ISRI Roundtables: Specifically Mentioned

The scrap metals specifications issued by the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI) are rapidly being adopted by burgeoning overseas metals industries, making clarity of the specifications more important than ever.

Twice during this year’s ISRI 2005 Commodities Roundtable Forum, held in suburban Chicago from Sept. 20 to Sept. 22, the organization’s Specifications Committee chair Randy Goodman of Hugo Neu Corp., New York, took to the podium to urge attendees to get involved in reviewing the 200 or so ferrous and nonferrous scrap definitions.

Goodman predicted that the specifications “will continue to gain in use internationally,” so that now is the time to make sure they are clear enough to survive international negotiations and transactions.

He said the committee is seeking feedback from recyclers and traders to create specifications that are not meant to be rigidly followed by every consumer and shipper, but that should allow all involved to “get into the ballpark” when defining shipments.

Goodman urged attendees to contact him with any thoughts on any given nonferrous specification, commenting, “Some specifications will need to be updated [and] others need to be created.”

He also thanked ISRI’s Bob Garino for including one specification at the tail end of each e-mailed Monday Report, and Goodman urged ISRI members who receive the e-mail to look over the chosen specification and provide feedback on how it might be improved.