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ROANOKE RAPIDS - An informal survey of local recycling efforts showed Northampton and Halifax counties had programs in the past, but they were too costly and neither could afford to keep them up.
This leaves citizens who are concerned about recycling on their own, which in some cases appears not to be a bad approach.
According to Halifax County Manager Tony Brown, the Halifax County program was simply not cost effective. That does not mean Halifax County does not care about recycling, it means that Halifax County cares about what is best for the citizens and, more importantly, the taxpayers of Halifax County, he explained.
In this time of rising fuel costs and increasing budgets across the board for county services, just making sure basic services like water, sewer and public education are paid for leaves little money for such programs as recycling.
That is where concerned citizens and private companies begin to think outside the box and find ways to get things done without the help of government.
In fact, the harder the economic times, the more citizens find ways to innovate, to enhance their income and lessen their expenses and many times, these efforts actually lead to the creation of a new business.
One look around most homes will reveal many signs of inefficiencies and examples of money actually just lying around. A perfect example is old, junk cars. These relics have been called eyesores and threats to public health, but to a modern-day recycler, these can be extra money for the household budget.
One look in the services section of the newspaper will reveal several ads saying they will pick up and remove your junk car for free. Many homeowners are glad to see the old cars leave at no cost to them, but the person taking the car is going to sell it for scrap.
Twenty years ago, junk cars were scattered all across the country and no one seemed to care. It is through the efforts of the metals industry and changes mandated by the U.S. government that recycling these rusted hulks has become a lucrative business for many.
When those changes were originally imposed on the metal industry, many thought it was a terrible thing that would ruin them. Today, we see a completely new industry that has sprung up from those changes and will continue to thrive long into the future.
One such business, United Salvage and Auto, is thriving in Halifax County. Tommy Tart, whose family comes from the Selma area, purchased a junkyard from Oscar Bogue. The business thrived because of the new government mandates and changes Tart implemented. Simply taking in scrap metals and selling it across the country has turned into a major business. The Tarts quickly outgrew the Zoo Road location, although it is still used today, and moved to a large site on U.S. Highway 903 in Halifax.
Today, Tart has one of the most lucrative metal recycling businesses in North Carolina. He has recently asked the county to rezone his land so a huge metal shear, or shredder, can be installed. Once that is in place, United Salvage will become a central location other metal recyclers will truck their scrap there to have it shredded.
Tart actually started his own trucking company, because it is cheaper for him to ship the metal throughout the country than to pay someone else to do it. “Our trucking company only hauls our stuff,” said Tart. “Trucking is always a difficult business, but it makes sense for us to do our own hauling. It creates jobs for our area, too ... “We're paying the highest prices ever heard of for aluminum right now,” Tart said.
“If this model (the metal recycling industry) was put into effect for other materials like plastic, there is no telling what could happen.”
While Tart was talking, trucks of all sizes were pulling onto the weighing scales. They were piled high with scrap metal of all kinds.
The sellers were varied, too. There were grandfather-types with rusty bicycles and what looked like junk cleaned out of a basement or garage. There were those with rusty washers and dryers roped onto their old trucks and there were newer trucks, from other businesses, disposing of their scrap metal that 20-years ago would have been taken to the landfill. “All of these people are making money off junk,” Tart said, while indicating the growing line of trucks with a sweep of his arm.
Next week: A look at recycling plastics.Recycling a personal thing in the Valley
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