Josh Meltzer | The Roanoke Times

Jose Maldonado (from left), Eric Collazo and Angel Mejia sort grades of copper at Cycle Systems in Roanoke.

One person's eyesore can be another's banging, clanging recycling champ.

Executives for Cycle Systems acknowledge scrap yards can be unsightly but emphasize that their business has been a key recycler in Roanoke for more than 90 years.

"We were recycling before it was in vogue," said Richard Lerner, 63, vice president of commercial sales and buying.

And Cycle Systems' willingness to pay for the metals it recycles can stuff a few bucks in a person's pocket.

In years past, Cycle Systems' sources of various scrap metals have included about 60 percent "peddlers" -- regular folks with full pickup beds and the like -- and about 40 percent industrial.

Today's mix is about 80 percent peddlers and 20 percent industrial, Lerner said.

Why the shift?

For one thing, because of a host of economic forces, Cycle Systems is paying a heap more for most metals brought to the company.

Scrap copper, for example, can fetch a price of $2 to $3 a pound, depending on market fluctuations. Lerner said Cycle Systems paid as little as 60 cents a pound for copper "probably about eight years ago."

Another reason peddler deliveries are up: Many households need extra income to cope with rising prices of gasoline, groceries and just about everything else.

"Individuals are doing it to make ends meet," he said.

Sales up

Jay Brenner is president of Cycle Systems and one of four Brenners running the family-owned company. Customers include Steel Dynamics' Roanoke plant and many other manufacturers.

Brenner anticipates 2008 sales to increase to more than $100 million. He did not disclose sales figures for 2007.

"We've had substantial growth in the last five years," he said, driven by acquisitions and operating more efficiently.

Increased sales do not necessarily mean increased profits, Brenner said. The company must pay more for the metals it receives for recycling and sale.

Jacob "Jake" Brenner, a native of Latvia, founded the company in 1916 as Roanoke Scrap Iron & Metal (not to be confused with Virginia Scrap Iron & Metal on South Jefferson Street).

First located on East Campbell Avenue near the railroad shops, the company's headquarters and its adjacent scrap yard now occupy about 22 acres along U.S. 220 near the intersection of Franklin Road and Wonju Street.

Roanoke Scrap moved to the current location in 1950 and became Cycle Systems in the mid-1970s.

Cycle Systems has six other locations. Its Lynchburg facility boasts a monster, 4,000-horsepower shredder that can transform a junked automobile into fist-sized metal chunks.

In addition to copper and aluminum, Cycle Systems processes metals that include steel, brass and stainless steel.

What about thieves?

Copper thieves have made the news ever since the metal began to fetch a high price as scrap. Brenner said Cycle Systems employs a host of measures to guard against accepting stolen goods.

Some thieves are easy to spot, he said -- such as those who raided a government lot, stole several municipal lawn mowers and then drove directly to Cycle Systems' Lynchburg operation to try to cash in.

For every transaction, the company reviews a seller's driver's license and takes the seller's photograph. It also relies on the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries' theft alert system to track potential thieves.

Environmentally friendly?

The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded the city of Roanoke a grant to help clean up contamination at the shutdown Virginia Scrap Iron & Metal plant, which has no connection to Cycle Systems.

That property is considered a "brownfield," a site whose redevelopment can be complicated by the presence of contaminants.

Brenner and Lerner insist that Cycle Systems closely monitors the scrap it is offered and rejects materials that contain unacceptable levels of oil-based contaminants and other pollutants.

"We are diligent about what we consider acceptable items," Brenner said. "And we turn our inventory quickly, probably 20 times a year. At some scrap centers, stuff has piled up for 100 years and that increases the risk of residual contamination."

Stephen Lester, science director for the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, said scrap metal yards can be a significant pollution source "depending on the level and variety of operations."

Although Cycle Systems accepts car batteries, it does not process them, Lerner said. When shredding automobiles, Cycle Systems does not first try to burn away plastic components, he said, a process Lester said could contaminate air, ground and water.

Sean McGinnis is director of Virginia Tech's Department of Green Engineering.

He said he believes Cycle Systems and other scrap processors play a critical recycling role.

They can "close the loop," McGinnis said, in a circle that starts with extraction of natural resources and then continues with manufacturing, use and disposal.

Lester agreed.

"Scrap metal recycling can be a useful process in the larger scheme of materials management," he said.

McGinnis said that the recycling of metals can reduce extraction of natural resources and related environmental injury and significantly reduce the energy required to produce the metal in the first place.

"I know people think places like Cycle Systems are an eyesore, but its visibility reminds us that the business of throwing things away is dirty, and if we never see that, it takes it out of our awareness," McGinnis added.

People rarely see landfills, and many don't witness and thus think about mountaintop removal, unsound logging practices and other environmental problems, he said.

Sparks and clamor

Scrap processing is a dirty, loud, tedious and hot job.

Men in overalls sort through tangled piles of copper to separate it into grades. Others sort aluminum scrap traveling a conveyor belt in unruly clusters. Sorted pieces tossed to the concrete floor create a thunderous racket.

The business relies on huge cranes that can cost half a million dollars each. Cycle Systems' "shear crane" resembles a towering science fiction lobster with a single metal-rending claw.

One crew wields oxy/propane torches to cut metals into manageable pieces. They labor outside, wearing insufferably hot safety gear.

Cycle Systems has about 245 employees companywide, with about 110 people in Roanoke.

Scrap and steel

Steel manufacturers rely on ferrous scrap to produce new steel. Ferrous metals include steel, cast iron, steel turnings and other types of steel commodities. In the manufacturing process other alloys may be added, such as aluminum, copper and nickel, to make specific steel alloys.

And the domestic steel industry is enjoying a prosperity comeback -- driven by forces that include escalating global demand for steel from places such as China, India and the United Arab Emirates.

Steel Dynamics Roanoke Bar Division, formerly Roanoke Electric Steel, is a "minimill" that melts scrap metal to produce steel.

Scrap prices have soared as demand increases and supply drops.

Cycle Systems exports some scrap. It might do more if a multimodal railroad facility is located in the region, Brenner said.

Ultimately, those who drive by Cycle Systems and see only a tangled, ugly mess of twisted steel and other metals "don't understand the business," Lerner said.

"It's just like having a mine above ground except we don't have to use up natural resources."

For more information, go to: www.cyclesystems.com.