Is The Tide Finally Turning For The North American Manufacturing Industry?

An article on television recently featured an interview with the owner of a company that manufactured brass fittings in the Northeastern United States. He had seen his business erode over the past number of years at an alarming rate as he was, in his own words, out-gunned by products manufactured in low cost centres in Asia.

But rather than give up in frustration or give in and have his production moved offshore, like many other North American manufacturers have done, he decided to tighten his belt and stick to his guns. His decision was prompted to some extent by stories that he was hearing of failed products made offshore and he believed that, in the long run, the quality of the “Made in America” products that his company produced would prevail.

Looking At Copper In A Whole New Light

#1 Copper. A hot commodity in the worlds of both recycling and finance.

Copper is certainly one of the most favoured commodities that our customers like to trade with us. At current prices of around $3.25/lb for millberry (brite, copper wire) and $3.10/lb for no 1 copper even a small amount of weight adds up very quickly. This is particularly handy at this time of year and in fact, many people will accumulate copper material and sell it to us in time to coincide with the gift giving season that is now upon us.

Steel…The True Superman of Metals

You might be surprised to learn that steel is the most widely used and most recycled metal on the planet. To give you some idea of the scope, more steel is recycled in the U.S. each year than paper, plastic, aluminum and glass combined.

Within our economy, the steel industry clearly plays a significant role.  Statistics for 2010 indicate that, in Canada, we produced 13 million tons of steel and sold more than 12 billion dollars of product of which more than 6 billion dollars worth was exported. The industry also directly employs 25,000 people and has made capital investments of 2 billion dollars since 2005.

Pop Up Retail Stores..Good. Pop Up Scrap Yards…Not So Much.

Nike Pop Up Store in Tokyo

One of the newer innovations that we have seen in retailing over the past few years is the development of “Pop-up Stores”. You will recognize these, as they seem to just appear in a particular space for a relatively short period of time and then disappear. As we approach the Halloween and then the Christmas Season, we will see more of them.

The trend has been adopted by a number of well-known companies including Nike, Walmart and Target to name just a few. These pop up stores offer a low cost way to heighten brand awareness, promote particular product lines and, of course, to entice consumers to spend.

A Barbecue Maven’s Search For Quality Stainless Steel

It’s a well known fact that Canadians love their barbecues and I am no exception. However, it seems that no matter how hard I try to protect and maintain my barbecue, every four to five years I have to replace it. And regardless of the brands I have chosen or how much I pay, the flavour bars and burners in particular inevitably rust and crumble into flakes over time.

Use A Magnet To Attract The Best Product

The Future Of Scrap Metal Recycling – A Global Perspective

All of us at Peel Scrap Metal like to take the time to talk with our customers. Some of us, because of the nature of our work, are less able to do this but our buyers and managers certainly always try to make a point of it.

Not only do we enjoy it, but these conversations help us to get a handle on what our customers think about our service, which helps us do a better job. We also enjoy it because it helps us get to  get to know our customers, and this is the key to helping provide them with useful information and sometimes to put them in touch with others.

Metal Theft…The Saga Continues.

 Although we have already posted a couple of blogs concerning the problem of metal theft, a recent development in British Columbia has prompted us to revisit this issue.

Last November, the Province of British Columbia passed Canada’s first metal theft law. The new regulations were just signed-off by the lieutenant governor and will come into force on July 23^rd,   2012. They will affect both metal dealers and recyclers, and also their customers.

Some of the key points of this legislation are as follows:

• Dealers must report their metal purchases daily to police

Scales…One of Our Weighter Blog Posts, If You’ll Pardon The Pun

Easily the busiest pieces of equipment at any scrap metal recycling operation are the weigh scales. They provide the defining measurement for all material trading, both buying and selling.

There’s Nothing New About Scales.

The Egyptians were using scales more than 7000 years ago. Smart Egyptians.

Weigh scales date back to early Egyptian civilization. The earliest scales were found in an Egyptian grave and are at least 7000 years old. Modified and improved by many cultures over time they increasingly gained relevance with the introduction of the various media of exchange with fixed values. People needed to know the weight of a product in order to convert its value into currency.

Weighing In On Regulations

When we started our business in 1990, the work was more physical and the regulatory environment was less intrusive. Today, we have more equipment to handle the physical load but we are surrounded by a sea of regulations involving such policy areas as human resources, occupational health and safety, the environment, taxation and so on. While perhaps well intended for the most part, they are difficult to navigate and often questionable in their language, intent and execution.

Recycling…Not the Oldest Profession, But Certainly Right Up There.

Recycling has been around for a quite a while. We know this because archeologists have discovered that in periods when resources were scarce they find less waste at archeological sites. In fact, researchers suggest that recycling may date back as far as 400 BC. They also suggest that the Romans were active in recycling. Plato is often cited as a strong advocate.

At some time in the last two thousand years, the clever local inhabitants of Venosa in Italy started recycling the marble from their demolished ancient monuments and using it for paving stones.

Many Kinds of Recycling