Ben Weitsman Adds $25 Million Metal Shredder in New York

Ben Weitsman is spending $25 million for a new metal shredder at its scrap recycling yard in Albany, N.Y.

The company, sister firm of Owego, N.Y.-based Upstate Shredding LLC, said in a news release it will be operating in April 2014.

Owner Adam Weitsman said the move is part of its expansion plans for its Albany scrap yard and port facility. The company has built up its metal recycling network in New York and Pennsylvania. It expects to spend several million dollars in the Albany region during the next several years to create and develop a new recycling network of yards in the capital region and surrounding states to feed the new shredder.

“It took us years to build up our feeder yard system around our Owego shredder and this new shredding location, in addition to our shredder in New Castle (Pa.), which will be operational in the second quarter of 2014, will be the launching pad of the next phase of our expansion,” Weitsman said.  “We’ve examined the markets surrounding the Albany facility, and we plan to make several new acquisitions of scrap yards in the region to develop the network of yards to feed the Albany shredder.”

The new high-powered auto shredder and downstream was built by the Wendt Corp. of Buffalo, N.Y., and includes several technological advances to ensure maximum recycling value. These systems include separation technologies to recover wire, plastics, nonferrous metals and other materials such as fines.