A Franklin County judge has ordered two defunct electronics recycling companies to pay $3 million in civil penalties for abandoning massive quantities of hazardous waste in Columbus, Ohio, Attorney General (AG), Dave Yost announced.
The court’s final judgment adopted in full a magistrate’s earlier decision against Closed Loop Refining & Recovery and Closed Loop Glass Solutions.
“These companies dumped a toxic mountain of waste and vanished, but the consequences caught up with them,” Yost said. “This is the final chapter in one of the largest hazardous waste cases our office has ever taken on.”
Closed Loop operated under the guise of recycling cathode-ray tube (CRT) glass – a material containing hazardous levels of lead – but instead illegally accumulated 150 million pounds of the CRT glass and other waste in two large warehouses on Watkins Road and Fairwood Avenue in Columbus.
The warehouses were owned by Garrison Southfield Park and Olymbec USA. The property owners spent $17 million over 3½ years to decontaminate the sites. The extensive cleanup included:
- Floor-to-ceiling cleaning
- Specialized triple-rinsing of HVAC systems.
- Lawful removal and disposal of all hazardous materials.
AG Yost’s office previously settled with Garrison and Olymbec for $250,000, acknowledging their responsible actions and financial contributions to the cleanup.
The judge’s ruling brings to an end a lawsuit filed by Yost’s office against the companies and the property owners.
Published August 2025