Sharps Compliance Inc. opened its first northeastern medical waste processing facility in 2016, in a 40,000-square-foot shell building owned by the Carbon Chamber and Economic Development Corporation.

Almost three years later, the Houston-based company is hoping to expand its presence in Carbon.

“We’re one of the leaders in medical waste processing, so think about all the different health care facilities up in the northeast,” David Tusa, chief executive officer and president of Sharps Compliance Inc., said.

“The northeast is a really critical area for us because of the population density, which works really well in a route-based business,” he said.

Over the past few years, Sharps Compliance Inc. has acquired three transport companies: Citiwaste Medical Waste Disposal in Brooklyn, New York; Alpha Bio Med Services in Paradise, Pennsylvania; and Bio-Team Mobile in Willow Street, Pennsylvania.

Part of the company’s future might also include attaining a second building in Carbon for additional warehouse storage, a prospect Tusa said the county and Sharps are in discussion about.

“As we grow, we’ll need a larger facility — which we are talking to them about working with them on a larger facility — and we’re going to hire more people, and we’re going to spend more money with the local contractors,” Tusa said. “So, our business is doing well, and in turn, it helps Carbon County.”

“We’d like something very close by, that’s probably 30-40,000 square feet, so we want to double the size,” he said.

At its inception, the Sharps Compliance Inc. plant in Nesquehoning employed fewer than 10 people. Since then, that number has more than doubled; six of the plant’s employees are veterans, a result of intentional hiring practices by the company, Tusa said. He added that the number of employees could rise to 30 in the next year.

When Sharps Compliance Inc. first took over the building in Nesquehoning, it underwent a nearly $2 million renovation project.

The facility processes the Sharps red medical waste containers and bags, which contain needles, empty vials, glass slides, pipettes, syringes, sharp instruments, gowns, gloves, drapes, IV tubing and blood-saturated materials. They also enclose pharmaceutical items like outdated pills and antibiotics; and trace chemotherapy items like empty vials, nonhazardous drugs, syringes and needles, as well as gowns, gloves, masks, IV tubing and bags.

With a processing plant in Nesquehoning and Houston, Texas, Tusa said Sharps Compliance Inc. “service(s) the entire county,” but the company is “really committed to the northeast.”

On April 3, Sharps Compliance Inc. hosted a luncheon at its warehouse on 600 Industrial Drive in Nesquehoning. The afternoon’s focus was the company’s growth and future, which on April 12, Tusa said looked “bright.”

“The luncheon was great because we’re a big part of the community,” Tusa said. “They love the fact that we’re there, we’re growing, and we’ve delivered on everything that we said that we would deliver.

“It’s a great relationship, and the only thing that I see is just growing.”

Marlyn Kissner, executive director at Carbon County Chamber and Economic Development, said the chamber is “thrilled” by the possibility of Sharps’ growth in Carbon.

“I’ll be honest, it’s been such a wonderful partnership for us at the chamber of economic development especially,” Kissner said.

“When we did see them when they came in for the luncheon, we heard loud and clear that they are expanding,” she said. “We’re hoping that through economic development, we can really support the growth, and either build a building or find a building.”