The scrap metal recycling industry needs education. Depending on your location, the terminology behind best practices and conventional processes, especially the names used for the hundreds of different types of metals that end up in the scrap yard, are inconsistent. If the employees, managers, and owners of the scrapyard do not understand every material that enters their yard, if the terminology is inconsistent between the yard, between the seller and the buyer, and anywhere, then profitability will not be maximized at all . With these industry challenges in mind, Kate Fraser and Brad Rudover founded Scrap University in 2020 to empower the scrap metal recycling industry through education. The initial certificate course of Scrap University is a video-based online training “boot camp”. Individuals first learn the basics of the scrap industry, scrap yard operations and terminology, and then how to quickly and easily identify and upgrade all types of scrap metal. After completing the course, students will be designated as Certified Scrap Metal Professionals (CSMP). Co-founders Fraser and Rudolph worked at the Richmond Steel Recycling Company in British Columbia in the mid-2010s. They are personally familiar with all aspects of the scrap metal business-from operating the yard to brokering sales. Rudover is currently a partner of Detroit Scrap Consulting Services Ltd., a Vancouver brokerage firm, and a former board member of CARI representing the BC region. His family also owns Berrick Trading Corp., a scrapyard in Detroit, Michigan, where he grew up. Fraser has worked in the scrap industry in British Columbia for more than 12 years and has accumulated rich experience and knowledge in the logistics, scheduling, grading and pricing of ferrous and non-ferrous materials, and has undertaken the operation of a scrap yard. After starting work at ABC Recycling, Fraser continued to serve as an operations analyst for Richmond Steel Recycling (owned by Sims and Nucor). “I worked with the internal operations team and the Sims National Shredder/MRP (Material Requirements Planning) team to understand the shredder and MRP process,” she recalled. “I can proudly say that I understand the complexities of operating a shredder factory and can easily talk where anyone shows even a little interest. Eventually, my role grew to supervise the entire facility. Work. A 40-person team meeting all operational needs is like completing a jigsaw puzzle every day, which is actually very beneficial.” Fraser said that from the early days of her career, she began to understand that the names of scrap types were inconsistent. In every yard, even within a company, the same material has different names,” Fraser said. “When you go to the trade association website or look it up online, they all have different names. This is very ambiguous. “We are building the Scrap University into an industry center, a learning center, where you will go to get consistent information in one place, and lay the foundation for metal and scrap yard technology.” According to Rudover, even as an industry center It is not easy for people who grow up to understand all the different metals. “When you start to look at the entire organization, you will find that almost everyone knows nothing about scrap metal. From top to bottom, the company’s CEO and general manager, accountants, documentation personnel, logistics personnel, weighing personnel, workers, and Machine operator. Know a little bit of information. If everyone doesn’t know scrap metal, you have to ask: What business are we doing?” Rudover continued. “In this industry, there are so many different people, but they don’t speak the same language. We are working hard to unify the language and knowledge that are the foundation of the entire industry.”
The Scrap University program is designed to benefit everyone in the scrap recycling organization, from buyers, drivers and workers to management and ownership. The program is designed for individuals and can also be used by the company for as many employees as possible who are interested in expanding its waste recycling knowledge base. The course is designed and provided by waste industry experts through video, with more than 235 years of comprehensive waste knowledge and experience among all current Scrap U instructors. Rudover himself is an introductory lecturer who is responsible for guiding freshmen to understand the basics of scrap yard operation and metal identification, such as the difference between ferrous metals and non-ferrous metals. After that, all CSMP training focused on the identification and upgrade of specific metals. “Everyone in the business should know the difference between ferrous metals and non-ferrous metals, and know their different categories, and the metals they trade with,” Fraser said. “This is the foundation of everything.” After purchase, users will get lifetime access to the CSMP certificate program. The course involves eight different modules, covering 99 topics, and the average duration of each topic is about 5 minutes. There are a total of 8.5 hours of video training, supplemented by text and pictures. The CSMP certificate will be issued after the final exam consisting of 120 questions. “There is a lot of information to keep,” Rudover said. “You can also download textbooks and images to use them permanently. You can use them in the yard as a resource for identifying metals.” With so much information and designed to provide students with a lasting education, it must be an extensive test. “Retention is our most important thing,” Fraser emphasized. “You need to put that hour aside, sit down, and pass the test. This is a fairly simple test, but we need to know that to get the CSMP, you already have the information. Otherwise, it makes no sense.” Fraser and Rudover also pointed out that their courses are best combined with in-hospital training, especially in the area of ​​metal identification. “In this business, you have to learn all the different metals,” Rudover said. “I think you have to handle the metal yourself to really lock it in. We are not trying to downplay this aspect of training. Our Scrap University program goes hand-in-hand with existing training. Some companies may have stronger internal training platforms, so they are interested in Scrap University’s reliance may be less. Companies without any type of training will have greater reliance.” Fraser added that although people often ask about the need for a program, passing it quickly is not the focus or the intention. “The best way is to conduct online training, combined with actual metal on-site training,” she confirmed. “If you want, you can blow it through within a week. Will you keep that information? This is a question. In any learning environment, there are some practical applications that are always good.” The time taken really depends on For training purposes,” she continued. “If you use it to recruit new employees, then you can actually ask them to do a part in advance and then go to the yard to add it. However, if you work with someone in the office and you just want them to know about the metal products you own, that person can do it in a week. You don’t have to work there, but if possible, it is always good to at least touch every metal. Then, when colleagues and people around you talk about scrap metal, now you know what they are talking about. You know what your industry is. “According to Fraser, the plan is also designed to be linear. Students first need to complete the positioning of the plan, the introduction of scrap metal recycling, and then browse the other sections by section, as shown in the picture. It also provides managers with A tool to analyze where employees are in terms of knowledge and the entire course. If an employee does not do well in a certain part of the course, management can clearly see this and make further improvements when needed.” People believe that management tools are almost as valuable as procedures,” she continued. “Even for companies that have already received training, they don’t necessarily have to replace it. They can guide people through the plan to understand where they are. Nick Snyder, a scrap university graduate from United Metals Recycling completed his CSMP on June 10 this year. He commented: “I hope one day I can teach metal recycling at the university. Julian Samaniego from Merrillville Metal Recycling is another 6 A CSMP certified graduate who completed the program on the 24th, he said: “I have a better understanding of ferrous and non-ferrous metals. I look forward to applying this knowledge in my daily work.” President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Recycling Industry Association Officer Tracy Shaw stated that the University of Scrap Steel has played an important role in the recycling industry. “It is rare for people who enter our industry to understand the grades of scrap metal. Until now, there are few options for formal training in scrap metal recycling. CSMP certification provides basic knowledge that those who have not grown up in the industry lack. ”
Giving back to the scrap recycling industry is an important motivation behind the scrap university. Rudover and Fraser agree that this industry has given them a lot during their careers. Scrap U contributes to society by helping the industry not only learn to identify all metals and understand their trade, but also outlines how to use this knowledge to make money in a simple and clear way. “Rudolfo said. “You want to try to buy low and sell high. This is your habit. Suppose you bought a dirty stainless steel, and then mixed some clean stainless steel in the garbage dump of dirty stainless steel. Or you bought 304 stainless steel and some 316 stainless steel. That is the upgrade because the price difference between 304 and 316 is now about 25 cents per pound. “For most people in the scrap steel industry, if you ask them how to make money, it is through upgrading. Each of our lessons (after introducing the module) defines metal and shows how to upgrade it.” He added , If you don’t understand the metal in the scrap recycling business, if everyone in the company doesn’t know, then profitability will be missed. Catalytic converter is a good example. Nearly 20 years ago, Rudover said that he wrote a manual on catalytic converters because he was frustrated. He remembers walking into a warehouse with catalytic converters in stock, and being asked as a test: “What is that?” The response was “Cadillac converter”. “No one in the factory knew what it was, but sure enough, someone came and picked it up and gave us money,” Rudolph recalled. “That was when I started to take an academic approach to catalytic converters and asked why we didn’t share our information? He said that if waste recyclers make mistakes in identifying catalytic converters, there may be a risk of hundreds of thousands of dollars. “For after-sales converters, there is almost no platinum or rhodium plating on the catalyst composition. The content of OEM converters is very high. Usually you pay $10 for the after-sales converter, or you might sell it for $15. But for Honda converters, their value is more like $300. Therefore, as long as there is a mistake, there is a difference between these two, and you just lose money. “Scrap University will solve this expensive knowledge deficit with a specialized course on catalytic converters, which will be launched in 2022. On a smaller scale, unrecognizable metals may cost money at any scrap yard. Rudover continued, “You don’t know. How many mistakes have been made in the scale because these people have no education in metal,” he continued. He was recently at a shredded paper airport in Vancouver, where a bit of aluminum appeared on the scales. It looked particularly shiny. In the weighing room they just called it steel and sent it out through a paper shredder. “Because of its value, I waited for the product in terms of non-ferrous metals, but it passed the paper shredder. Will it falter downstream and become a Zorba? certainly. But its true value has been lost. Even the owners don’t always know the metal entering their yard,” he said. “We found this huge hole or cavity, and now we are working with Scrap University. ”RPN
This article was originally published in the July/August 2021 Recycling Products News, Volume 29, Issue 5.
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