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ATMs Come to the Scrap Yard

A Florida entrepreneur has created a customized automatic teller machine (ATM) designed specifically for scrap processing facilities. Kenneth J. Gruber and Transact Communication Inc., Tampa, Fla., worked in close cooperation with the David J. Joseph Co. (DJJ), Cincinnati, and a Florida software firm to develop the Transact Cash Payment System.

The system consists of computer hardware with cash payment software linked to a truck scale and an ATM machine with a card encoder. According to Gruber, the system is designed as follows: After scrap has been unloaded, the truck scale calculates the weight of the material dropped off and the dollar value. Rather than paying the driver through a cash drawer or by check, the yard’s attendant slides an ATM card through an encoder which records the information on the card. The driver then receives the card and inserts it into the ATM, receiving cash rounded to the nearest dollar and a receipt.

The benefits of the system, which has been installed at three DJJ locations, include computerized record-keeping and a secure cash handling procedure that means cash goes from an armored car directly to the ATM—thus eliminating or reducing incidents of miscounting, embezzlement and office robbery.

Swords Into Plowshares

In a modern twist on the Biblical prophesy "they shall beat their swords into plowshares" [Isaiah 2:4], a California steel mini-mill has become the final melting place for confiscated firearms. The TAMCO mill in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. periodically adds to its furnace charges firearms confiscated by 29 different southern California law enforcement agencies.

According to Michelle Runyan, TAMCO’s environmental safety administrator, the law enforcement agencies drop off from one-half ton to four tons per month of confiscated weaponry. "July is usually a very large month for us. The Los Angeles county sheriff’s department comes in with truckloads and truckloads," says Runyan.

The law enforcement agencies in an area ranging from San Diego to San Bernadino drop off weapons that were formerly sold at auctions. While firearms make up the majority of metallic weaponry taken in, any object used confiscated in the investigation of a violent crime can be scrapped. "We take in handguns and automatic weapons as well as ice picks and swords," says Runyan.

The program has been in place for more than four years and yields "pretty good quality scrap" Runyan remarks. In 1996 more than 112,000 pounds of ferrous scrap were generated from the confiscated weapons, and more than 80,000 pounds of weaponry was melted in 1997.

Web site

Several recycling companies and equipment suppliers have recently introduced World Wide Web sites, including: Aaron Equipment Co. Inc., Bensenville, Ill, at www.aaronequip.com ; Harris Waste Management Group Inc., Peachtree City, Ga., at www.harriswaste.com ; Omniquip International, Port Washington, Wisc., at www.omniquip.com ; Recycling Equipment Manufacturing Inc., Spokane, Wash., at www.remfg.com ; Stellar Industries Inc., Garner, Iowa, at www.stellar-industries.com ; Teknor Apex Co., Pawtucket, R.I., at www.teknorapex.com . And the Steel Recycling Institute, Pittsburgh, has created an interactive website designed to help children learn about the steel recycling industry and process. That site is at www.recycleroom.org .

Sex and Recycling Don't Mix, Apparently

A public service announcement that used a suggestive comedy sketch to promote recycling has been pulled from the airwaves in Pennsylvania. The 30-second spot, produced by the National Association for Plastic Container Recovery (NAPCOR), Charlotte, N.C., shows two elderly gentlemen at a restaurant table referring to Mildred, who "does it three times a day." At the end of the spot, Mildred is seen dropping off her recyclables—something she does three times each day.

An elected official in Erie County, Pa., thought the use of suggestive humor was inappropriate and urged the county’s recycling coordinator to pull the promo, according to an Associated Press item.

Luke Schmidt, president of NAPCOR, says the nationally-distributed spot has been otherwise well-received.

"We really don’t feel this spot is offensive," he says, "and it has run in a lot of other markets. In fact, the recycling coordinator in Erie told us that on a radio call-in show in Erie, the overwhelming majority of callers said they definitely liked the spot," Schmidt adds.