The rotor, which normally has “hammers” on it, turns in the shredder and “beats” the scrap metal until it is ground up into the proper size.Ĭhapman explained that after the materials goes into the shredder, it exits on a conveyor and then a “series of magnetized conveyors” separate the various types of metals.Ī “picker” pulls out anything that is not steel, such as seat belts. The shredder is up high on a platform and has a cover over it, so it’s hard to see exactly how it works.īut Chapman showed a rotor on the ground that does most of the work. Normally there would be about 200 to 300 tons when the facility is up and running. The liners take the brunt of the impact when scrap is fed into the shredder, so they have to be replaced every six months, Chapman said.įor this reason, the yard had about 1,000 tons of material in a huge pile. The yard was not shearing or shredding any material in late October because the facility was on shutdown to replace the liners in the shredder. The shearer has a sort of guillotine on one end that cuts the material before it is carried away on a conveyor belt. The larger items that go to the shearer include I-beams, tanks and other items with a heavy gauge steel in them. The smaller material is called “tin metal” and includes items such as washing machines, dryers, cars and the the motors in cars. Material larger than that goes into the shearer. They are located a couple of hundred yards from each other, both just in front of Vallourec Star.Īny material one quarter inch in thickness or less goes into the shredder. On a tour of the facility, Mark Chapman, Metalico Youngstown operations manager, explained that two huge pieces of equipment process scrap - the shredder and the shearer. The non-ferrous metals, such as aluminum, copper and brass, go to foundries in Ohio, elsewhere in the United States and overseas. “The production yard chops the metal up into little pieces,” Fleming said. “People just like to go to Harry’s,” Fleming said. But on the other side of the street is a feeder yard - a scrap yard called Harry’s. In Akron, Metalico has a production yard. “Sometimes people like to go to their local scrap yard instead of going to a production yard,” because it is less intimidating. We are a production yard, but we also take materials directly from the public,” Fleming said. Everything you have comes from feeder yards.
“Everything is generated by the public - your car, your washing machine, your bicycle, your aluminum siding. Metalico has a few feeder scrap yards of its own in Warren and Sharon. The material comes to the the shredder from “feeder” scrap yards all over the area. Ferrous metal is metal that sticks to a magnet, Fleming explained. A great deal of our ferrous product goes to Vallourec,” he said. “For the last 25 years we have partnered with Vallourec. The percentage of material that goes to Vallourec has dropped below 85 percent in recent times. A rail car delivers the metal into Vallourec. “We rely heavily on the relationship with the tube mill,” Fleming said. Historically, Vallourec made up 85 percent of Metalico Youngstown’s business, Fleming said. In fact, though Metalico is a separate company from Vallourec, the reason the shredder was located there decades ago was to provide the mill with raw materials used in making pipes, Fleming said. People driving past might wonder how the operation works, asking: Is it owned by Vallourec Star to provide raw materials for its tube mill? If not, where does the shredded metal go? Where does it come from?ĭon Fleming, general manager of Metalico Youngstown, owner of the shredder, explained the operation.įirst, Vallourec Star uses much of the shredded material that comes from Metalico Youngstown.
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