Three long-time scrap recyclers were honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards by the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI) at its Annual Convention.
Barry Hunter of Hunter-BenMet Associates LLC, New York; Sheldon Tauben of Metalsco Inc., St. Louis; and Lee Hummelstein, the recently deceased former chairman of Hummelstein Iron & Metal Inc., Jonesboro, Ark., were recognized at the Chair’s Breakfast on Tuesday, April 4.
Lee’s son Sam Hummelstein accepted the award on his father’s behalf. “This is a bit bittersweet, but it is also the continuation of a celebration of a life well-lived,” Sam said upon accepting the award.
Lee’s involvement with ISRI and its predecessor organization ISIS as well as the Gulf Coast Chapter of those groups and the Nasco-Op purchasing cooperative were noted as career highlights.
Barry Hunter accepted his award in recognition of his long-time career with his family’s business in New Jersey, followed by years with Keywell LLC and now his most recent trading firm.
His expertise in trading stainless scrap and specialty alloys was also sharpened by years of service heading the Bureau of International Recycling’s (BIR) committee on those metals, followed by an eventual four-year stint as president of BIR.
Sheldon Tauben accepted his award recognizing his decades as a nonferrous trader, culminating in the founding and leadership of Metalsco Inc., the nonferrous scrap metals brokerage that he still leads.
Tauben credited the scrap recycling industry with making “giant strides” during his decades-long career and—in a nod to the ISRI Convention’s “Imperatives” theme—told attendees is was “imperative that we keep that going.”
The ISRI Annual Convention was held in the first week of April at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas.