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CLER ROUNDUP

We pay more for scrap when the auto recycler sends it cleaned up. As in the ‘trash in/trash out’ saying, auto recyclers who cease to crush trash or extra tires in their cars will make more money.

ing year,” he says. “Personal gut feeling, I see a slow and steady increase. More of the same.”

Getting the Best Scrap Value “We buy scrap vehicles from over a dozen auto re-

cyclers in the west coast,” says Churchill. “They usual- ly only crush cars to save money on transportation. I would say, if a recycler doesn’t already have one, they should invest in a car crusher. In the future, the auto recycler will have to think about the whole package – not just the upsell of parts. Consider what you are throwing away to get the highest profit.” “We reeducate our customers on quality standards.

We get them out of the habit of crushing trash with their cars. If a scrap recycler has to clean out waste in the shredding process, it takes more time and war- rants lower prices paid to purchase it. If they send clean product, we can pay more for it. At PARC, we buy based on quality and quantity. We can’t predict the unpredictable, but what can be controlled is quality.

Strictly looking at the dismantling side, scrap is not a problem. It is a huge profit center when you know what you are doing!”

As for economics, Churchill says that the recent U.S. tariffs are of no concern to him. “We are not sell- ing scrap to China. This alone artificially drove up the price of scrap the first 3 months of the year. It would have been an epic year, except for the Carbon elec- trode debacle. 2019 has potential.” PARC is a work in progress, but they have big plans for the future. “Our Lancaster site is our first, and feeds primarily off the Los Angeles marketplace. We have plans to build 10 more facilities, with types of operations based on the location we choose, in the next 10 years on the West Coast.” This clever business model is built for the future, and thoroughly encom- passes the entire life-cycle of money-making recycled auto parts and scrap metals.

Caryn Smith is the editor of Automotive Recycling magazine and has been covering the industry for over 20 years.

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January-February 2019 • AUTOMOTIVE RECYCLING