Southside Recycling Turns Pandemic Into Opportunity

YOUNGSTOWN – Southside Recycling turned the pandemic into an opportunity. The metals and computer recycling center implemented safety measures that brought in more customers and became a marketing strategy, says its owner, Kenny Greco.

Southside Recycling has been in business since 2014 and serves industrial and residential customers. When the pandemic hit in March, the company closed its residential side for a month so it could implement safety measures.

Before, residential customers would unload their metals, get paid and then leave. Under the revised system, customers stayed in their vehicles and Southside employees unloaded their scrap metal. If customers did not have a mask, they were provided one with a company logo.

“Everyone who gets a mask is not only safer but they become a walking billboard for us,” Greco says.

The stay-in-car regulation actually increased business, he adds, because customers felt safer.