Producer
Sims Ltd. (Sims Metal Management)
World's largest publicly traded metal and electronics recycler; ~75% of earnings from North America; processes and exports ferrous and non-ferrous scrap from 250+ facilities across US, Australia, New Zealand, UK. Major supplier of shredded scrap to EAF steelmakers in Turkey, South Asia, and East Asia.
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North America Metals (Ferrous Scrap)
55%Non-Ferrous Scrap
20%Electronics Recycling (SES)
15%Australia/International
10%
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Did you know2023
Sims Limited simultaneously processes ferrous scrap (old cars, appliances, structural steel) for the electric arc furnace steelmakers that produce low-carbon recycled steel (the decarbonized construction materials supply chain) AND e-waste (old computers, phones, servers) for the precious metal and critical mineral recovery supply chain (the circular economy for electronics materials). Sims's electronics recycling division (SES) recovers gold, silver, palladium, copper, and tantalum from circuit boards and components — the same critical minerals that new electronics require are being recovered from old electronics. The scrap steel supply chain (helping decarbonize construction and auto) and the critical mineral recovery supply chain (helping reduce mining of virgin materials) both flow through Sims's collection and processing infrastructure. EAF steelmakers like Nucor depend on Sims's shredded scrap to produce steel with ~75% lower carbon intensity than blast furnace steel; electronics manufacturers like Apple depend on Sims's e-waste recovery programs to close the loop on gold and other materials. The same company collection truck picking up old refrigerators from a demolition site is also picking up old iPhones from enterprise IT asset disposal programs.
Sims Limited ↗Origin2023
Sims Metal (now Sims Limited) traces to Simsmetal Company, which was founded in Sydney, Australia in the early 20th century by the Sims family as a metal recycling and scrap trading business. The Australian company grew through the 20th century and began expanding to the US when US scrap export markets became strategically important — the US generates more scrap metal per capita than any other country, and exports to Turkish, Indian, and East Asian electric arc furnace steelmakers are the backbone of global scrap trade. The 2008 acquisition of Hugo Neu Schnitzer (one of New York's largest scrap exporters, founded by German-Jewish refugees from the Nazi era who built a scrap metal business after fleeing to the US) and the simultaneous acquisition of Metal Management created the current Sims Metal global platform. Hugo Neu Schnitzer's New York Harbor scrap export terminals — loading shredded cars and appliances onto bulk carriers for Turkey — are now Sims facilities. An Australian family scrap business, combined with a Nazi-refugee-founded New York scrap empire, created the world's largest publicly traded recycler. Sims processes approximately 10+ million tonnes of ferrous scrap per year from collection facilities across the US, Australia, and UK.
Sims Limited ↗