Recycling Today recently featured SA Recycling.
The half-century arc of SA Recycling has seen it grow from one small scrap yard to a coast-to-coast network of some 120 facilities.
Success in the scrap industry can come in many forms, particularly in the late 20th and into the 21st century as the sector has attracted considerable investor attention. The story of Orange, California-based SA Recycling, at its core, is an older and more familiar one of a successful family business.
SA Recycling CEO George Adams Jr. joined a business started by his father, the late George Adams Sr. The initial business model entailed auto salvage and operating a scrapyard. It then involved harvesting scrap metal at landfills. It was a modest start to a company that now boasts more than 120 scrap recycling locations and that likely collects and processes more scrap metal than any other firm in North America.
Although he is quick to credit the success of SA Recycling to the company’s 3,000 employees, Adams has been the driving force behind a strategy that has involved growth through acquisition and an ability to diversify operations as the industry changes.