Rajan Ahluwalia, who was chief executive of Greys Paper Recycling, said the City of Edmonton went from being a welcoming supporter of his green technology to an inflexible landlord which helped push the company into bankruptcy, costing him and his investors millions and the jobs of dozens of employees.
Ahluwalia said the city ‘s insistence that Greys pay overdue rent with money from product sales instead of investor capital left him with no options. The company owes the city about $1 million, including $800,000 in rent for the site at the Edmonton Waste Management Centre.
“They are just the landlord,” Ahluwalia said. “They should be worried only about getting their money.”
After inviting Ahluwalia to set up here, the City of Edmonton contributed $9.4 million over five years to provide a building and equipment leased by Greys to produce stationery recycled from used office paper, clothing and linen using chemical-free technology and much less water than traditional paper mills.