History of the Business

Auto Recyclers LLC began with a relationship between a grandfather and a grandson.  The grandfather, a child of the depression, had an appreciation for things old, that might have use, and took his young grandson with him on trips to salvage yards to seek out used, but still useful items.  The lessons learned from the grandfather fostered first a job for the grandson, then a career and finally, the successful business that is now Auto Recyclers, LLC.  The grandfather could see beyond old and rusty to reuse . . . and the grandson has the vision . . . providing easy access to all citizens to recycle a wide variety of used or unwanted material.

• The genesis of the business was a repair shop in Sterling, Virginia that the owner ran for 10 years.  The repair shop led to the purchase of a salvage yard and the realization that working outdoors, taking apart old cars, was not the career he had envisioned for himself . . . so he recycled himself . . . and brought the business indoors.
• A former Chevy dealership in Winchester, Virginia was purchased, recycled (click here to see the history of the recycling of the Winchester Store), and the salvage yard was moved indoors.  Old automobiles were bought, the cars dismantled, useable parts cataloged and stored on shelves, customers from around the country contacted Auto Recyclers LLC for hard to find parts.
• Even as the Winchester store was a successful car part recycler, there was constant drop in traffic, citizens wanting Auto Recyclers LLC to buy scrap metals of all sorts . . . and the light bulb went off . . . there was a need for a business that bought recyclable material from the public.  And the current recycling business was born.
• The 12,000 square foot Winchester store was quickly outgrown and the search for a larger site begun.  Looking within a 2 hour drive of Winchester, after much searching, the owners found a building in Buena Vista, Virginia . . . a "dinosaur". vacant for 20 years, an eyesore in the town.  The building was purchased in 2006 and opened for business in January 2008.  The first year of operation, more than $1.4M was paid to the public for recycled materials.
• The business is in full swing, accepting material from the public, providing cardboard recycling containers throughout Rockbridge County, along with Hamilton Septic, providing curbside recycling for the cities of Buena Vista and Lexington, Virginia.

The value of a grandfather's attention to a grandson . . . a passion, a career path, a business, a contribution to a community.