Page 43 from: March 2013

43March 2013

an environment in which only the very large

players may be able to manoeuvre and comply

while still being able to remain profitable.’

Any ‘words of wisdom’ for the recycling
world?
‘Always honour your word and your commit-

ments.’

If you had not become a ‘scrappy’, what
career would you have pursued?
‘When I moved to Boulder near Denver in

Colorado, I spent my first couple of years work-

ing in restaurants as a cook and bartender.

Although I enjoyed the work, I realised ulti-

mately that road wasn’t going to lead anywhere.

But I would still like to own a jazz bar or per-

haps be a lawyer. I’ve always loved the restau-

rant and bar business, and I love all kinds of

music, especially jazz.’

What are your favourite hobbies?
‘I like to bike, hike and ski in the Boulder Moun-

tains and I love to read. In high school, I was a

real sports jock. My whole family were avid

sports players and I played sports 12 months a

year, mainly American football, baseball and

wrestling. But to be honest, I’m probably the

worst basketball player on the face of the earth.’

Would you tell us something nobody
knows about you?
‘Well, I actually tried out for the Denver Bron-

cos professional football team. There was an

opportunity on a “walk-on/free agency” day.

There were a lot of really big and fast guys. At

the end of the day, the coaches pretty much said

to me: “Next time, don’t call us, we’ll call you.”

It was probably a pretty silly thing to do, but it

was a fun day for me.’

I n t e r v I e w

critical importance. It has been brought about

as a result of a relatively recent lawsuit settle-

ment between the EPA and an environmental

group called the Sierra Club. As a result, the

EPA has proposed a new definition of solid

waste that, if passed, would treat scrap as solid

and hazardous waste. That would push back

scrap into the waste category. Scrap is not waste.

We trade a commodity according to interna-

tionally-recognised specs and grades. We have

issued very strong comments on this proposal

and have asked the EPA not to adopt this new

definition, and we hope that the EPA will rec-

ognise the validity of our arguments.

The second threat is material theft. Since 2006

when copper prices started going through the

roof, metal theft has increased tremendously. The

problem is that, in the USA, we have to deal with

a myriad of different state laws instead of having

one federal law. ISRI has promoted what it calls

ScrapTheftAlert.com so that law enforcers can

put out announcements about stolen materials

in a 150-mile radius. I think one of the solutions

to theft is to educate law enforcement officials

and other stakeholders about our industry and

develop outreach and training programmes.

The last top-three threat is the issue of free and

fair trade. ISRI has a long history of supporting

free and fair trade, allowing scrap to flow to its

highest markets, and we oppose the imposition

of export controls on scrap. Now we face legis-

lation that would impose a ban on some elec-

tronic scrap and would require any exports to

go to OECD countries only, and not to any

non-OECD countries. We believe that these

geographic distinctions are wrong. ISRI, of

course, shares the concern about illegal dump-

ing and sham recycling, but we should not pre-

clude shipments to non-OECD countries.

Rather, we should give companies in non-

OECD countries the opportunity to process

this scrap so long as they are willing and able

to do so in an environmentally safe fashion.

Assurance of this can be done by investigating

downstream customers to ensure that they have

effective environmental health and safety man-

agement systems. We don’t want export con-

trols on our scrap. We believe that scrap should

move freely from where it is on economic con-

siderations, so long as – and I emphasise that

– the shipments go to companies that are both

able and willing to handle and process that

scrap in an environmentally sound fashion.’

What would you like to change during
your ISRI chairmanship?
‘In general, I would like to be a motivating fac-

tor in increasing volunteerism and reducing

apathy in the industry. But there are two spe-

cific things I would most like to change. First

of all, safety. We are currently the fourth dead-

liest industry in the USA and we must change

that. We must establish in our yards a culture

of doing things safely or not at all. We must also

have much greater buy-in from senior manage-

ment. We have a moral and ethical duty to take

care of our employees and customers.

The second issue is image. We have spent a lot of

money on public relations and have even had

focus groups make assessments of us, but we too

often continue to be seen as the polluters and the

people who buy stolen materials just to get rich.’

What do you see as opportunities for
US recyclers?
‘The opportunities that we have are that we are

a sustainable industry. We create energy savings

and preserve natural resources by using second-

ary feedstock – scrap – as opposed to primary

feedstock, or virgin ores. We have the opportu-

nity to show the world what good we do and to

hopefully change their impression of what they

may think of us.’

How and in what direction will the re-
cycling industry develop in the years up
to 2025 and who will be the drivers?
‘It is hard to see that far into the future, but I

believe that we will always be facing environ-

mental concerns such as those to preserve clean

water and clean air, and how we process huge

volumes of scrap while maintaining our envi-

ronmental obligations. As to the structure of the

industry, I envision continued consolidation

through mergers and acquisitions, as well as

further increases in the number of companies

that become vertically integrated. I think that

the increase in stringent regulations will create

‘There’s a myriad of
minefields we have to

navigate through.’

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