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HILO >> Hawaii Metal Recycling Co. is expected to resume recycling Hawaii County scrap metal next week, even though it means the company will operate at a loss, Mayor Harry Kim says. Big Isle scrapper
will have to scrapeA recycler is locked in its
Hawaii contract despite its lossesBy Rod Thompson
rthompson@starbulletin.comThe company walked off the job several weeks ago, saying it was losing money at the $22.50 per ton rate which the county pays it to remove metal from the Big Island.
The company says it lost $693,000 in the 2000-2001 contract year, Kim said.
Based at Campbell Industrial Park, the company sells scrap metal to Asia.
The price paid for scrap in those countries had fallen before the Sept. 11 terrorism attack and continued down after it, Kim said.
Kim told the company he can't let them out of the contract and open it to rebidding because that would violate state procurement laws.
However, he agreed to reopen bidding in October, the end of the current contract period within the five-year-contract.
A company spokesman could not be reached. However, the company's Web site describes it as an affiliate of Hugo Neu Corp. of New York City, which has facilities on the East and West coasts. That link will enable the company to absorb the Big Island losses, Kim said.
At Campbell, the company employs a Terminator 1 shredder which "can reduce a full size American-made automobile into fist-sized pieces of shredded steel scrap in approximately 30 seconds," the Hugo Neu Web site says.
Larry Capellas of the county Solid Waste Division said Hawaii Metal Recycling has shipped 20,900 tons of metal off the Big Island. That compares to 1 million tons shipped out of state from Campbell since 1991, according to the Hugo Neu Web site.