NATCHEZ — It has just been a week since the only recycling center in Adams County closed its gates.

But news of that closure hasn’t stopped county residents from making an occasional trip to Natchez Metals & Recycling to drop off their recyclables.

Natchez Metals & Recycling co-owner Bubba Kaiser said a few people each week still don’t know the business has closed and want to deposit their goods.

“People want to recycle,” he said.

And while there’s a desire to recycle, Kaiser just can’t afford it.

Kaiser said recent drops in the stock market have made the metal commodities market an unprofitable place.

And it’s those metal prices that ultimately lead to the end of recycling.

Kaiser said months ago when the business first opened he was making his profits from the sale of scrap metal.

His scrap metal business already had the same equipment and employees that a recycling business would need — so he started recycling.

Kaiser said he never started recycling for a profit.

“There’s not much money in paper and plastic,” he said.

And since the recycling operation and the scrap metal business were so closely linked, when the metal prices dropped, so to did the recycling business.

Three months ago Kaiser was selling copper for $3.50 per pound, today it sells for just 60 cents per pound.

Similarly the price of aluminum dropped from 70 cents per pound to 30.

Kaiser said even if he could run his business at the current rates the general slowing of the economy has dried up his pool of buyers.

“We can’t sell it to anyone,” he said. “There are no buyers.”

And it’s that lack of buyers that could have a negative impact on the local recycling group, the Adams County Green Alliance.

Alliance member Dickey King said those lower than normal prices that some buyers pay for recyclable materials could have a negative impact on the alliance’s ability to start a recycling program in the county.

Several months ago the alliance began plans to start a recycling program in the county.

The program hit several snags and the alliance eventually decided to back Kaiser and promote his business for the community.

Once Kaiser’s business closed, the alliance announced their intent to re-pursue a recycling program.

The alliance’s most current plan calls for the county to allow their recyclables to be taken by an outside company and sold, since the alliance has no means to process and sell their own recyclable material.

On Tuesday, King said he planned to speak with a representative from Sumrall Recycling, one of the region’s larger recyclers, to see if they would be interested in purchasing the county’s recyclables.

King said while Sumrall is still buying materials, he’s not sure if the market has dipped such that collecting the materials in Natchez would be cost prohibitive for Sumrall.

“Their profit margin has to be big enough to sustain their expenses,” he said.

King said while the alliance is still committed to recycling in the county, he’s not sure how the program will unfold until he talks with Sumrall’s representatives.

And Kaiser is hoping the price of recyclables go back up soon.

He said as soon as they do — he’ll start recycling again.