 2031 and promises to underpin the Turin-based Group’s growth in the coming years, with 70 million in orders already confirmed and deliveries scheduled for 2026 and 2027. This is a venture that will have a significant impact on the ‘scale’ of a company which last year recorded revenues of 210 million and which estimates additional annual revenues of between 35 and 50 million. The ambition is to capitalise on the opportunity offered by New York and make a strong push into the American market with technology that is 100 per cent ‘Made in Italy’.
The complexity of the project lies in the city’s layout, which has no courtyards and very few spaces available for street waste collection. “The council led by the previous mayor, Eric Leroy Adams, decided to tackle the emergency concerning the city’s appearance and the presence of rodents, not to mention the working conditions of the waste collection staff. The administration carried out a study to select the right technology and opted to place large-capacity collection bins on the streets,” explains Orecchia. Farid Industrie, in particular, specialises in manufacturing machinery for handling the bins; it adapted its proprietary technology to the city’s needs in just six months and took part in a pilot project.
In 2024, the local authority purchased the first batch of containers from a Spanish company and the first 16 waste-handling vehicles from Farid Industrie, in partnership with a German manufacturer of refuse lorries. “The trial began,” explains the CEO, “in a Manhattan borough, to check whether the solution was workable.” The tender was launched in early August last year and was subsequently awarded in the autumn. Meanwhile, the local elections resulted in the victory of the new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, and the project was relaunched a few months later, with the aim of rolling out the new system across the city’s five boroughs by 2031.
At the factory in Vinovo, there is a production line dedicated to the New York City project, aimed at doubling production capacity for that product line, with an investment of 10 million in 2026 alone. Furthermore, Farid is setting up a company in the United States, in partnership with the local dealer, which will handle the on-site integration of the machines, initially employing around twenty staff. “We have identified the management team; in August we will select the production site, and by the end of the year we will be carrying out the work directly with our own staff,” explains Orecchia.
