Mississippi Recycling Association Hosts Legislators For “Grave to Cradle Tour”

Jackson, MS - The Mississippi Recycling Association recently hosted their “Grave to Cradle Tour,” which included 9 members of the Mississippi state legislature representing both the House and Senate. The tour began at Pull-A-Part, an automotive recycling company located in Jackson. Participants saw firsthand how end-of-life vehicles are removed from the environment, de-polluted, and then dismantled for parts and recyclable materials.

Derick Corbett, president of the Mississippi Recycling Association and SVP at Pull-A-Part, was very excited about the tour. “Recyclers in Mississippi provide an $837 million economic impact in the state of Mississippi alone; I don’t think folks realize that. As impressive as that is, though, we’re most proud of what we do to keep the state of Mississippi clean and healthy.”

Legislators saw firsthand how recyclers capture the harmful fluids contained in the vehicles, store them safely, and ultimately recycle those pollutants and move the vehicles to the next stop in the recycling value chain. Corbett went on to say, “Recyclers are the first and last line of defense for our rivers, streams, woods, and farmland when it comes to capturing the oil, gas, and mercury switches, CFC’s (chlorofluorocarbons), and other harmful elements contained in the hundreds of thousands of end-of-life vehicles leaving Mississippi roads each year. From there, we make sure the recyclable material in those vehicles is turned back into the feedstock we need to keep building America rather than finding its way into our landfills.”

After Pull-A-Part, the tour went to the Can Man Recycling Center, which has been recycling ferrous and non-ferrous metal in Mississippi since 1980. Led by Allen Tye, former president of the Mississippi Recycling Association, tour goers saw the metal recycling industry expanded beyond vehicles to all types of residential and commercial metal. From aluminum cans to old tin gutters and appliances, legislators saw up close the first steps of how these items are sorted, packaged, and sold into the recycling value chain and set on their journey to becoming a new good.

The final stop was Jackson Iron and Metal, hosted by Zach Shemper, who is a VP for the company and treasurer for the Mississippi Recycling Association. At this final stage of the tour, legislators watched as these items, which were once deemed to be trash, were finally transformed into feedstock to be sold to manufacturers who would use it to make more cars, steel beams for bridges, and more. Shemper, who has spent his professional life in recycling, said, “This industry really is essential to Mississippi’s success. We cannot dig enough out of the ground to make all the things we need, and we don’t have enough space to keep throwing things away. Recycling is essential to solving both of those challenges, and I’m proud to be a part of the industry.”

Senator Bradford Blackmon, who joined the tour, said later via a statement on Facebook, “It was eye-opening to see just how involved the process is from start to finish. Getting a look behind the scenes gave me a much better appreciation for the hard work and innovation that goes into keeping Mississippi clean and sustainable.”

Participants in the Grave to Cradle Tour hosted by the Mississippi Recycling Association were: Representative Ronnie Crudup, Representative Vince Mangold, Representative Bill Kinkade, Representative Jeff Hale, Representative Lee Yancey, Representative Kevin Ford, Representative Greg Haney, Senator Jason Barrett, and Senator Bradford Blackmon.