Barry Segal, founder of Ecology, Inc., an Illinois corporation since 1974.  Barry has been involved with recycling all of his life.  At the age of two, he began going to his father's recycling plant on Saturdays and learned the business, starting with separating colored tab cards from the white ones. We knew these as IBM cards, or punchcards, long since obsolete.  Barry learned all facets of the recycling operation, from paper and metal sorting, baling and packaging, to trucking and customer service.  He was worker, boss's son, truck driver, and plant foreman.  Then he decided to go out on his own, and in 1974, founded Ecology, Inc.  Based in Schaumburg, IL for two years, he moved the business to St. Charles in 1976 and has been doing business there as Ecology, Inc d/b/a St. Charles Scrap.  When he opened the business, he rented a truck three times a week, solicited his own accounts, picked up the material, and then baled it up.  His then pregnant wife helped in the  office, and his father-in-law helped with the baling.  Soon Barry hired part-time help, and a few months later, hired his first truck driver.  That driver was paid the current going wage, a whopping $2.75 per hour.  Business grew, with more drivers and three trucks, and then in 1981 he opened up another location in Prairie View, IL  and has been doing business there as Lake County Scrap Metal.  In 1986 the St. Charles location moved 3 miles just over the border to West Chicago, but retained the name.  The corporation now employs 16 people with sales currently over 5 million dollars per year.