Turning Trash into Cash

By Kaye Nelson

A few miles west of Amarillo, Texas, with a far-as-the-eye-can-see horizon, is an odd tribute to hunks of steel.

It''s Cadillac Ranch, where, in the mid-70s, artists worked to plant 10 old cars, nose down, in a dusty wheat field.

That''s one way to recycle steel. These days, there''s money in them there cars.

Scrap metal recyclers are purchasing thousands of dollars of metal a month, to turn right around and make a profit on those scraps of twisted steel and aluminum.

'We bring in 4,000 tons of metal in 20 business days,' said Kenny Swenson, buyer for Western Metals Recycling. 'And in that same amount of time, we send 4,000 tons out.'

That seems like an awful lot of metal, and one might wonder where it all comes from.

Looking through the processing yard at Western Metals, there are organized piles of metal. Industrial production scrap, construction site metal waste and stripped down cars get torn to shreds or compacted for transport along with washers, dryers and smaller metal scrap.

One area contains everything aluminum: remnants from Little Giant ladders, automobile wheels, printing press rollers, old road signs and of course, aluminum cans - smashed into enormous bales.

BYU is one of the biggest suppliers of metal, including aluminum cans, to Western Metals.

'BYU is a great recycler,' Swenson said. 'They are one of our biggest customers. You can always tell the bales from BYU,' Swenson laughed. 'They look different because there aren''t any beer cans mixed in.'

All aluminum stays in Utah Valley, shipped to Alcoa in Spanish Fork, where it''s melted down, ready to be made into new products.

In another more secure area sit blocks of compacted copper. Tagged and ready to ship to China, two blocks, weighing around 5,000 pounds each, will fetch more than $22,000.

Copper has been in the news lately, as copper wire thefts have caused headaches for construction workers who deal with the disappearance of copper supplies from work sites.

Sheriff David Edmunds from Summit County, Utah explained that thieves are targeting copper because, 'according to the experts, China is driving the price of metals through the roof.'

Swenson verified that copper is currently selling for just over $2 a pound, and China is a major player.

'It''s cheaper to ship metal to China than it is to send it to the east coast,' Swenson pointed out.

Who can sell metal to recycling facilities? Just about anyone with legitimate metal.

Ron Lish of Springville visits Western Metals about once a week, recycling brass, copper and cast iron from city water meters.

'I get most of my metal from city water departments,' Lish said. 'I buy it from them or give them a trade or credit. I tear the meters down and sell the scrap metal.'

Lish, who has been selling metal for about 15 years, had a take for the day of $172 for 153 pounds of metal, a pretty decent amount for what he calls a 'side business.'

Another man at the recycling facility wasn''t as willing to share personal information, saying only that he recycles 'for the money.' He pocketed $24.60 for his 41 pounds of beer cans.

Anything from aluminum cans to huge metal units can be recycled.

Kelly Wheeler, commercial service manager at Multi-Craft Contractors, Inc. in Springdale, Ark., recycles old air conditioning and heating units after installing new ones on commercial buildings.

'We recycled one 9-ton unit from a site,' Wheeler said, 'and received $4,000 for it.'

For tree-hugging, earth-loving folks who take to heart the counsel to 'reduce, reuse and recycle,' metal recycling should be tinny music to their ears.

'Most steel is recycled steel,' Swenson said. 'There''s not much virgin ore being made, and there is no difference in the quality of a product made from virgin materials or recycled materials.'

It''s important to realize that a metal item you buy today was something else, perhaps just a few days ago.

'A car can be scrapped and turned into pieces of pipe in less than a week,' Swenson said. 'Scrap metal is wonderful because it can be used again and again.'