‘In four years, my fire insurance has tripled’

Spencer Trillo is general manager of New Zealand’s Trillo Metals, a midsize scrap metal business with yards including one in Christchurch.

As president of the NZ Association of Metal Recyclers, Trillo attended the BIR Convention in Gothenburg with wife Roberta and their 16-month-old daughter Evelyn.

‘We’re a small market on the bottom of the world,’ says Spencer Trillo over coffee in the press room of Gothia Towers, the venue of BIR’s Spring world recycling convention. ‘But a small market does not mean small problems. As anywhere else, recyclers in New Zealand deal with environmental issues, regulations and rising costs; all affecting their business and daily operations.’

North island

A third-generation metal recycler, Spencer Trillo heads the Trillo Metals business on New Zealand’s North Island with yards in Middleton near Christchurch and in Marlborough, a region famous for its wines. The company handles roughly 3 000 tonnes of metal scrap per year.

Most of the recycled materials are exported to Southeast Asia and India. Trillo was elected president of the NZ Association of Metal Recyclers (AMR) in September 2025.

Battery fire nightmare

According to Trillo, his members’ biggest headache currently is scrap fires. ‘Just as in Europe, America or wherever, we are challenged by lithium batteries ending up in our metal streams, especially at shredder operations, causing one fire after another.’

With all its consequences. AMR has 80 members and many of them – Trillo estimates maybe one-third – are uninsured. With the risk of a fire growing, insurance costs have become sky-high.

‘Many recyclers simply cannot afford it anymore. Even bigger companies are increasingly struggling with rising insurance costs. Instead, recyclers put money aside in case a fire happens. Our own business still has insurance but the cost of premiums has gone up 300% in less than four years.’

Winemaker clientele

Operating in New Zealand brings its own logistical challenges. With industries and communities spread across a large geographic area, recyclers play a vital role in collecting, consolidating and processing material from farms, workshops, manufacturers and construction companies.

Trillo Metals specialises in collecting, processing and recycling ferrous and nonferrous metals from commercial, industrial, agricultural and residential customers. An unusual business comes from the wineries in the Marlborough region. These companies use stainless steel tanks and pipes to store and transport their wine.

Trillo: ‘All together you are talking about hundreds of tanks – small, big and sometimes huge – some capable of carrying up to 360 000 litres of wine. These tanks don’t last forever and need be replaced when they reach their end-of-life – and that’s when recyclers like us get involved.’

Quake business

On 14 November 2016, New Zealand had a severe earthquake which created an unexpected stream of material for recyclers in Marlborough. When the 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck, it sent powerful tremors across the region, affecting infrastructure and businesses throughout the upper South Island.

While Marlborough’s vineyards escaped largely unscathed, many wineries suffered damage at their production facilities. ‘Among the most vulnerable assets were the large stainless steel storage tanks used throughout the wine industry,’ Trillo recalls.

‘Their size, weight and height made them particularly susceptible to the forces generated by the earthquake.’ Some tanks suffered deformation, damaged supports or structural failures, while others were no longer considered safe for continued use. ‘For our company, this created a unique recycling opportunity,’ says Trillo.

‘Some 300 big tanks were considered beyond repair and had to be replaced. A major part ended up at our yard to be dismantled and scrapped.’

This interview was published in our latest issue >>