Daniel McDonald
Amidst all the cacophony surrounding the Baldwin County recycling debate, one Milledgeville business wants you to know they’re available to meet all your metal recycling needs, and maybe one or two charitable needs as well.
Denise and Ronny Johnson of Buddy’s Recycling, located at 531 N. Wayne St., can take just about any piece of metal, from tin foil and aluminum cans all the way up to your worn out jalopy, and give you some walking money in return. Or they can do you one better by taking the proceeds from your unwanted scrap metal and donating it to one of three local charities.
“It’s really a win-win situation because it keeps [your unwanted metal items] out of the trash and gives the organizations the cash,” Denise Johnson said. “And let’s face it, Baldwin County is hurting right now and these organizations are seeing an increase in people looking to them for help.”
Buddy’s Recycling works mainly with Animal Rescue Foundation Inc., Habitat for Humanity and the Salvation Army, but the Johnsons say they’ll work with any local organization that is interested in initiating a relationship that trades scrap metal for operating capital.
Johnson said Buddy’s has been working with ARF to recycle aluminum cans for about 10 years. But about five years ago, they simplified their relationship from ARF collecting the cans, storing them and then bringing them to Buddy’s to be recycled to a system in which anyone can take their cans, or any metal item, to Buddy’s, and upon the patron’s request, they credit the proceeds to an account from which ARF receives all of the balance.
Milledgeville resident and First Presbyterian Church Green Initiative Chair Debbie Harshbarger thinks that is one little-known resource for alleviating the pent-up demand for recycling created by Baldwin County’s move from allowing universal access at their network of convenience centers.
She said with the holidays just around the corner, people may be inundated with more recycling opportunities than they realize.
“There will be people unfurling those long Christmas tree lights and throwing away the ones that don’t work,” she said. “But people should know that the copper inside those lines is recyclable.”
And although Johnson will tell you that much of Buddy’s charitable recycling comes in the form of cans, she encourages people to keep them in mind when they clean out their closets, garages and attics.
“You’d be surprised about how things that people think of as garbage continue to have value to it — working or not,” she said.
Even if it is just the copper in the power cord that transports electricity to an otherwise completely plastic appliance.
“If anyone is interested in donating anything — any recyclable, an old broken dishwasher, anything — we’re happy to donate the proceeds to a local charitable organization,” Johnson said.
To find learn more, or to determine whether your unwanted item has recyclable value, call Buddy’s Recycling at (478) 452-5507.
