Company History

The company history of Ferrous Processing & Trading is long and rich starting in 1904 to the present day. Our history establishes our company as North America’s premier processors, sellers and recyclers of scrap metals.

1904 Sam Allen & Sons (later TBS Recycling) founded in Pontiac, Michigan.
1914 Zalev Brothers established in Sarnia, Ontario, to collect and recycle rags, paper and metals. Relocates in 1925 to Windsor, Ontario, and develops into the largest integrated scrap processing operation in Canada.
1933 Zalev Brothers begins automation of scrap processing in the region with the first powered guillotine shear for cutting scrap into furnace-sized pieces.
1936 Nate Schlafer, Schlafer Iron & Steel, installs the first high-compression scrap steel baler in southeast Michigan to supply the open-hearth steelmakers.
1942 Detroit-area scrap processors initiate massive scrap iron collection efforts in support of wartime steel production.
1963 Zalev, and later Alport, install some of the earliest equipment for bonding iron borings and turnings into remeltable briquettes through rotary kiln heating and roll-forming.
1986 Ferrous Processing installs world’s first Super Heavy Duty Shredder, enabling the processing of lower residual (higher quality) scrap items to broaden scrap supply and improve product quality.
1987 Zalev Brothers achieves Ford’s first Q-1 Award for full-service scrap supply and becomes the first Q-1 supplier in Canada.
1988 Ferrous Processing begins development of the largest high-quality nuggetized furnace, ladle and tundish additive production facility in North America and becomes the largest supplier of these important steel production materials.
1992 Ferrous Processing implements SPC-based Scrap Quality Management and begins expansion of raw material and product testing facilities to include a batch melting furnace.
1995 Zalev and Ferrous Processing are pioneers in the United States and Canadian scrap industries by earning ISO 9001 and QS 9000 certification.
1996 Construction begins for Strong Steel Products near downtown Detroit, a greenfield recycling facility, including one of the world’s largest and most powerful mega-shredders.
1997 Ferrous Processing acquires TBS Recycling, Schlafer Iron & Steel, Mason 1&M and Metal Alloys Corp., all located in southeastern Michigan.
1998 Ferrous Processing acquires Zalev Brothers Limited, including SLC Recycling Industries, becoming the largest ferrous and non-ferrous metals recycler in Michigan and southwestern Ontario.
1999 Ferrous Processing acquires the assets of Atlas Iron & Metal, including processing operations in Cleveland, Ohio, and Miami, Florida.
2001 SLC Recycling completes construction of the world’s first completely automated non-ferrous metals processing facility in Warren, Michigan, including mass shredding, sizing, eddy-current separation and dry media separation.
2005 Parts Galore, a self-service used auto parts facility, opens its first operation in Detroit. The second Detroit facility opens in 2007, and a third opens downriver in 2011.
2007 Ferrous Processing acquires the assets of the M. Weingold Company in Cleveland, Ohio, as well as the assets of P&S Auto Salvage in Ft. Myers, Florida.
2008 Ferrous Processing acquires the assets of All World Recycling in Canton, Ohio.
2012 Ferrous Processing acquires Sunrise Recycling in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
2013 Ferrous Processing opens location in Massillon, Ohio.
2014 Ferrous Processing begins purchasing within Ypsilanti, Michigan.
2014 Ferrous Processing opens office in Tennessee.
2016 Ferrous Processing acquires locations in Toledo, OH and Detroit, MI (Lonyo).
2018 Ferrous Processing begins operating a location in Aguascalientes, Mexico and also opens a local office.
2020 Ferrous Processing acquires H & H Metals in Inkster, MI and rebrands the location to FPT Inkster.