In our phone conversation, Stewart (Stew) Lehmann, founder and president of SLM Recycling, apologized for the intermittent background noise from his location. Considering that he was sitting in the cab of a John Deere excavator equipped with LaBounty mobile hydraulic shears, cutting and restoring derailed train cars, the noise was actually very low. Lehmann works in Parry Sound, Ontario, about a two-hour drive north of the GTA (Greater Toronto Area). His partner and SLM Vice President Kyle Duncan was also on the phone, talking to us from Niagara-Welland, Ontario.

SLM is engaged in the business of collecting, sorting, processing and selling various scrap metals, and is one of the most diverse scrap recyclers in the industry, in terms of the type of recycling work performed. In addition to scrap and car recycling, including self-service auto parts resale business, the company also specializes in mobile processing, including scrap railcar and aircraft recycling, derailment cleanup, tire recycling, and commercial, industrial, and residential tear-out and dismantling.

Stew Lehmann founded the company with his father Steve in 2001 after graduating from high school. "We started with a truck and a trailer, a crane [material handler] and a car crusher," Stew Lehmann explained. "Today, we have more than one hundred equipment operating at six locations in Ontario, and we have rail, truck and barge transportation capabilities."

Nonetheless-even though all their equipment includes 20 material handling machines and about 40 hydraulic shearing attachments, as well as multiple car crushers and balers, a truck and rail car fleet, and a monthly handling of approximately 25,000 tons of ferrous metal Capacity, just under 1 million pounds of non-ferrous metals and 1,500 scrapped cars-SLM did not consider itself a large scrap recycling company on its 20th anniversary.

In the first six years of the business, SLM Recycling did not have a yard, so their strategy was to dispose of waste materials instead of sending materials to Lehmanns. "We started with a mobile format, with trucks, trailers, mobile cranes, balers, shears and all other equipment from one site to another. Then we started buying our own facilities, which helped us strategically We are close to some existing customers because of the customers we want to reach."

Today, even though Ontario has six waste yards, the strategy of waste disposal is still an important part of SLM's business.

"I want to say that our mobile business is still 25-30% of our current business volume," Lehmann said. "For Kyle and me, being on the road is our blood. We are always on the road."

He continued, “We believe in being consistent with the needs of our customers and helping to effectively, efficiently and safely manage each work site, and the model of being on-site instead of staying at home does not seem to work for our business. "

Lehmann said that this strategy will definitely bring a lot of efficiency to their work. "Internal inspections and site visits at any location allow us to make comprehensive and comprehensive decisions flexibly and quickly. We are not only the manager of the company, but also responsible for our work. Both of us are able to operate heavy equipment and have our AZ driving License (for heavy trucks and trailers) and pilots. We have very practical methods."

Most of SLM's work on the restoration of train cars (they have been involved for about ten years) is done as part of emergency services, when the cars leave the railway line and need to be quickly dismantled and removed on site. The railcar weighs about 30 tons on average, and the recycled materials are almost all black. Some cars contain aluminum, but its proportion of total volume is very low. Regarding the restoration of train carriages, Lehmann said that in addition to their excavators and material handlers, their mobile hydraulic shears, grabs and magnets are essential tools for them. He added that some heavy demolition also requires some torches.

"We purchased a lot of assets from the railway line, including hoppers, gondolas, flat decks and boxcars, and Kyle now operates one of Ontario's largest rail car scrap demolition branch lines."

According to Kyle Duncan, “We are often required to mobilize equipment to dispose of scrap railway equipment at the derailment site, and often load these materials into another rail car and then directly transport them to the factory.”

SLM can also choose to use their private railway line, which goes directly to one of their yards and can accommodate 50 rail cars. In addition, through alliances with CP, CN, and short line (small and medium-sized railway companies with relatively short operating networks), they can line up 400 to 500 cars at a time for recycling if necessary.

In terms of the time required to cut and recycle a single railcar, Duncan said they can handle about 10 cars a day, but if there are larger packages (the number of units to be handled), they can handle more than 20 cars every day when needed. The materials recovered from scrapped rail cars are mainly ferrous metals, and most of them are usually metal plates.

"We sell it as a rail car material," Duncan said. "When we sell directly to the factory, we position it as a scrapped rail car. There may be some cast knuckles or couplers, and some upgrades to the composition of the wheels and axles may be required, but most of them are steel plates, from Railcar box and frame."

He added that there are not many other waste recyclers in the region or even North America capable of such recycling. 

"You must have a fairly large carrier and scissor fleet," he explained. "We have a large and diverse fleet that can handle rail cars of any size or number. Your small scrap yard (processing about 10,000 tons per month) may only have one or two scissors, and they may be in a 40-ton truck Come on. We have 80 and 85 ton vehicles that can lift a whole train."

When handling scrapped cars for large operators such as CN or CP, he said that they not only have the required infrastructure and years of experience, but they can also be mobilized very quickly, even on the same day.

"When they call Stew or me, we know exactly where our trucks are and how to move them to the site. We know exactly where our scissors and excavators are. We don't have to call the logistics manager or the first Tripartite operators. We acted immediately, and when it comes to large Tier 1 companies, they appreciate our rapid response."

Another interesting aspect of the SLM business is the recycling of end-of-life aircraft. They have also been involved for about ten years. However, according to Duncan, there are not many opportunities to recycle scrapped aircraft in Ontario, and aircraft recycling is only a relatively small part of their business.

Lehmann said: "As long as we have the opportunity, we are almost on the front line. This is achieved by establishing a relationship with the airport or some cargo company." "As soon as there is a scrap jet or other aircraft that needs to be processed, we will receive a call. , This was just a recommendation at the time. This was not a lot of work we did, and it was indeed market-based. "If aluminum prices are low, some companies would rather let a retired jet sit there and do nothing until It absolutely needs to be done, or the market moves upward. "

Of course, there are many scrapped aircraft around the world, but not many in Ontario or Canada. No matter where they are, aircraft recovery is a long and complicated process. "Once the aircraft ends their useful life in the passenger transport sector, they are usually converted to cargo, or they go to other countries with lower regulations, so they usually have a long lifespan," Duncan explained. "I believe there are several "jet airports" in the southern United States, and airlines basically carry them there, where they end their lives."

In the end-of-life car business, SLM is both a recycler and a Pick-A-Part self-service operator, but the latter is actually only a small part of its business volume and a relatively new part of the business.

"Since our establishment, we have been deeply rooted in the car recycling business," Duncan said. "When Stew and his father started using bicycle crushers, they would almost go to every car recycler nearby. When I joined, it was like the place where the crusher worked was home, and then I went to the car recycler, the car recycler. , One or two a week. So we have been working in this field for a long time and we have a lot of knowledge and relationships there."

About three years ago, SLM entered the self-service auto parts business. “We have some real estate in one of our facilities, but we just see it as another revenue-generating opportunity,” Lehmann explained. "Because the population of this business is mainly public, and there are many do-it-yourself people, we think in a sense, we should thank the community. We have the opportunity to make a few more dollars from each car we have bought , And we also want to increase our footprint in the number of scrapped cars. Now we can buy another 30 or 40 cars that we may not have acquired as scrap yards."

According to Lehman, when Ontario first introduced new regulations for decontaminating end-of-life vehicles, they bought more mobile devices than they needed at the time. They saw an opportunity to help educate and purify the yard that has not been written in accordance with the standard. Today, most of their decontamination fleet is Iris-Mec, and they also have mobile SEDA machines. 

"Our SEDA device uses a roll-off container that can be turned over from the side. All the items used to decontaminate the car are there and are independent," Lehmann explained. "We also use this device to derail. We had a derailment a few years ago, when 238 brand new vehicles were considered scrapped because the boxcars they were in were beside them. We took the mobile device to the site and proceeded there. Purify and remove all hazardous materials for proper transportation.

"I believe we are the only mobile processor with this capability and machine in Ontario and surrounding provinces. Now it has become less busy because people in almost every industry have reached best practices and appropriate standards, but It must have been a very useful tool from the beginning."

Duncan said that even if they do heavy work, they don't think of themselves as an industrial service company. "We do deal with industrial customers, we do have these relationships, but the most important thing is that the waste we purchase comes from end-of-life cars, demolition, and usually still needs to be processed, whether it is packing, cutting or "burning, or sorting and separating and combining Find the upgrade. Almost every ton we buy needs to be processed, so I want to say that the core of our business is processing waste, whether it's cars or anything else. "

"We are very hands-on and down to earth," Lehman added. "We are people who understand daily life and global economic challenges. We are down to earth. I don't know how to describe it, but it is a very grassroots organization that handles new technologies, innovations, and investments quite modern. We are in many things. Adopt old-school methods, conservative methods, but we are also very eager to reinvest when needed.

"The biggest strategy I can pass is to let anyone around you work, and you will enjoy the fruits of your labor. Don't act blindly, act carefully, work harder than your competitors, and everything will be better and come back to you."

Duncan concluded: "We have a considerable footprint in this industry, but being the largest is not our goal. We see it as we have a hundred families to feed, and everything we do is for our people. . The reason why we put our boots on the ground is so that we can pick up the slack rope when we need it, and our employees really see it and appreciate it. I have a saying that my grandfather taught me when I was young, That is, "You should never ask anyone to do something you wouldn't do.

"He is a very successful entrepreneur. I abide by his motto every day. I know Stu does the same. When we did this interview, he is now using scissors to cut scraps because we are very thin and we have a A great opportunity, we hope that the company will continue to grow and be successful. If we just sit at our desks and count the money, then we will not continue to grow and support our employees-we are all working hard for the family." 

This article was originally published in the October 2021 edition of Recycling Products News, Volume 29, Issue 7.

120 W Georgia Industrial Avenue. Carrollton, Georgia, USA, 30117

Website: slmrecycling.com/index.html

Traditionally, waste management companies have used simple "waste management" methods to operate MRFs. Throughput goals and continuous operation (minimum downtime) are the main driving forces. However, the industry has changed, and the focus of the future is to optimize system performance and reliability, while increasing recycling rates and promoting a "greener" and more sustainable tomorrow.

When considering adding or upgrading "smart" MRF for municipalities or private operators, the main factor should always be the current requirements of the customer (operator) and the changing market needs, including throughput, reliability, output quality, and adaptation sex. It is also important to fully understand the true expectations of any proposed system. From the very beginning, work with the client to maintain a focused and focused mentality on the project, which will influence and promote the entire design process. This then affects the overall project results, down to the production, efficiency and continuous operation of the facility itself.

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