Fresh Perspective

Andrew Dischino

Buyer at GLE Scrap Metal

Photo courtesy of Andrew Dischino

Andrew Dischino landed in the scrap industry by accident nearly a decade ago. At the time, he was studying for a bachelor’s degree in construction management from Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston and needed a summer job.

“My wife’s cousin owns a scrap yard [TNT Scrap] in Brooklyn [New York], and I had asked him for a job and ended up moving to Brooklyn for what we thought was going to be a summer,” he says.

Although Dischino says the experience of working in a scrap yard was overwhelming at first, he enjoyed the fast-paced environment at TNT Scrap, and that summer job during college eventually turned into a full-time career in the scrap industry.

“I really liked the high intensity and everything always moving and changing on a daily basis,” he says.

About four years ago, Dischino says his family wanted to move from Brooklyn to Florida. He was familiar with Longwood, Florida-based GLE Scrap Metal and got a job as a buyer with the company.

In the following interview, Dischino shares more about how GLE Scrap Metal has grown in recent years and the changes he has noticed in the scrap industry.

”I really liked the high intensity and everything always moving and changing on a daily basis.”

Recycling Today (RT): You’ve been with GLE for just over four years. How has the company grown and changed since you joined as a buyer?

Andrew Dischino (AD): Shortly after I was hired, we opened up a [wire] chopping line. So, we have a separate chopping facility, which is located in Ocoee, Florida, which is about a half hour from our main office.

We [also] grew our brokerage division, which GLE always had, but we really tried to grow that in the last few years.

And just as recently as January, [GLE Scrap Metal] purchased a new yard in Tampa.

We’ve grown pretty substantially since I started, which has been cool to be a part of and be a part of those projects.

RT: What have been some of the biggest issues in the scrap industry and how has GLE worked through them?

AD: Freight has been a problem. Getting drivers [has been challenging], and freight rates have gone up.

Finding employees has been very hard.

The consolidation that’s gone on in the industry over the last year … I think it’s great for the industry, but it also limits the pool of people that companies like GLE can buy from because you’re combining smaller companies into larger companies.

I think that with a lot of the stimulus money that was going on, it limited some of the peddler traffic, which lowered some volumes [into scrap yards].

It’s been a challenging couple years, but you just have to get creative in the way you buy the scrap.

RT: Has GLE seen much consolidation in the areas where it has yards?

AD: I think Florida has seen a lot of consolidation in the last year, [with] smaller companies acquired by some bigger companies. It just limits your market pool. We’ll buy from some smaller businesses, but when they get acquired by larger companies, it eliminates that customer. But then you just need to develop a relationship with the larger companies.