Field Trip Alter Metal Recycling

Alter Scrap

Three N. E. R. D. S team members went to tour Alter Metal Recycling, (two team members were unable to attend) to see what they do with their metal. When we first arrived we spent some time in their boardroom listening to them tell us about what they do. We learned the difference between ferrous and non-ferrous metals. The difference between these is that ferrous metal is magnetic, thus containing iron, and non-ferrous metal is not magnetic, like aluminum and copper. This is one way they sort incoming metal.

Next we took a tour of their facility. We had to wear hard hats and we got to see some awesome big machinery at work. We were tested for radiation as we crossed their scale, we tried to remove a really strong magnet, and saw huge aluminum can bundles weighing 1,000 pounds. We watched a crane “sweep” the concrete with a large bundle of wire, another crane make metal boxes “jump” off the ground, and yet another that was operated without anyone in the cab. The man operating this crane used a remote control and made the grapple “wave” at us from across the parking lot. We learned that at this plant they shear metal, not shred, grind, or melt, which are other options for recycling metal. They haul their off in semi-trucks or on rail cars.

We went back inside and watched a short video that told about the history of Alter. A man from Iowa founded this company in 1898 and it has been in their family for 4 generations. They have 54 offices across the United states and at least one overseas in Hong Kong.

We learned that if we wanted to melt our baling wire the closet place would be in Norfolk, NE at NUCOR, or SSAP in Montpelier, IA thus proving a need for our product in our area.

Both before and after our tours we had the opportunity to ask some questions. Here are a few of them.

Q. What do you do with your metal?

A. This plant shears metal, which means they crush the metal into blocks and cut it lengthwise, like a deli slices meat for sandwiches.

Q. We asked how much material they brought in, in a day?

A. We got two answers to this questions, one was that he wasn't really sure, and the other was that even if he did know that would be information that they wouldn't share because of the concern their competitors might find out and that could hurt their business.

He did tell us that on average they loaded out 14 rail cars and LOTS of truck monthly.

Q. We asked what they believed baling wire to be made of (wanting to be sure we were on the right track)

A. They said iron or steel, which they consider the same thing. They also told us that iron can be recycled indefinitely, never losing enough of it's properties in the recycling process to no longer be iron.