Upstate Shredding to add wire-chopping plant

OWEGO — Upstate Shredding-Ben Weitsman will build a new $6 million wire-chopping plant at its Owego facility, adding 10 new jobs, according to a company press release.

Wendt Corporation of Tonawanda will install the wire-chopping plant purchased from MTB Recycling of Trept, France. Upstate will also build a new 100,000-square-foot non-ferrous warehouse to handle the additional flow of material.

“With this investment, we will be able to increase our profits and further process more valuable materials from the automobiles and other insulated wires we are currently selling to others,” Upstate owner Adam Weitsman said.

With the MTB high-volume chopping line, Upstate will be able to refine lower-grade insulated wire from the shredding process and all other grades of insulated wire. The plant will process copper, aluminum, and lead-coated wire from Upstate Shredding and all Ben Weitsman feeder yards. The company also plans to purchase insulated copper and aluminum, aluminum copper radiators, and lead-coated wire on the open market from dealers in the Northeast and Canada as well as insulated wire from other shredding companies.

All of the material will be chopped into pure metals, which Upstate can then sell on the open market both domestically and internationally.

Headquartered in Owego, Upstate Shredding-Ben Weitsman (www.upstateshredding.com) operates 11 scrap-metal collection and processing facilities in New York and Pennsylvania. The company has plans to open a 12th location in Albany.

This year, Upstate will process more than 850,000 tons of ferrous and 150 million pounds of non-ferrous scrap.

Contact DeLore at tdelore@tgbbj.com