After barely hanging on for years, Paul Hardman says he couldn’t hang on any longer.
Air Water Earth Recycling, the business Hardman has owned for 43 years, will close for good next week. On a table in its cluttered office sits a stack of papers with a short message to customers announcing a June 30 closing date. It begins, “Goodbye from AWE Recycling.”
Changes in the recycling industry — including curbside pickup — an increasingly difficult market and competition have all eroded AWE’s business over the years. But it’s a set of new state regulations, Hardman said, that pushed the operation over the edge.
“That’s the straw that broke the camel’s back,” he said.
In 2013, the state Legislature passed a law aimed at reducing scrap metal theft. House Bill 1552 required licensing for scrap metal businesses and created a series of new rules for scrap metal transactions and record-keeping. The changes took effect last year.
The cost of a license for a scrap metal recycler like AWE Recycling: $1,250. That’s no small sum for a business operating on a razor-thin margin, Hardman said. He was able to defer that requirement at first. But AWE received a notice from the state earlier this year saying it would face fines of up to $1,000 per day if it didn’t comply.
Rather than jump through the new regulatory hoops, Hardman decided it was time to shut down.
“Sometimes God closes doors because it’s time to move forward,” he said. Still, he added: “It’s hard to let go of something that you’ve been doing for so long.”
The new law expanded on an earlier bill the Legislature passed in 2007, Christine Anthony, a state Department of Licensing spokeswoman, said in an email. The changes came largely at the request of the industry, she said. Before the latest law took effect, state officials visited affected businesses and sent letters notifying them of the new requirements, according to the Department of Licensing.
Many changes in Olympia result in unintended consequences, said state Rep. Liz Pike, R-Camas. Pike said she would have liked to see an exception to the new rules for “mom and pop” operations like AWE that are less able to pay costly fees.
Pike met with Hardman after hearing about his situation and reached out to the Department of Licensing, she said. But ultimately, there may not be much she can do, she said.
“I’m a little frustrated,” Pike said.
AWE Recycling’s struggles started well before the new state rules took effect, Hardman said. In busier times, the business would see about 85 customers per weekday and 125 on Saturdays at its location at 9701 N.E. 94th Ave., near the old Leichner Landfill. Today, that number is closer to 15 customers per weekday and about 25 on Saturdays, Hardman said.
The company used to receive 13 types of materials, but gradually phased out certain items over the years, Hardman said. Now AWE accepts mostly scrap metal, which it then sells to other buyers in Portland.
On Tuesday, one week before the planned closure, Hardman and his wife, Ellen, reflected on the end of the business they’ve dedicated much of their lives to. They chatted with LeRoy Hurford, AWE’s only remaining employee.
“I think we always thought we were going to fade into the sunset,” Ellen Hardman said. “We didn’t want to have to be told to close. That’s the hard part.”
Hurford said he’s gotten to know many customers in 35 years of working at the recycler. Many have been dismayed to hear that it’s closing, he said.
“It’s kind of like an icon,” Hurford said of AWE Recycling.
Paul Hardman said he hopes to use the property for another purpose after the business shuts down. For now, it remains dotted with odds and ends and equipment, including a cardboard baler named Kermit and an aluminum can machine named Bertha.
As it approaches its last day, AWE Recycling continues to hand out messages thanking its customers for their support over the years.
Pike called Hardman a “pioneer” in the industry, “recycling before it was vogue to be in recycling.”
“It’s just a shame that it’s ending on this sour note,” she said.
