WATERBURY, Conn. — With Memorial Day weekend upon us, grilling is on the mind of many but it’s always on their minds at Paraco in Waterbury. The over-50-year-old family energy distribution company delivers propane all over the region.
Within the past month, Paraco installed "PAT" – the Paraco Automated Teammate. Pat is a robot, that, essentially helps to recycle propane tanks that could, and often do, end up in landfills.
“All of our (propane) cylinders come here – they are refurbished and then go out to our 29 distribution locations throughout the Northeast," said Christina Armentano, the Chief Operating Officer at Paraco Gas and a third-generation family member of the company.
The team at Paraco Gas estimates that PAT the Robot could end up recycling around two million tanks within the next year.
“Municipalities reach out to us because they have all these (propane tanks) piled up in their landfills and their transfer stations across the state and we are happy to pick them up from them. We can give them a new life," Will Fabrizio, the general manager of centralized operations at Paraco said.
Additionally, they noted that the robot also helps with the heavy lifting of the metal propane tanks an arduous task that, previously, was in the hands of Paraco employees.
"We are always looking to push the envelope on technology. We’re always pushing for a recycling option – a cleaner option.” Armentano said.“
Being able to have this investment in Waterbury is something we are really proud of," Fabrizio added.
Jimmy Altman is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at jaltman@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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