Metalico

Metalico, Inc. is a diversified scrap metal recycler headquartered at 135 Dermody Street in Cranford, New Jersey, operating principally in the Northeastern United States. The company sources, buys, processes and sells commodity metals for reuse in manufacturing, organized around ferrous scrap (steel and iron sold mainly to domestic mills and foundries), non-ferrous scrap (principally aluminum, copper, lead, and nickel-based steel and high-temperature alloys sold to domestic manufacturers and, to a lesser extent, export markets), and catalytic converters from which platinum, palladium and rhodium (platinum group metals) are recovered for reuse in emissions control devices. Additional lines include end-of-life vehicles, demolition scrap, electronic scrap such as computers, laptops, batteries and circuit boards, and used auto parts sold through Skyway Auto Parts, 49 Hopkins Auto Parts and the Conneaut and Youngstown operations.

The company reports more than 550 employees and over 20 operating locations across New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Mississippi and Michigan. It operates three automobile shredders: on Neville Island near Pittsburgh (the platform for its Southwestern Pennsylvania operations), in Girard, Ohio (platform for its Ohio facilities), and in Lackawanna, New York, which serves thirteen facilities in Upstate New York and Northwestern Pennsylvania. Catalytic converter processing is carried out at facilities in Syracuse, New York, and Gulfport, Mississippi, with an additional Federal Autocat operation in Ferndale, Michigan. The company states it recycles more than 3,000 vehicles per month and that select locations offer barge and rail access for large demolition projects.

Historically, Metalico was a publicly traded holding company (American Stock Exchange: MEA) with two principal segments — ferrous and non-ferrous scrap recycling and fabrication of lead-based products — operating fourteen recycling facilities in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, Texas and Mississippi and five lead fabrication plants in Alabama, Illinois, Nevada and California as of 2008.

Business model

Metalico purchases scrap metal from manufacturers, small scrap dealers, demolition contractors, peddlers and individual sellers at its yards, then sorts, shreds and otherwise prepares the material for sale to mills, furnaces, foundries and other metal consumers. Catalytic converters are bought, including nationwide purchasing supported by a buying app with more than 16,000 OEM codes, and processed to recover platinum, palladium and rhodium. The company states it mitigates commodity price risk by diversifying across several commodity metals and through rapid turnover of inventories.

Revenue derives from the spread between prices paid for purchased scrap and proceeds from selling processed ferrous, non-ferrous and platinum group metals to domestic mills, foundries and manufacturers, and to export markets to a lesser extent, plus sales of used auto parts.

Traction

Metalico reports over 550 employees, more than 20 operating locations across six states, recycling of over 3,000 vehicles per month, and three automobile shredders. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency named Metalico a Green Power Partner in recognition of its use of renewable wind energy.

Latest developments

Kevin Whalen was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer in April 2023, and Constance Jennings was appointed Chief Financial Officer in April 2023; Chad Walter was appointed Chief Operating Officer in July 2022 after serving as Regional Vice President for Western New York from February 2017.