Scrap-Metal Shredder Planned for Kansas City

A giant shredder that can gobble three cars in eight seconds will be at the core of a scrap-metal recycling facility planned for the East Bottoms industrial area of Kansas City, Missouri.

Midwest Scrap Management of St. Joseph is purchasing the machine, which will be installed in a plant the company is opening on 53 acres at the former GST Steel Co. site at 8100 Wilson Rd.

The facility is expected to employ 35-40 persons and open around the first of the year, said Nick Hayes, a company official.

The shredder will be the biggest in the United States, Hayes told the board of the Planned Industrial Expansion Authority.

The board authorized issuing up to $30 million in industrial revenue bonds for the project. The first phase of the expansion, including the purchase of the $12 million shredder, is expected to cost up to $15 million. The jobs mostly will be for skilled machine operators and will average about $12 per hour.

Hayes said the 7,000-horsepower, electric-powered machine, which is manufactured by Harris Shredders is capable of shredding 370 tons of scrap metal per hour. The Kansas City facility is expected to produce more than 100,000 tons of processed metal each year.

The St. Joseph facility handles about 36,000 tons per year and uses a smaller, 2,000-horsepower shredder.

The company primarily handles industrial accounts in a four-state region, including Ford Motor Co . and Harley-Davidson . The new Kansas City plant will be expected to expand the reach of the firm to customers further south.