Meet Michelle and Paul Kuhar, President and Vice President of Champion Waste and Recycling Services.
A family legacy and a clear vision are where Michelle and Paul Kuhar started when they launched Champion Waste and Recycling Services. Michelle was the third generation of her family to build a waste and recycling company. She and Paul were childhood sweethearts who followed each other from Connecticut to Texas. After working in her family’s business in Houston and San Antonio, they moved to Dallas and started their own company with 2 trucks and 10 containers in 2001. Continuing the tradition, Michelle and Paul have four children, two of which are working in the business.
Their company was founded on two simple principles in which Michelle is passionate. One, reduce the amount of trash that goes into landfills, and two make recycling easy for their clients. In 2015 Michelle and Paul joined the Celina community by opening a single process construction waste recycling facility just north of town on highway 289, Preston Road. At this facility they accept construction waste from commercial and residential construction sites and process it to produce mulch to be used by landscapers, as playground padding, or be used in new construction, completing the cycle.
This high-energy couple are problem solvers at heart. After listening to their clients talk about the large amount of food waste leaving commercial kitchens such as hotels, and food packing facilities, they knew what their next project would be. In 2017, they started the process to build a food waste recycling facility in Pottsboro but were delayed in opening it due to the pandemic until recently.
Paul explains that food manufacturing and packaging facilities produce waste just by the nature of their process. Expired food or food approaching its "best by" dates in grocery stores and restaurants must be thrown out. Hotels often make double the food required for a banquet, only to trash the leftovers. Now Champion can pick up their customer's food waste and process it making compost soil. Their process is unique because they do not require their customers to separate the food from its packaging before picking it up. Their single process system allows them to achieve their goal of making recycling easy for their customers.
Their vision in opening this new recycling center in Pottsboro is to make nutrient-rich soil that can be used to grow high-quality, nutrient-rich food, giving something back to the earth.
Michelle and Paul have a heart for the communities they work in. Michelle explains that “when we chose Celina back in 2014, we were drawn to the people of Celina and the hometown, American feel. We loved the square and the Economic Development Corporation and city are great to work with.” They have been sponsors of events in Celina including Cinco De Mayo Festival and most recently as the title sponsor for the Celina Splash & Blast. Their desire is to do more than just write checks for events, but they want to be engaged with the community, connect with its people, and give back.
This couple believes that when you see the fruit of your labor, and you see how you can make a difference, you are inspired to do more.
