Born Scrappy

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, I’m joined by Tim Ridderbos. Tim is the GM of Circular by Shapiro, and was previously the Director of National Accounts for there. So he definitely knows how to look after our recycling customers! He's learned how to make a customer a client for life by adding huge value through sustainability reporting, and he gives us some great tips we can implemen...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, I’m joined by Garrett Tracey. Garrett is the former Chief Operating Officer and Chief Commercial Officer at Sims Brothers Recycling, and has recently gone on his own and started Recycling Revenue Partners. Garrett is a super knowledgeable guy and there is heaps to be learned from his years of experience. In today’s episode we talk about: 👉 The truth about...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, I’m joined by Pablo Colucci. Pablo is the Founder and Managing Director of US-based brokerage firm Compass Metal Trading. Pablo started out young, scrappy and hungry. He said "yes" to all the opportunities that came his way. And he transitioned from ops to trading, from employment to ownership. His story inspired me, and I think you might find th...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, I’m joined by Vishal Jatia. Vishal is the owner of Greenland, a third generation family-owned trading company. Vishal is one of the most recognisable figures at every conference and seems to be buying from every metal recycler in the world. You'll never hear a bad thing about him, And for good reason. He's a great guy and a pleasure to do busines...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, I’m joined by Sean Daoud. Sean started out as a scale operator and has worked his way up through the ranks to become the Vice President, Treasurer, Director and Shareholder at PNW Metal Recycling. Last year he was awarded the ISRI (ReMA) Young Executive of the Year and he was recently elected as the Secretary/Treasurer of ReMA - congrats Sean! He has over...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, I’m joined by Atilla Widnell. Attila is the Founder and Managing Director at Navigate Commodities. Navigate Commodities monitors commodity supply chains in real time through the use of satellites. This means they know what size stockpiles are in any yard at any time. They can monitor production at steel mills, analyse metal flow in specific regions, and so...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, I’m joined by Osama Nadeem. Osama is the Director of Ferrous at Better Deals, a large broker in Pakistan. Better Deals are a very well respected agent, and I personally have dealt with Osama for almost 15 years. In today’s episode we talk about: Doing what it takes to ship on time Optimising your trading strategy Why greed is dangerous Why we offer firm An...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, Born Scrappy host Stu Kagan and his wife and business partner Lisa join John Sacco for a candid convo about their latest recycled metals venture, Buddy. Buddy is a relationship-led recycled materials marketplace built for scrappies, by scrappies. And it launched recently at ISRI 2024, where this episode was recorded. In today’s episode we talk about: Start...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, I'm joined by Jim Skipsey. Jim is the Senior Vice President of Cormet Trading and was previously with CMC and the Commercial Director at Alpert and Alpert. In today’s episode we talk about: How to find out who the legitimate players are The biggest bull market we’ve ever seen Why scrap will always find its way The kiss of death in this game Why having...

Send us Fan Mail Join me for a fireside chat with SA Recycling’s George Adams & Sierra Recycling’s John Sacco live from ISRI 2024! In this episode we chat about: Cleaning up our act  Why you lose $ when you stockpile  Our biggest challenge as an industry When to collaborate with competitors Why there will be scrap shortages in the future WHO IS STU KAGAN ANYWAYS? 25 years in the metal recyclin...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, I'm joined by Jay Robinovitz. Jay is the CEO of Alter Trading and was definitely born scrappy! He has been in the scrap business all his life and is retiring at the end of this month. His experience in the industry is second to none and he is an incredible storyteller. In today’s episode we talk about: Losing $5m as the ship leaves the dock Focusing o...

Send us Fan Mail In today's special sustainability masterclass, I interview Robin Wiener. Robin is the president of ISRI and has been in the industry for 34 years, so she’s seen it all. Together with ISRI and other industry players, Robin is a driving force shaping the sustainability narrative and practices for the recycled materials industry. There's no one more equipped to have this co...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, I am joined by Bob Stein. Bob was previously the Senior Vice President of Non-Ferrous at Alter Trading. He was also the President of the Non-Ferrous Division at the BIR and he is a great storyteller! In todays episode we talk about: How to feel better about a big loss Buying against the market Choosing who to sell to Taking back your time And so much more!...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, I chat to Jason Glei and Brianna Gianti to get the inside scoop on ISRI 2024! Jason is is the VP of Marketing at ISRI and Brianna is their VP of Memberships. If you want to make the most of ISRI this year, you're not going to want to miss this! In todays episode we talk about: The craziest sights at an ISRI event What's new at this year's ex...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, I chat to Amy Bird. Amy is the CEO at Countrywide metals and has been in the scrap game for all her life. She’s also the founder of “Women in scrap”. This woman was Born Scrappy!! In todays episode we talk about: Why customer experience is everything. Driving everybody mad with data. The Importance Of relationships. Getting back up again. And so much more!...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I'm joined by Jawed Ahmed. Jawed is the Chairman of Al Qaryan International. The Al Qaryan group have their physical sites in Saudi Arabia and their trading office is based in Dubai.  They are a huge player on the global scene. In the episode, we chat about: Deciding on the plan and being prepared for the challenges How to make our industry more attractive to...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I'm joined by Harry Seale. Harry is the CEO at Atlas Commodities and he's a board member of both the BIR and BMRA. Atlas Commodities was recently awarded the seventh fastest growing private company in the UK. And they’re doing well over a million tons per year. In the episode, we chat about: Supercharging growth with capital partners Challenging the stat...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I chat to George Adams. George is the CEO of SA Recycling and has been the driving force behind its incredible growth over the past 40 years, growing it from $10m to around $4b in annual revenue. SA Recycling is currently the largest scrap metal recycling business in the US, processing over 5 million tons of recycled metal every year with about 3,100 employees acr...

Send us Fan Mail Hi! I'm Stu Kagan, welcome to Born Scrappy.   My goal is to spark more industry collaboration through sharing the experiences and learnings of industry greats through my podcast.   So if you are a scrap metal exporter and you're ready to up your game by standing on the shoulders of giants - this one's for you!   SEASON 1 / EPISODE 22 FEATURING “GUEST” STU KAGAN In t...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I'm joined by Michael Goldstein. Michael is the VP of Operations at Alter Trading and is destined to one day run this huge family metal recycling business.  Mike has also become my best online mate that I've never met. So I expect this will be quite fun!  In the episode, we chat about:  ·         Why keeping your word is so important.  ·         Buying a...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I'm joined by Dawhal Shah. Dawhal runs Metco Ventures and is the previous President of the Non-Ferrous Board of the BIR.    In the episode, we chat about:  ·        How to get better prices with less volume than your competitors ·        Losing a large deposit…and getting it back ·        How a crisis helped form the MRAI ·        Expected growth in India  · ...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I'm joined by Sebastien Perron. Sebastian is the Vice President of Recycling Procurement at Wieland and has been involved in trading at Sims, Alpert and Alpert, and American Iron and Metals. In the episode, we chat about:  ·        Why following your gut can create the best opportunities ·        Working at the biggest companies in the industry ·        The d...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I'm joined by Anshul Gupta. Anshul owns and runs PGI, a leading ferrous and non-ferrous metal recycling and waste management company in the UAE. PGI is both a processor and a global trader of recycled metal, with operations across the Middle East, Far East, South East, Europe, UK and Africa.  In this episode we chat about: ·        Training your traders ·   ...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I'm joined by Zhenbin Han. Zhen is purchasing manager at renowned Chinese copper processor Jintian.  Zhen got his bachelor's degree in civil engineering in China and his MBA in Germany, where he's lived for over 10 years now.   In this episode we chat about: ·        Whether buyers prefer formula or spot pricing ·        Adapting to new rules and re...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I'm joined by Siddarth Parolia. Sid has 20 years’ experience in the industry. He has helped shape and grow the intergenerational Nihon Ispat, a prolific Indian non-ferrous brokerage.   In this episode we chat about: ·        Being picky with your counterparties ·        Keeping your eyes and ears open ·        Optimising your trading strategy ·        The lim...