Alter Trading adds 2 locations in Illinois

St. Louis-based Alter Trading Corp. says it has purchased “substantially all the operating assets“ of two scrap processing facilities in Peoria, Illinois, that previously were operated by the same parent company. The transaction closed March 20.

The Allied Iron & Steel facility includes an auto shredding plant, while its sister A. Miller & Co. facility focuses on nonferrous scrap purchasing and processing. A 2008 article report by the Rockford Register Star refers to Alan Miller as a third-generation Miller family member playing an executive role with the companies at that time.

Alter CEO Jay Robinovitz tells Recycling Today that at the time of purchase, “The Miller facilities were run by John and Alan Miller.” John Miller is Alan’s father. 

“These companies have been in the Peoria community for over 60 years, and we are excited to integrate these companies into Alter,” says Robinovitz. “We are looking forward to continuing to serve our customers and providing our recycling services to the businesses and citizens of Peoria and the surrounding region.”

Alter already operates two facilities near the acquired Miller properties. Says Robinovitz, “We plan to consolidate these two [new] facilities into the current alter Peoria facilities. We do plan to hire the majority of the Miller employees and welcome them to the Alter family.”

The Allied Iron & Steel shredding plant has been on the Recycling Today list of North American shredder locations at least since 1995.

In the October 2022 version of Recycling Today’s shredding plant list, Alter is listed as operating 17 shredder locations. That already includes one in Peoria, Illinois, representing a shredder yard added to the company’s ranks when it acquired Behr Iron & Metal in 2016.

Alter Trading Corp., which is celebrating 125 years in business in 2023, describes itself as “one of the largest recyclers of ferrous and nonferrous metals in the [United States], serving industrial clients and salvage operations of every kind.” For the March 2022 Recycling Today North America’s Largest Ferrous Scrap Processors List, the fourth- and fifth-generation family company indicated it had processed some 3.55 million tons of ferrous scrap in 2021. The company says it operates 67 metal recycling facilities and five trading offices in eight states, along with a representative sales office in Singapore.