This article provided by The Charleston Gazette

March 2, 2008

Rising value of metals has unintended effect: litter reduction

By MATTHEW HILL
The Register-Herald

BECKLEY, W.Va. (AP) -- At a time when many investors and stock market analysts are advising and pursuing a run from the declining dollar toward precious metals, the phenomenon is also taking place on a local level with metals that are much more common.

In fact, the rising prices fetched by materials like aluminum, copper, steel and tin are having the unintended -- albeit positive -- consequence of cleaning up the environment.

Raleigh County litter control officer Jim Stone tells the story of intercepting a truck last fall that was loaded down with metal.

When he confronted the husband-wife duo and their dog, Stone was stunned to learn they were not would-be dumpers en route to a forgotten hollow -- they were actually retrieving trash from illegal dump sites and taking it to be recycled.

"I told them to take all they wanted,'' Stone said. "I see a lot of vehicles on the road. Man, they're loaded down to the hilt. It's a twofold thing -- it's putting money in their pockets and cleaning up the environment. Since I started doing this in 2004, there's been a decrease in dumping over the hills.''

Stone chalks up the drop in illegal dumping to what he termed the three E's -- education, enforcement and economy.

Managers of local recycling centers, such as Barker's Junk Co. in Mabscott and Midway Scrap and Recycling in Midway, are most interested in that last E.

"In the last two or two-and-a-half years, we've seen a huge increase in a lot of nonferrous metals and ferrous metals. Copper seems to be the main interest of everyone,'' Nigel Hughes said.

Hughes is a co-owner of Midway Scrap and Recycling along with retired husband "Chick'' Hughes and sons Wayne and "Tate'' Hughes.

Her family bought the 60-year-old business in 1985. Midway Scrap and Recycling only began accepting appliances and automobiles at the end of last year.

"It's really quite amazing -- the people that are coming to us with loads of this stuff. People are actually telling us they're going out on dump sites in the area, putting pulleys on their trailers and trucks, and bringing this stuff to us to sell it,'' she added.