Speaking Up For Scrap

More than 100 ISRI members were literally the voice of the scrap recycling industry in June, meeting with their elected legislators during the 2008 Congressional Fly-In to describe the industry's contributions and its obstacles.

By Theodore Fischer 

Scrap is not waste. The recycling industry is good for the economy and the environment. Recyclers are part of the solution to the metals theft problem. But the industry needs help getting rail cars and fighting unfair rail shipping rates.

Those were the messages ISRI members carried up to Capitol Hill en masse June 25 during the association's third annual Congressional Fly-In. More than 100 ISRI members—double last year's numbers—spread the word to some 175 offices of senators and representatives from 36 states. The participants exercised their constitutional right to petition the government, educated their legislators about this little-known industry, and made progress in achieving the industry's most pressing goals.  

Basic Training
The evening before the fly-in, ISRI's Mark Reiter, assistant vice president for government relations, and Billy Johnson, director of political affairs, held an orientation session at the Fairmont Hotel to outline the next day's goal—to raise the scrap industry's visibility on Capitol Hill by explaining its priorities and concerns—and the strategies members could use to achieve it.

They urged attendees to emphasize three messages. First, recycling is a climate-friendly industry that reduces carbon emissions and conserves virgin materials such as iron ore, bauxite, and copper. Second, the industry would like Congress' help eliminating a few obstacles to recycling, most notably by differentiating scrap from waste in laws and regulations and lending a hand with widespread transportation problems, particularly regarding rail transport. Third, the recycling industry generates sales of $71 billion a year and provides more than 85,000 "green-collar" jobs.

Session attendees broached a fourth subject they suspected might arise: metals theft. It's possible the legislators will have heard from other constituents about the subject, said ISRI President Robin Wiener. If they bring it up, "explain that the recycling industry is part of the solution to addressing this problem, and also remind them that we are victims as well," she said. "More than half of our membership have been victims of materials theft, many of them three or four times."

The staff also offered pointers on how to act during various scenarios. For example, what if your representative is called for a vote, and you end up meeting with a young legislative aide? "If that happens, don't think you're [meeting with] somebody who's 20 years old," Reiter said. "Treat them as if they were the Congress member or senator, and you'll be fine." Make good use of your time, Johnson said. Don't expect meetings to last more than 15 minutes, so plan to use the last five minutes to summarize your points.

Even though the meetings might be brief, Johnson said later, it's hugely important for ISRI members to continually meet with their members of Congress. "It's important for the [legislators] to actually see the real, live people who live in their districts, work in their districts, employ people in their districts, pay taxes in their districts, and create businesses in their districts," he says. "You're providing a face to go with an issue, which personalizes it."

Johnson and Reiter drilled the fly-in participants on the ISRI mantra—"Scrap is not waste; recycling is not disposal"—and urged them to invite their legislators to join the 22 senators and 116 representatives in the Senate and House Recycling Caucuses, if they had not joined already. Legislators "love being asked for things that actually help them," Johnson later explained. "In this case, we're asking them to join our recycling caucus, which allows them to learn more about our industry. They can learn about how we provide jobs in their districts, how we protect the environment, and all the other great things that we do. It's a win-win situation."

Members received an ISRI leave-behind—a blue folder labeled "The Business of Recycling" that contained industry statistics, talking points, and a printout of a May 1997 Smithsonian magazine article about the industry, "Mining the Scrap Heap for Treasure."

Above all, Johnson said, "go with the flow. Enjoy yourselves. Remember, you actually do have access as citizens."

The preparation continued the next morning at an early breakfast at the Fairmont. ISRI members planned and coordinated their schedules, reviewed the talking points, examined a map of the House and Senate office buildings, and read brief profiles of their legislators. Upstairs in a small meeting room, about 20 members held a fund-raising breakfast for Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), co-chair of the House Recycling Caucus. The congressman took questions and discussed a wide range of issues with those in attendance, from the presidential election to the record-high gas prices. 

Scrap 101
"There are three different reasons why you might go visit a member of Congress," ISRI's Johnson explains. "One is to introduce yourself and to build a relationship. The second is to maintain that relationship. Third [is when] you have a problem and you need help fixing it. If you haven't gone through the first two steps," your chances of getting the legislator's attention on the third "are pretty low," he says. "But if you've gone through the first two steps by coming to Capitol Hill regularly and maintaining and building that relationship, that member of Congress will not only be on the lookout for you should you run into a problem, but [he or she] will really try and fix it for you." The congressional encounters during the daylong fly-in fit roughly into those three categories: informational, relationship-building, and problem-solving.

Some of the legislators and their aides "didn't have a lot of exposure to the scrap metal industry, so part of it was educating them about the business and where we had locations in their districts and state," said Julie Hirons, a first-time fly-in participant who handles commercial scale operations for Advantage Metals Recycling (Kansas City, Mo.). Hirons said of her meetings with four Kansas legislators or their staffs, "For all of them it was like a light bulb went on in their minds: 'Wow! There's an industry out there.'"

At the office of Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), Hirons and John Rakos of Advantage Metals' ferrous commercial and operations department gave legislative correspondent Brian Larkin an overview of the economic importance of Kansas' recycling industry. "Scrap is a waste-negative business," Rakos said. Then, broaching the issue of rail transportation, he explained what gondola cars are and why recyclers need many more of them. "We're looking for a little investment from the railroads," Rakos said. "We would load 25 gondola cars a day at our facilities alone—if we could get them." On the way out, Rakos invited Brownback to join the Recycling Caucus and added a second invitation—a facility tour.

In a conference room adorned with Arizona nature scenes, five ISRI members briefed Corey McDaniel, a legislative aide to Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), on the scrap industry's importance to Arizona. "Scrap is so much more environmentally friendly than other material," said Henry Fleet, president of Southwest Metals (Glendale, Ariz.). "Scrap is one of [the state's] only industries still above water," he noted.

Pointing out that Arizona lacks representation on the recycling caucus, Fleet urged the senator to join and invited McDaniel and the senator to tour a Southwest Metal facility the next time they get back home.

Crowded around a small table in a House office waiting room, Laura M. Carrell, legislative assistant for energy and transportation to Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.), also got an earful about the railcar crunch. "We order 10 and get five—if any show up at all," said Jeremy Lincoln, vice president of purchasing for Lincoln Metal Processing Co. (Erie, Pa.). "We have to send [the scrap] by truck."

Rick Allan, executive director of ISRI's Mid-Atlantic Chapter (Dallas, Pa.), mentioned the poor treatment of the scrap industry in general—someone on NBC News referred to scrap as "garbage," he said—and of the metals theft issue in particular.

Though Gerlach already belongs to the Recycling Caucus, Carrell solicited a different, and welcome, invitation: "Could you tell me the location of yards in his district that Rep. Gerlach and I could tour?" 

Family Reunions
Other fly-in encounters had less to do with delivering a message than renewing old ties.

"How's the junk business?" is a greeting that normally elicits a stern recitation of the ISRI talking points, but coming from Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), a member of the Recycling Caucus and old friend of the three-man ISRI delegation, it elicited only rolled eyeballs and knowing chuckles. "We go way back," Chip Koplin from Macon Iron & Paper Stock Co. (Macon, Ga.) said of the senator. "We've know him since his early congressional campaigns in the '90s, and we make it a habit to see him at some of his events. In fact, he toured our recycling yard many years ago."

Though most of the ensuing conversation addressed the hot weather—both in D.C. and in Georgia—mutual friends, and the stresses of the upcoming political campaign, it wasn't all idle chitchat. Andy Wahl, nonferrous vice president at Newell Recycling (East Point, Ga.), mentioned that Newell's nine Georgia plants combined employ more than 700 workers and have strong business relationships with other major Atlanta-area businesses.

Chambliss predicted the growing importance of recycling, then made his farewells: "See you guys back in Georgia some time soon."

Similarly, Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) needed no orientation from ISRI's seven-man delegation. Meeting in the senator's conference room—lined with baseball memorabilia collected by this baseball Hall-of-Famer, from brass mitts and Kentucky-made Louisville Slugger bats to photos of the Detroit and Philadelphia ballparks in which he played—the group's presentation elicited only a single question from the senator: "Who owns the scrapyard I go by every day when I drive home?" (The group determined it's probably River Metals Recycling's Louisville, Ky., plant.)

The low-key discussion covered monetary policy—"If you like a weak dollar, you'll like what's going on now," Bunning said—Federal Reserve initiatives, gas prices, and a new energy-generating facility in the state. "You'll be for the new coal [to] diesel plant we're going to build in Paducah," he noted.

The ISRI members were pleased with their encounter with Senator Bunning. "I think that meeting went really well," said Greg Dixon, general manager of Baker Iron & Metal Co., a subsidiary of Cohen Brothers in Lexington, Ky. He points out that, like most legislators, the senator works on many issues at once, "so it is important that you follow up with the staff after your meeting to keep your points in front of them."

In an even more relaxed setting, a dozen or so ISRI members attended a fund-raising luncheon at the Capitol Hill Club for Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), co-chair of the House Recycling Caucus. Between bites of his roast beef wrap, Shimkus assured his audience that he's a great supporter of recycling who practices what he preaches: Back home, he dutifully separates materials and fills his recycling bins with everything "except this," he said, brandishing a Pepsi soda can. Is he averse to aluminum? Not at all: "My sons and I take them and sell them to an old man down the road who runs a scrapyard." 

Takin' Care of Business
The third type of congressional encounter is what most ISRI members say they expected when they signed up for the fly-in: a constructive exchange with well-informed Washington types in which they make their case, express their concerns, and (just possibly) influence the legislative process.

Because official business erupted on the House floor at the time of the scheduled appointment, a five-person ISRI delegation missed its opportunity to meet Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.). They did get to inspect the gold record for "I Got You, Babe" that belonged to her late husband, former Rep. Sonny Bono (and his then-wife, Cher), displayed in the waiting room. And they had a fruitful meeting with Chris Foster, Bono Mack's legislative director.

Foster came right out and asked the ISRI members for help dealing with "green waste," such as yard clippings, piling up in the representative's district, which extends from the eastern edge of San Diego to the Arizona border. "It ends up in amazing parts of the district, like tribal lands," said Foster, who expressed similar concerns about "e-waste."

"SA Recycling has 38 facilities, and we collect electronic scrap in most of them," said George Adams, SA president (Anaheim) and ISRI chair, but he admonished Foster for uttering the W-word. "The minute you say it's waste, we get sucked into the laws about stuff that's going to the dump."

Foster also looked to ISRI for guidance in dealing with climate change. "My boss is up to her eyeballs in carbon footprints," he said. "If nothing else, pushing some sort of national initiative would help all you guys. We're trying to find a federal nexus" on the subject.

"The important thing about climate change is that our business is a tremendous reducer of carbon gases," Adams said. "If you shut down the shredder, you'll [generate] 10 times the amount of carbon gases to produce new steel."

The meeting ended with Doug Kramer of Kramer Metals (Los Angeles) proffering a warm invitation for Bono Mack to join the Recycling Caucus. "The Recycling Caucus is not political," he said. "To be in the Recycling Caucus is to be on the right side of the issue." (Bono Mack joined the caucus immediately after the fly-in.)

One legislator who demonstrated a great understanding of the industry and its issues that day was Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-Ind.). "I can give you guys a few ideas," Ellsworth announced to the ISRI group meeting with him in his Capitol Hill office. "The last time I flew into Iraq, we flew over a scrapyard as big as the National Mall. I figure somebody could be making some money out of this. You could help them get that stuff to a smelter."

In addition to his tip about the potential Baghdad bonanza, Ellsworth pledged support for another industry-critical area: metals theft. "This may already be on your radar screen, with the media talking so much about metals theft, but legislatures are working on laws to make you keep records like a pawn shop," he said. The envoy—ISRI's Johnson, Josh Carter of Integrity Metals (Connersville, Ind.), Jeff Wilke of OmniSource (Fort Wayne, Ind.), and Ken Mueller of Sims Metal Management (New York)—delivered its metals-theft message and described ISRI's joint efforts with the National Crime Prevention Council, members' partnerships with local police, and their community education programs—and Ellsworth conceded that laws are not the answer. "You can write all the laws you want, but unless you get people to cooperate with the police, it won't do any good," he said, ending the discussion on a positive note: "Figure out what you want to do about the problem, and tell us what you need."

In the office of Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), four West Coast ISRI members huddled with David B. Berick, Wyden's senior adviser for energy and investigations. Berick's opening question: "What can we do to be helpful?"

"The biggest national issue is surface transportation—we need more railroad cars and road infrastructure modernization investment," said Marc Madden, assistant general manager of Schnitzer Steel Industries/California (Portland, Ore.) and chair of ISRI's government relations committee. "It would be very helpful, for example, if the federal government offered tax incentives for additional railcar construction."

"We've heard this song before," Berick responded. "You hear it from farmers; you hear it from everybody."

Jay Sternoff, vice president and director of scrap metal purchasing for Pacific Iron & Metal (Seattle), added that similar problems exist for sea transportation. "There's a big export container shortage. The largest containers go to California, the smaller ones go to Seattle and Vancouver."

Halfway through, Sen. Wyden entered the meeting room and received a brief summary of the issues at hand. "It's a tough time to be in the global market," Wyden commented on his way back out, "but we'll help on the transportation front."

Asked about any other pressing concerns, Sternoff cited semantic ones. "The biggest thing we fight is the 'waste' versus 'scrap' issue," he said.

"You need to come with a new phrase for scrap," Berick suggested, "like auto dealers came up with 'pre-owned' to replace 'used.'"

The half-hour session ended with Berick's promise to take action: "I will talk to transportation people, talk to port people, and see what we can do to be helpful." 

Reviewing the results

This year's fly-in taught ISRI members a lot about how to get business done in Washington, and it already has yielded some substantive results.

"One thing I've learned during our visits" to the Hill "is that it is important to hit your key points, stay focused, and be precise," said Baker Iron's Dixon, a veteran of three fly-ins. "If you hit your points and stay on your game plan, then the congressman or his staff will have time to open up the dialogue and allow you to expand on your ideas."

"I think it went well," Macon's Koplin said. "Luckily, we didn't have any huge action issues this year, so [our visit] was mainly just to remind the legislators that the recyclers are still out there."

Hirons of Advantage Metals reported that her fly-in experience yielded at least one measurable victory. "We had a real pleasant visit with the aide of Congressman Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), and Mr. Moran was able to join us," Hirons said. "Later we received word that Mr. Moran did join the caucus—[becoming] the first Kansas representative in the caucus—so we felt really excited to achieve one of our goals." • 

Theodore Fischer is a writer based in Silver Spring, Md.