Personnel notes

ISRI honors scrap industry veterans

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), Washington, honored three scrap industry veterans who the association says have contributed to its success and to the recycling industry.

Stanley Kramer of Kramer Metals, Los Angeles; Howard Meyers of Quexco, Dallas; and Sandy Shapiro of Cambridge Iron & Metal, Baltimore, each received the association’s 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award.

The awards were presented by outgoing ISRI Chairman Jerry Simms and convention Chairman Stephen Moss during the organization’s annual convention, which was April 6-10 in Las Vegas.

“This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award winners helped lay the foundation for ISRI and establish the recycling industry as a powerful force in today’s economy,” said ISRI President Robin Wiener. “Stanley Kramer, Howard Meyers and Sandy Shapiro all demonstrated unparalleled service commitment to not only this industry and association but also to their country and communities.”

Wiener continued, “We are proud to present Stanley, Howard and Sandy with ISRI’s Lifetime Achievement Award for all they have and continue to accomplish for our industry and this community.”

Kramer started in the recycling industry in the early 1950s, helping to transform Kramer Metals into a full-service scrap yard. He also became active in ISRI and one of its predecessor organizations, the Institute of Scrap Iron and Steel (ISIS). Kramer served in all leadership positions in the ISRI Southwest chapter, as vice chair of the ISRI Convention Committee and as chair of the ISRI Chapter Presidents’ Council in addition to holding numerous committee positions.

Meyers, who parlayed his work at Revere Smelting and Refining into the holding company Quexco, and Shapiro, who started working at his family-owned scrap business, Cambridge Iron & Metal, were instrumental in merging the National Association of Recycling Industries (NARI) and the Institute of Scrap Iron and Steel (ISII) into ISRI, according to the association.

ISRI presents Safe Driver of Year Award to Schnitzer employee

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), Washington, has presented its Safe Driver of the Year Award to Harry Squires, an employee of Schnitzer Steel Industries, Portland, Oregon. The award, which recognizes drivers who have driven a commercial vehicle for at least 20 years without incurring a preventable accident, was presented to Squires during the ISRI 2014 Convention & Exposition in Las Vegas, April 6-10.

ISRI says Squires has driven his entire 39-year career without a single preventable accident. During that time, he has logged nearly 2.5 million miles on the road.

“Driving a truck in challenging road and weather conditions while hauling scrap for miles is no easy task. Those who perform their job each and every day while keeping an emphasis on safety deserve recognition,” said Commodor Hall, ISRI transportation safety manager. “For nearly four decades, Harry Squires has been transporting goods in a safe and reliable manner while ensuring the drivers under him do the same. He truly exemplifies the many truck drivers who keep America’s roadways safe.”

Kathi Gibson, transportation program manager at Schnitzer Steel Industries, said “Harry’s safety record is exemplary and his team would be the first to tell you that, as the lead driver for the facility, he serves as their role model. His contribution to highway safety includes handling all prehire road tests and training. He also handles all transportation needs at the yard and monitors all our trucks to ensure they have the right permits. If you were to spend a little time with Harry, you would quickly see that his dedication is rooted in his commitment to, and concern for, those he works with.”

The second-place winner was Bill Willis of Grossman Iron and Steel Co., St. Louis, and third place went to Joseph Romeyn Jr. of Padnos Inc. in Holland, Michigan. This is the second year ISRI has presented the Safe Driver of the Year Award.

Vecoplan appoints sales engineering manager

Vecoplan LLC, based in Archdale, North Carolina, has appointed Lars Koller to the position of sales engineering manager, systems and products. Koller joined Vecoplan in 2011 as a project engineer.

“Lars’ performance over the last couple of years, made this move a very easy decision,” says Len Beusse, COO of Vecoplan.

Koller earned an advanced mechanical engineering degree from Fachhochschule, a university of applied sciences in Hannover, Germany, in 2001. Koller then joined packaging machinery manufacturer Focke & Co., working first in research and development at Focke’s Verden, Germany, headquarters and then as manager of the design department at Focke’s Whitsett, North Carolina, facility.

Koller’s responsibilities include the oversight and coordination of interactions between customers, sales staff and engineers as projects develop from initial contact with the customer through design, engineering and production.

“As the complexity of our machines and systems has grown, and the sophistication of our technology has increased, the need for engineering expertise early on in the sales process has also increased,” says Marty Kennedy, executive vice president of Vecoplan.“ Lars brings extensive knowledge and experience to his new position.”

Harsco appoints new president

The board of directors for the mill services firm Harsco Corp., Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, has selected F. Nicholas Grasberger as the company’s new president and chief operating officer.

Harsco says the appointment is the first step in a transition during which Grasberger will continue his duties as chief financial officer while the company searches for a successor. Once the company announces his successor as CFO, Grasberger will become Harsco’s president and CEO.

Harsco says to assure a seamless transition, interim president and CEO David Everitt will continue in that position until Grasberger assumes the role, scheduled to take place by the middle of 2014.

“Since joining us last year, Nick has continually demonstrated his ability to be a driving force of positive change in our organization,” says Henry Knueppel, chairman of Harsco’s board of directors. “Nick co-authored the strategy we are executing, he has gained the respect of our organization and our key shareholders and he has delivered on several significant objectives during his first year. We are confident he has the capabilities, vision and broad industry knowledge necessary to lead our company into its next bright era of significant financial and operational growth.”

Grasberger has served as Harsco’s senior vice president and CFO since April 2013.

“I am honored to be selected as the next president and CEO of Harsco,” says Grasberger. “Over the past year, I have come to fully appreciate the considerable potential of this company to deliver significant value for our shareholders and enhanced service to our customers.”

In Memoriam: Richard Burlingame

Retired metallurgist Dr. Richard Burlingame, who was an early auto shredding researcher, died in January at the age of 83. Burlingame spent the later decades of his career and his retirement in the Cleveland area.

Burlingame worked for Cleveland-based Luria Bros. Inc. (now part of PSC Metals) from 1961 to 1986 and in the 1960s helped that company develop its auto recycling and shredding technology. The research was in reaction to steel mill resistance to No. 2 auto bundles. “Everything in that car got baled together—including plastics and glass,” Burlingame said of the bundles in a 2002 interview with Recycling Today. “There was no mystery or conniving or dishonesty. Everyone knew what a No. 2 auto bundle was. Steel mills bought them cheap and used them for decades.”

In that interview, Burlingame recalled working from a Luria Bros. Brooklyn, New York, location in the 1960s experimenting with a system to burn away undesirable portions of automobile hulks. “The idea was to burn everything that would burn (plastics, textiles and rubber) to get an improved melting yield,” he commented.

Ultimately, Luria Bros. adopted the shredding technology developed by the Prolers and other auto shredding pioneers. Burlingame continued to research ways to upgrade and use lower grades of scrap for their iron content.

Burlingame is survived by his wife, Thon Alicia-Burlingame, two sons and two step-sons.