Sierra--Forward Momentum

Don Matthews

In 1965 Ray and Barbara Matthews founded Ray’s Trash Service in Clayton, Ind., just west of Indianapolis, to keep their three sons busy. Forty years later, this side business with only one truck has grown to include three transfer stations, a scrap yard, a 17-county service area and a workforce of 330 employees.

When Ray and Barbara founded the company four decades ago, Ray was employed as a factory worker in the Indianapolis area and worked part-time at the newly formed family business, which focused on trash hauling. The family incorporated the business in 1967.

In 1982, Don Matthews became president of Ray’s Trash Service. His brother Mark serves as the company’s vice president, while their sister Becky Bingham is the company’s secretary/treasurer.

Don says Ray is amazed at the company’s growth over the years. Ray still makes regular appearances at the company’s yard, either to deliver coffee and donuts, to mow the grass or to lend a hand overseeing the company’s operations.

Recently, a third generation of the Matthews family has entered the business, with Don’s son running one of the company’s plants. Don’s daughter Britter also spends her summer breaks from college helping out.

In addition to the leadership offered by the Matthews family, the company has also benefited from a dedicated staff of employees. "We have a lot of good people working for us," Don says. "Lots of good people help to keep the company successful."

Don says he keeps good employees by treating them with respect. "I wouldn’t ask them to do something I wouldn’t do myself," he says.

The Matthews and the staff at Ray’s Trash Service believe in hard work. "In this day and age, nothing is given to you," Don says. "Bigger doesn’t necessarily mean better if you work harder."

Working harder for Don meant expanding beyond trash hauling into the recycling businesses.

About 15 years ago, Ray’s Trash Service began offering recycling services to its customers. Don says he realized the need for recycling and wanted to be a leader in the industry. Adding recycling services also made financial sense. "When you don’t own a landfill, you have to recycle," Don says of his decision to add the service to Ray’s roster.

Currently the company processes about 2,000 tons of material each day from its own hauling service and from several other companies.

Ray’s three transfer stations bale corrugated, office paper and newspaper, while the company’s scrap yard shears and bales scrap metals, sending most of its ferrous scrap to Nucor’s Crawfords-ville, Ind., plant and to Steel Dynamics Inc., Pittsboro, Ind.

According to the company’s Web site www.raystrash.com, Ray’s has recycling programs in hundreds of businesses in Central Indiana that it services with its fleet of roll-off containers.

Don says Ray’s recycling facilities recover a greater percentage of material than other facilities in the state. He adds that the company spent the time and money needed to set its facilities up "right."

The company’s recycling plant in Clayton processes curbside recyclables and office paper. It is divided into two areas; the first is dedicated to the separation of curbside food and beverage containers, and the second area focuses on residential and commercial scrap paper.

Ray’s Zionsville, Ind., facility is dedicated to construction debris recycling, recovering aggregates, metals and cardboard from incoming loads.

The company’s newest facility in Indianapolis is equipped with the latest paper sorting equipment and specializes in various grades of commercial and residential mixed paper. The equipment at Ray’s Indianapolis plant enables area business to include previously unacceptable grades of paper. Ray’s commercial paper recycling program enables companies that previously did not generate sufficient quantities of paper to combine their cardboard, newspaper, office paper and magazines into a single stream to reduce their overall waste.

It appears as if Ray’s Trash Service has mastered the recycling aspect of its business. These days, Don says the company is looking toward future expansion and at making its hauling division more profitable. "Travel costs you time and money," he says. "If we can keep trucks in general areas, that will keep us more productive."

Productivity is a key operations concept at Ray’s Trash Service, especially when it comes to processing recyclables.

This dedication to recycling and to the proper preparation of materials appears to be working to Ray’s advantage, as the company’s growth over the years will attest.