Culpeper recycler trades scrap metal for beans and cornbread

By Catherine Amos

"Wise Recycling employee Scott Peragory hands J.W. Moore his complementary beans and cornbread for bringing in scrap metal to the recycling facility. Owner Jesse Wise decided to give out the “workin’ man’s meal” to draw more business and help feed those who might need a dinner."

It may be a ploy to bring in more business, but one man is helping to feed Culpeper’s residents for the holidays with a simple meal: beans and cornbread.

Jesse Wise, owner of Wise Services & Recycling at the end of North Commerce Street, is handing out a bag of navy beans and a box of Jiffy cornbread mix — plus cash — to everyone who brings in scrap aluminum, copper or brass.

“It’s a gimmick,” Wise said. “We need the business. But this year a lot of people are really hurting for money. The bad thing about it is the scrap business is also hurting because people aren’t buying anything. There’s not as much demand for it so the prices are down.”

Demand is down so much so that the same newspaper and cardboard Wise was paying $60 or $70 per ton for — which costs $30 to ship — he is now getting only $15 for from his buyers. Hence the food giveaways to boost his scrap metal supply and help those in need.

For about a dollar and a half per meal, Wise gets the food from Merchant’s grocery where Wise Recycling has an account. Since the first week in December when he started giving away the beans and cornbread, Wise said they have handed out nearly $500 worth of food and will continue through Christmas.

“Beans and cornbread, it’s a workin’ man’s meal,” he said. “It ain’t the best meal. But at the same time, when you’re hungry, it beats a pinchin’ belly.”

Wise, clad in a hard hat and coveralls, displayed his boxes of food and talked in his southern twang about the changes in his 10-year-old business over the last year.

Since this time last year, Wise has laid off 13 workers. A handful of his now-seven-man workforce sorted mounds of scrap metal, bottles and cardboard in the cold, damp air beneath structures made completely from recycled building materials.

While Wise gave a tour of his facility last week, local resident J.W. Moore arrived to sell his HVAC scrap. In addition to the cash Moore received, employee Scott Peragory handed him a bag of beans and cornbread mix.

“I appreciate it,” Moore said. “It’s a nice gesture. I’ll eat it for dinner for sure.”

When people bring their scraps to recycle, an employee scans their driver’s license for any sale more than $100 in case suspicious activity could be involved. With multiple video cameras monitoring every customer, Wise said he has assisted law enforcement agencies on multiple occasions.

The scraps are sorted before moving through a baler, which can bale 100,000 pounds of cardboard at a time. For metal scraps, a giant magnet pulls the steel out of the mix, then aluminum cans are bound in 1,000-pound, 30,000-can cubes.

The cans go to different mills across the country, such as Anheuser-Busch, to be recycled. Recycling is cheaper than mining the ore to make new cans, Wise said, and he ships his aluminum and steel all over the world.

“I like the scrap business because everyday’s like Christmas,” he said. “You never know what you’re gonna get.”

Wise takes pride in the efficiency and cleanliness of his facility, which he has made an effort to make environmentally friendly.

In addition to the recycled building materials, Wise houses oil-containing car parts under a roof so rain does not mix oil in runoff. Not to mention his inventory is recycled rather than sitting in a landfill.

“This is not a junkyard,” he said. “No one says the ‘J’ word anymore. The county will charge you for using the landfill; here I’ll pay you to take it.”

And despite the decrease in cash people get for their recyclables, Wise said people are still coming in.

“They don’t really complain about it,” he said. “They’ve been through tough times before. We live in a good community; they’re resilient. They won’t give up and my hat’s off to them.”

Catherine Amos can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 138 or camos@starexponent.com.

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