From driving cars at age five to steering Bodyline Auto Recyclers into a 60-person enterprise, the Hamilton native brings a lifetime in the industry to the Association’s governing board.
The Ontario Automotive Recyclers Association is pleased to announce the election of Eric McDonald, of Bodyline Auto Recyclers in Hamilton, Ontario, to its Board of Directors. McDonald was elected by his peers at OARA’s Annual Convention & Trade Show, held March 26–28, 2026, in Markham — a fitting milestone for someone who has spent virtually his entire life in the automotive recycling industry.
Bodyline Auto Recyclers was established in 1985 by Eric’s father and his uncle Jim. Beginning with the sale of aftermarket parts out of a single-car garage, the brothers built the business methodically — from a rental lot, to an eight-acre facility on Nash Road, to a three-acre property on Bancroft Drive, and ultimately to the company’s current home: a seven-acre, 80,000-square-foot facility in Hamilton. That trajectory speaks to the patience, tenacity, and customer focus that would come to define Bodyline’s reputation. Over the years, a loyal repeat clientele grew to the point where the founders found themselves regularly sourcing parts from nearby recyclers to fill orders. The logical next step, as it so often is in this industry, was to start their own recycling operation.
“I am very pleased to welcome Eric McDonald from Bodyline Auto Recyclers to the OARA Board. The McDonald Family have always been strong supporters of our Association. I look forward to working alongside Eric as we continue to provide value for our membership by raising the Professional Automotive Recycler’s image. Eric will bring new perspectives and thoughts to our strong Board.”
— Greg Woodbeck, Chairman, Ontario Automotive Recyclers Association.
Eric McDonald didn’t so much choose the automotive recycling business as grow up inside it. As a child, weekends meant time at the yard — playing alongside his cousin Amy, Jim’s daughter — while their parents kept the business running. By the time eric was five years old, he was already behind the wheel, driving cars within the facility. It was his father’s practical solution to keeping a restless kid occupied. It was also, in hindsight, the beginning of an education.
By his early teens, Eric was earning a paycheque — quietly, at first, from age thirteen, when his contribution had grown into something worth compensating. Summers brought a range of responsibilities: processing scrap, picking and stocking parts, working the dismantle racks. Around age fifteen, his uncle Jim began taking him along to car auctions in Stouffville and Hamilton, teaching him to bid on vehicles. Standing in the auction house with his arm in the air until hitting his limit, Eric was getting an introduction to the commercial side of the industry and meeting the network of people who made it run — a crash course that few business school curricula could replicate.
“Jim would take me to the Stouffville and Hamilton Auctions to help bid on cars. I’d just stand there with my arm in the air until my limit. It was a quick way to meet everyone in that part of the industry.”
— Eric McDonald, Bodyline Auto Recyclers
FROM DIPLOMA TO DRIVING GROWTH
After completing a college diploma in Enterprise Business at twenty, Eric joined Bodyline full time. His responsibilities expanded steadily: human resources, inventory management, and coverage on the loader when needed. As the industry shifted, so did his focus — websites, online advertising, web chat tools, and software transitions all fell within his purview. It was less a matter of formal assignment than organic necessity; as the person who had hired most of the staff, Eric became the natural point of contact for an increasingly broad range of operational questions, and he simply kept saying yes.
The results have been significant. Since Eric took on full-time leadership, Bodyline has grown from fifteen employees to sixty full-time staff members, and the operation now processes between 500 and 800 more vehicles per month than it did when he started. That growth reflects not only expanded capacity but a fundamental evolution in how the business operates — driven by someone who understood both the floor-level mechanics of recycling and the strategic possibilities of technology and professional management.
A VOICE FOR THE NEXT GENERATION
Eric McDonald’s election to the OARA Board of Directors adds a perspective that is both deeply rooted in the industry’s traditions and firmly oriented toward its future. His experience spans every layer of automotive recycling — from pulling parts as a teenager to leading a major multi-decade operation. His familiarity with the operational, technological, and human dimensions of the business will be a genuine asset to the Association as it continues to advocate for Ontario’s automotive recycling community and elevate the profile of the professional automotive recycler.
OARA welcomes Eric McDonald to the Board and looks forward to the leadership, insight, and energy he brings to the work ahead.