UNITED METALS RECYCLING is more than a scrap-metal recycler; it’s part of an extended family of nine companies largely focused on directing materials away from landfills and back into productive uses. Think scrap metal like steel that’s melted and converted into building material, such as construction rebar, salvaged copper wire melted for new copper products or old tires converted into rubber gym mats. Scrap metals like steel, copper and aluminum are commodities with value that can be sold as ingredients for new products; whereas tires are a waste material without value until they’re reprocessed into ingredients for new products. United Metals Recycling (and its affiliated companies) work in the middle: salvaging the material, preparing it for its new life, then sending it to manufacturers to make the end product. Other affiliates of United Metals Recycling work on recycling’s periphery, including a trucking company to haul material and a marketing company to help other recycling-related companies promote their businesses. Material salvage and reuse, though, is where United Metals Recycling cut its teeth. It’s no surprise then, that it’s taking a much bigger bite of tire recycling by substantially increasing capacity at its affiliated business, Tire Reclaim. That’s where Heritage Bank comes in: It financed the expansion. “We should be able to consume most of the waste tires in the state,” said Brett Ekart, owner of Tire Reclaim and United Metals Recycling, who also owns or is a partner of the other affiliates. Last fall, Tire Reclaim completed expansion of the tire-recycling plant and was beginning to boost production in November when this story was written. Tire Reclaim will have the capacity to shred, grind and recycle 4,000 to 5,000 tons of tires per month, Ekart said. The plant, in Caldwell, just west of Boise, will separate metal belts from the rubber, send those to metals processors for new uses and transform the rubber into various sizes and grades with several applications. Those include athletic fields and tracks, mats for gym floors, molded products like parking stops or asphalt sealant that incorporates fine rubber particles. Tire Reclaim was born out of a challenge, Ekart said. “We were having a hard time finding places for tires that we were getting through the nature of our recycling process, trying to figure out a home for those tires, and we were like, ‘Why don’t we just try and solve this problem?’” Ekart said.
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Issue 12 | 2024 Q1
Anna Gorin Photography
More than Idaho company goes big on metal tire recycling
BY JOHN STEARNS
