Delaware business provides a Choice for medical waste

Matt Georgov spent his summers away from Archmere Academy working for his father, Bruce. The family had a waste business, Independent Disposal Services.

But Georgov's mother didn't want him on the trucks, so he spent his time in the shop, learning how to weld and change oil.

Now 27, Georgov is running his own shop and operating his own waste business.

Georgov is the operations manager, along with a few other titles, of Choice MedWaste, a medical waste business he started with his father in 2015. The company services various medical facilities all over Delaware, along the Eastern Shore of Maryland and in southeastern Pennsylvania.

Georgov handles mostly all the day-to-day at Choice. His father, though, after 25 years in the business, hasn't yet retired. He's got his hands in Choice, a few real estate ventures and transfer stations that he runs for the state.

“I always tell him," Georgov said, "‘Listen, I’ll retire for you, and you can just keep working. We can switch spots.’”

Georgov graduated from the University of Delaware in 2012 with a bachelor of science in finance and operations management and two minors, entrepreneurial studies and international business. From there, he started working at Citigroup because of another one of his father's rules – in addition to starting at the bottom of the totem pole, hence the welding – that he had to go work for someone else before he could work for himself.

But after his father sold his solid waste company, the two started doing research into medical waste about four or five years ago. They talked to local doctors, surgery centers, dentist offices and other medical professionals to see what the market was for medical waste.

What they found was a market being dominated by big companies like Stericycle, MedPro and Waste Management. There was demand for a local company with more personal customer service.

Lori Crimian is the office manager at Infectious Disease Associates. Crimian said she met Georgov at a Delaware Medical Group Management Association function and was impressed. At the time, her office – which gets pickups biweekly – was using one of the bigger, national medical waste companies.

"The service we were using was bleaching the money out of us," Crimian said. "I love (Choice) being local."

A big advantage, Georgov said, is his customers don't have to deal with a call center.

"Everyone has my cellphone number, and they can call me day or night," Georgov said.

Georgov said Choice services around 150 customers in the region. Some get pickups once a year, and some once a week. Choice has just four employees. One driver, Bruce Blackwell, completes pickup routes with Georgov filling in when needed.

Medical waste is typically disposed in an autoclave or incinerated. Choice disposes of waste in Easton, Pennsylvania, as well as Baltimore, where the company gets rid of pharmaceuticals, chemo and pathological wastes in an incinerator.

The hope, as business continues to scale, is to eventually have an autoclave on-site. But that's still five to 10 years away, Georgov said. 

Georgov said he's frequently in contact with fellow Archmere graduate Trevor Brown, whose company, DEact, is aiming to help deactivate opioid abuse before it starts by providing a safe way to dispose of pharmaceuticals. Because Choice cannot serve consumers directly, he'll be able to work together with Brown to help innovate in the waste space. He envisioned Brown eventually scaling his product and being able to sell his technology to a company like Choice, which would be able to put it in a 55-gallon drum and discard pharmaceuticals on-site without having to take them elsewhere.

Georgov said people call frequently and ask about disposing of medical products safely. For example, a diabetic needing to throw away sharps. Choice can't service those people, but Georgov said he's always happy to send people in the right direction.

"Our goal is to be a local presence," Georgov said. "If you have a question about anything, whether you’re a homeowner or a businessperson, give us a call."

Regarding Choice's pickup radius, Georgov said he likes to say his company services anyone within a two-and-a-half- to three-hour radius of Wilmington (the company isn't permitted in New Jersey).

“Wherever you are, we will get to you," Georgov said. "It doesn’t matter if you have one box a year or one box a day. We’re going to service you the same way we would service anyone.”

Contact reporter Jeff Neiburg at (302) 983-6772, jneiburg@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @Jeff_Neiburg.