For Immediate Release
September 14, 2015
Contact
info@puremetalrecycling.com
PURE METAL RECYCLING HOSTS TOUR FOR TMA
& BLUE ISLAND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Joint tour of Blue Island facility a very successful event.
CHICAGO — Pure Metal Recycling was proud to host a tour of their 28 acre Blue Island facility for the TMA
(Technology Manufacturing Aligned) and the Blue Island Chamber of Commerce.
Pure’s Blue Island facility employs 115 people and houses a yard for processing scrap metal, heavy equipment
and fleet maintenance, a fabrication shop, fleet parking/equipment storage, procurement and compliance. Tour
coordinators Katryn Ingstad and Sandy Addison Miller stated that attendees were commenting, “I never knew scrap
would be so sophisticated” upon seeing all that was involved in processing scrap metal.
The first stop on the tour was the Truck Parking and Fuel Station area where a truck’s 100 gallon tank can be
filled in 3.5 minutes. Pure parks over 50 trucks at the Blue Island facility to reduce their carbon footprint by dispatching
vehicles from where their accounts are located as has been done Elgin, Joliet, Chicago and South Bend.
Attendees were then driven to the Cut Grade area where the decision of whether to shear or torch is made
giving a demonstration of a mobile shear, which works like that of a giant pair of scissors, and is powered by hydraulic
force preparing steel for mill shipments. The option of torching for thicker grades of material was also demonstrated.
Just near the Cut Grade area was the Bulk Tanks which have been installed for liquid oxygen and propane, which has
wireless telemetry devices to notify Pure when it is time for a refill preventing unnecessary downtime.
The next stop was the Turnings Pad and Shred Pile. The Turnings Pad is a 40,000 square foot cement
containment pad and a 4,500 gallon above ground tank with an automatic pump. The containment pad captures cutting
fluids/oil residue from industrial scrap. This must be done to prepare the scrap for shipment to a mill and the contained
fluids are then recycled.
The Shred Pile was recognizable to those on the tour. In that pile lies the things we recycle from our homes like
lawn chairs and items with metal content as well as material from demolition projects and contractors. This material will
be ran through a shredder before shipment to a mill.
Tour guides Tommy Bochenek (Chief Operating Officer) and Enrique Carrillo (Production Supervisor) were sure
to point out Pure’s first and three additional rail spurs in the Blue Island yard which allow Pure to stage about 1,800 tons
of material which is more than is shipped in a barge.
Those on the tour were amazed when viewing the 200 Ton, Auto Triple Compression, Galland Henning hydraulic
baler. The baler puts 3,500psi of compression force to prepare steel bundles for shipment and produces close to one
bundle per minute. Bundles are is around 36 x 36 and weighs, on average, a net ton or 2,000 pounds. Right next door is
the Baler Pump House where the engine for our baler is housed and where its motors and pumps are contained and
checked daily.
Another stop on the tour demonstrated how large steel coils are torched and prepared for mill shipment. This
area is located near the baler to eliminate moving the prepared material from one place in the yard to another. After
being torched, it is loaded into the baler where it is prepared to ship to a consumer.
Scales are an important stop at any scrap facility. Pure has elevated its truck scale to eliminate problems with
snow or debris from collecting underneath. This Scale House also has a room with a view where the yard manager can
observe all areas of the yard at all times.
A reception was held in a warehouse where Pure displayed various types of scrap materials, equipment and
scrap containers. A panel of experts, Mac Delozier for Heavy Fleet & Equipment, Mike Endzel for Strategy and Planning
and Eric Bowyer for Transportation, were available to answer operational questions and Pure Metal Recycling sales
associates were on hand to host this very successful event.