Bella Vista City Guide

Aer almost 50 years, the Bella Vista Recycling Center is still evolving. For years, the Center ran as a nonprofit, with proceeds from selling recyclables funneled to other nonprofits based on the number of volunteer hours worked for each specific agency. Volunteers signed in for their favorite nonprofit and were "paid" by the hour with a grant going to that nonprofit. But with profits dropping and outside funding drying up, the board of the Recycle Center had to change their business model. ey still donate their profits, but they no longer base donations on volunteer hours. Most of the people now working at the Center, are employees not volunteers. e board of directors is still volunteer, board President Paul Poulides said. He's has worked at the center for the last 15 years including six or seven as president. He agreed to remain in the position for at least one more year. Some volunteers still work at the Center, but not many, Poulides said. When the board rearranged the way they distribute grants, many of the volunteers stopped working. At one time members of the Fly Tyers Club volunteered each week to pick up cardboard from all over the region. ey used their share of the proceeds for projects like the new fishing dock near the Loch Lomond Marina or the salary of an intern to help the Lakes Department improve fishing. Now instead of sending out volunteers with pick ups and trailers, the Recycle Center mostly sends out the trailers. ey park a trailer at a business that collects cardboard and wait for a call to retrieve the filled trailer and replace it with an empty one. It saves on labor and gas, Poulides said, and the businesses are happy to save on the cost of their trash pick up. Cardboard used to be one of the Centers more profitable products, but the price has gone done recently. Luckily, the Bella Vista Center has enough space to hold bales of cardboard until the price goes up. ey also hold bales of aluminum cans. Bella Vista doesn't offer curbside recycling. Residents bring their recyclables into the center, yet their numbers are impressive when compared to communities where recycling is much easier, Poulides said. "We're an unusual animal," he said. e Bella Vista Center also accepts items that other recycling centers don't accept and oen those are not money makers. Glass, for instance, is accepted at the center but there's no one to buy it. A company in the region picks it up for free. ey have a similar arrangement for textiles and accept truck loads of old clothes from Care and Share, a nonprofit in Gravette. ere's only a little money involved, he said, but it keeps all those truck loads of clothes out of landfills. One of their newest services is shredding sensitive documents for area residents. For some people, it's a big deal, he explained, because shredding services can become expensive. Residents can stay and watch their papers go into the shredders on Monday, Wednesday or Saturday morning or leave their papers to be shredded later. ere's no fee at the Center, but according their web site, donations are accepted. Another service that isn't available at many centers, is moving boxes. In Bella Vista, the staff collects moving boxes and stores them so they can be sold at a greatly reduced rate to residents. Occasionally, a moving business will come by and buy the entire stock of moving boxes. e Bella Vista Recycling Center is open 24 hours a day on Monday through Saturday and closed on Sunday and a few holidays. Staff is on site from 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m each day. e center accepts cans, plastic bottles, glass, paper, cardboard and wearable clothing. ey can't take batteries, building materials, carpet, shoes, pillows, plastic food containers or trays, plastic bags or Styrofoam. Recycle Center evolving, surviving | By Lynn Atkins, Special to Bella Vista City Guide A Bella Vista resident sorts his own recycling as he drops it off at the local Recycling Center. The Bella Vista Recycling Center has enough space to store bales of aluminum cans and cardboard in the hope that prices will rise. Photo courtesy of Lynn Atkins Photo courtesy of Lynn Atkins 24 | 2023 Bella Vista City Guide

• Cover