ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, August 8, 1996               TAG: 9608080069
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                PAGE: N-1  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CHARLES STEBBINS STAFF WRITER 

CAREER'S IN THE CAN

Wally LaRue, champion aluminum can recycler in the Roanoke Valley and at Smith Mountain Lake, has gone into retirement.

But he hopes, like the stray cans he collects, to be back shortly.

Retirement is being forced on him for health reasons, primarily problems with his legs.

"I've had to give up can-collecting for a while," he said. "But I hope to get back to it."

During his retirement from the can project, LaRue said he has recruited a friend to fill in for him.

LaRue doesn't mind at all being known as the "can man" by his neighbors and associates.

He's proud of what gave him that title: helping to clean up the landscape.

And also giving himself productive activity.

That activity was to scour his neighborhood for discarded aluminum cans to turn in for recycling.

He has done the job so well that Reynolds Metals has named him Reynolds Recycler of the Year for 1996 at the recycling center where he turns in his cans - Parkside Plaza on Dale Avenue in Southeast Roanoke.

LaRue has not kept an accurate record, but he estimates he has turned in about 8,000 cans every two months for the past year.

David Brown, manager of the Parkside recycling center, said that between May 1995 and April 1996, LaRue recycled about 30,000 cans, equaling about 1,000 pounds.

"He was one of my best recyclers," Brown said.

Brown nominated LaRue for the Recycler of the Year distinction to the Reynolds Metals offices in Richmond. Winners were selected not only for the number of cans turned in, but also for factors such as the enthusiasm for recycling and concern for the environment.

LaRue, a Korean War veteran who is retired from Blue Ridge Transfer, is reluctant to talk about his feat. And he won't take all the credit.

"I had a lot of help from a lot of people," he said.

LaRue said that when he began collecting cans, he never expected to get this much recognition.

"I didn't see anything real great about it," he said. "I started doing it to keep busy and help clean up the environment."

LaRue said he is a hunter and fisherman, and it always upset him to see trash and drink cans along the highways and riverbanks.

"It looks bad for the whole area," he said.

To do his part for the environment, he first began picking up aluminum cans in his path.

Then he began picking cans from the trash at Roanoke's Amvet building on Ninth Street Southeast, where he is a member. After that, he began visiting business places in his neighborhood.

Finally, people kept cans separate from the trash because they expected him to pick them up. LaRue owns property at Smith Mountain Lake, and his friends there also set aside cans for him.

But gathering cans and taking them to the recycling center was not exactly a leisure activity.

"It took a lot of time," he said. "I really had to stay on top of it. It was an every-other-day thing."

LaRue said he would make the circuit of his collection points and gather bags of cans. He would take these back to his house, clean and crush them before taking them to the recycling center. He has a manually operated crusher and recruited neighborhood children to help with the crushing.

LaRue said he could not let the cans stay at his house on Pennsylvania Avenue in Northeast Roanoke for long because the residue would eventually create an objectionable odor.

Can collection brings in some revenue, but LaRue hasn't kept a record of the amount he has received.

"There was not much money," he said. "Just spending money."

The price paid for cans changes daily. LaRue said it usually ranges up to about 30 cents a pound. It takes about 30 cans to make a pound.

LaRue said he used what money he got toward keeping his pickup truck running.

This is the first year of the recycler program, and LaRue is the only person in the Roanoke Valley to receive the distinction. The same recognition has gone to nine others in Western Virginia, according to Sara Hunt, a Reynolds communications specialist in Richmond. It is expected to become an annual program, she said.

Other places in Western Virginia where can recyclers of the year have been named are Radford, Pulaski, Galax, Wytheville, Abingdon, Bristol, Lynchburg, Staunton and Harrisonburg.

LENGTH: Medium:   88 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  ROGER HART/Staff. Wally LaRue has been named Reynolds 
          Recycler of the Year for 1996 - after picking up more than 30,000 
          cans. color.