Springdale Recycling Center

Owner: Gary and Karen Lewis

Address: 905 Hembree Ave.,

Springdale, 72764

Phone: 501-751-9571

Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday,

and 7 a.m. to noon Saturday

Start-up date: March 22

Residents as well as businesses in Springdale can now get rid of their recyclable metal and make a little money, too. The Springdale Recycling Center offers to pay for nonferrous metal scraps of copper, brass, stainless steel and aluminum cans.

Electricians, plumbers and contractors all sell scraps to the recycling center, but the public makes up about half of the business, Lewis says.

Two part-time workers help Lewis and his wife run the business, and the shop takes responsibility for bundling the metals for shipping.

Advertising has helped make the center a success, Lewis says, and his business tripled once he began advertising.

“When I got started, I really went hog wild with advertising, but now I’m picking and choosing,” Lewis says. Using an average of one advertising venue each month is Lewis’ current plan.

Currently the only recycling center in Springdale, the shop used the advertising to explain location and price.

After managing other recycling companies in St. Louis for 20 years, Lewis decided to go out on his own here in Northwest Arkansas. Experience, Lewis says, is the only teacher in the recycling business.

“There are no schools to break anyone into this business,” Lewis says.