Facility’s switch to for-profit model has been challenging transition

By Sheila Harris [email protected]

Gerry Wass, of Purdy, who was instrumental in organizing the Purdy Recycling Center over 20 years ago, said he believes the center now processes about 1% of the waste stream in the Purdy School District.

“If we had 2%, we might be overwhelmed,” Wass laughed.

Natalie Moseley, Region N District Planner with Southwest Missouri’s Solid Waste District, said the Purdy Recycling Center, a 100%-volunteer program, is the only that she knows of in the state that’s self-funded.

“Gerry and the other volunteers in Purdy are beyond modest about what they’re doing here,” Moseley said.

The Purdy Recycling Center recently changed its business model from a nonprofit to for-profit, a transition that Wass said presented his biggest challenge, so far.

“With our ‘workers co-op model,’ we were able to pay our volunteers a portion of last year’s $2,500 dividend,” Wass said.

Wass admits the profits don’t come easily.

“We’re constantly problem-solving,” he said.

Much of the Purdy Recycling Center’s operating technicalities and equipment have been courtesy of grants and the ingenuity of volunteers, Wass said.

Volunteer Reese Hilburn, for example, devised a time clock on a used computer as a way of keeping track of volunteers’ hours — important when it comes to divvying dividends.

Wass said grants have provided necessary equipment like balers for cardboard and, more recently, a forklift.

“We depend on grants for survival,” Wass said.

Carolyn Easley, of Monett, who was present at the Aug. 11 meeting in Purdy, was instrumental in organizing Monett’s recycling program, beginning in 1993. The Monett Recycling Center is now supported, in part, by the City.

For Region N’s August 11 board meeting, Moseley organized a tour to showcase the Purdy recycling facility for representatives from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and state and county legislators. On hand, were State Rep. Ann Kelly, R-Lamar; Lawrence County Presiding Commissioner Bob Senneger; Barry County Northern Commissioner Gary Schad; and personnel from the DNR’s Southwest Regional Office, in Springfield.

Region N is one of 20 solid waste management districts in Missouri, and includes Barry, Lawrence, Dade, Stone and Taney Counties.