Northern Metal Recycling to relocate shredder

Minneapolis-based Northern Metal Recycling is expected to start construction in the summer of 2018 at a new 75-acre facility in Becker, Minnesota, that will host an auto shredding plant.

The new facility will replace the company’s existing auto shredder plant in Minneapolis, according to an online report from the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. That plant has received criticism from neighbors and scrutiny from Minnesota regulatory agencies over the past several years related to noise, dust and air emissions factors.

The Sherburne County town of Becker, northwest of Minneapolis, has been “wooing Northern Metal since 2016” to move its production facility there, according to the Business Journal. Northern Metal may employ some 140 workers at the plant and is reportedly being welcomed by utilities and energy production facilities that serve Becker.

Northern Metal reached a settlement with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) in March 2017 to relocate its Minneapolis operation by August 2019 under terms of a $2.5 million settlement. The new facility will consist of an enclosed auto shredder, an enclosed ferrous processing building, an enclosed metal recovery plant, an end-of-life vehicle process and a community recycling center.

According to its draft permit, the shredder Northern Metal is seeking to install will have a capacity of 400 tons per hour. The downstream system is expected to have an input capacity of 50 tons per hour of automotive shredder residue (ASR).

Northern Metal Recycling is an operating division of United Kingdom-based EMR Ltd.