Fresh Perspective

Eds Harding

Vice president of operations at Harding Metals

Recycling metals is the only job Eds Harding has ever had. At 16 years old, Harding began working summers at his family’s business—scrap and precious metals recycler Harding Metals. Founded in Boston in 1957 by Harding’s grandfather, the company relocated to Norwood, New Hampshire, in 1963, and has been there since.

Harding says the job left him feeling accomplished. When he was a teenager, he stacked rims and cleaned corners, doing whatever he needed to do around the scrap yard, but 19 years later, Harding is vice president of operations.

Officially, he ensures incoming material is processed and organized correctly, managing the scrap yard he spent summers laboring in. Unofficially, he says, he still does whatever he needs to do, allowing himself to be pulled in multiple directions, as is the nature of working at a family business.

“I love that it’s diversified,” he says. “I feel like every day is different. I get to be involved with everybody at the company.”

Today, Harding says he finds value in giving back to the industry. As vice president of the Institute of Scrap Recycling’s (ISRI’s) New England chapter, he planned the most recent Best Young and Brightest (BYAB) event in Boston. The two-day event, intended for recycling professionals under 40, prioritizes networking and team building.

“I was just excited to bring young people together in our industry,” he says. “I encourage them to get involved too, just like I did, because [if] you get that taste of what ISRI is and you’re enjoying it, it’s important to get involved.”

In the following interview, Harding discusses his involvement in this year’s BYAB event, the importance of networking and ways to recruit professionals to the recycling industry.

"I feel like every day is different. I get to be involved with everybody at the company.”

Recycling Today (RT): You just hosted ISRI’s BYAB event in August. Can you tell me about that?

EH: It was really fun putting it on and making the whole event come together. I’m vice president of the New England chapter, and I wouldn’t be involved with ISRI if it wasn’t for Best Young and Brightest.

I went to the first [BYAB] in Cleveland. … I didn’t really know too much about ISRI at the time and I was like, ‘Man, these people are awesome.’ … It’s like full circle to be able to plan the [BYAB] we had in Boston.

RT: Networking is huge at events like [BYAB], especially for newcomers in the industry. What is the importance of networking?

EH: You go to an event like that and you’re thinking [you] want to make some new business connections. … But the most valuable connections I’ve made have been more like friendships. Now, I have people I don’t do business with but I consider friends that are in the industry, and that’s valuable. I can think of a number of times where I’ve had a problem at my facility and I know I’ve met a friend across the country that has a similar sized facility, and I can bounce my ideas off them. We’re not competitors, we’re friends.

We’re all in the industry together, we all want to do the right thing, and when you have a problem, talk to somebody on the other side of the country that may have dealt with something like that, and [they] give you a solution.

RT: What are ways to recruit professionals into the recycling sector?

EH: I think you have to show the importance of our industry but also the diversity of what the job can be. You’re dealing with metals, but there’s so much more than just the chemistry of the metals. You’re dealing with machinery and processing. It’s not like you’re just at a desk. It’s not like [you're] at some soft job. It’s awesome.