Posted on
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
DeJamCo Recycling Center Closes Doors In Jacksonville
By KELLY GOOCH
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
JACKSONVILLE -- Jacksonville residents who dropped off recyclable materials at DeJamCo will have to find somewhere else to go.
After 15 years in business, DeJamCo's recycling center has officially closed.
"I closed the center was because I had no alternative," said Dale Jamerson, co-owner of DeJamCo. "When the only product I had for sale was not going to be bought I couldn't keep the light on."
When economic conditions took a downturn, people stopped buying products, he said.
Jamerson said food in grocery stores was not being sold, so people didn't need cardboard boxes.
He said the recycling center took materials including paper, plastic and cardboard and had drop-off bins.
"Whatever I've collected is sitting here on the ground with no buyers," Jamerson said. "It was like the spicket has just been turned off. We cut a tree and make new paper instead of recycling old paper."
Nine employees at the recycling center lost their jobs when the recycling center closed Dec. 5 and were given vacation pay when they left, he said.
Jamerson said although there is a possibility that DeJamCo could reopen, it is not likely.
Even though the recycling center has closed, he said the company is now setting containers at businesses they have contracts with where materials can still be picked up.
DeJamCo had environmental agreements with several schools various education institutions, including Lon Morris College, where DeJamCo would collect shredded paper and cardboard, Jamerson said.
However, he said there is no longer labor available or money to pay for fuel to go collect the items from the institutions.
Jamerson said the situation DeJamCo was in is not specific to them.
One example he gave was someone in New York with trucks loaded with bales of cardboard and nowhere to go.
Residents who have metals such as aluminum, copper, brass and tin can still go to Jacksonville Recycling at U.S. Highway 79 and Farm-to-Market Road 747.
Although times have been tough in recent months, Steven Norton, owner of Jacksonville Recycling, said metal prices are starting to go up a little.
The price of metals "hasn't dropped as much as people think it has," he said.
Norton said in August, the average price of iron was $10 for 100 pounds; it went down to $1 for 100 pounds and is currently in the $2.50 to $3 range.
Jacksonville Recycling is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
"I would just encourage people to continue to want to go green," Norton said. "I think it's (the price of metals) going to get better, (but) the only way it's going to get better is for people to keep bringing in materials."
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