We are not in the waste business anymore. We are in the resources business. Every successful waste operator has made that mental shift. They stopped seeing trash and started seeing inventory.
By Samuele Barrili
There is a silent revolution happening in America. It is in your local junkyard. It is in the back alley of your average HVAC company. It is in the discarded waste bins of real estate flippers and abandoned appliances. It is happening wherever waste is no longer treated like trash but mined like gold. This is the rise of the Secondary Raw Materials (SRM) economy. And the companies winning this game are not necessarily the biggest, but they are the smartest.
Today, I will take you inside the battlefield. Real-world case studies. Real results. And if you are in the waste game and not applying these lessons, you are leaving six figures (or more) on the table. Let鈥檚 break it down.
Case Study #1: Eureka Recycling鈥擳urning Tariffs into Treasure
Back in late spring 2025, when the U.S.-China tariff war reached fever pitch鈥�145 percent on Chinese metals鈥攎any thought it would be a crisis. But Minneapolis-based Eureka Recycling saw opportunity. With used beverage cans (UBCs) and aluminum scrap prices surging due to import tariffs, Eureka doubled down on domestic buyers.
What they did right:
鈥� Focused on local buyers instead of exports
鈥� Capitalized on tariff-driven price spikes
鈥� Reinforced quality control to meet manufacturer-grade specs
Lesson: Tariffs disrupt global supply chains but open the door for local recyclers. If your team monitors tariffs and market prices daily, you are ready to pounce.
Case Study #2: EMR Metal Recycling鈥擝ecoming the Domestic Copper King
With demand for copper skyrocketing (think EVs, solar, infrastructure), EMR did not just collect copper鈥攖hey controlled its story. They positioned themselves as the domestic solution to a national problem.
What they did right:
鈥� Publicly aligned with U.S. manufacturers
鈥� Invested in advanced sorting tech to reduce contamination
鈥� Built a direct sales channel to smelters avoiding the export middleman
Lesson: Branding matters鈥攅ven in waste. EMR became the hero supplier because they marketed themselves that way. If you are not positioning your company as a strategic raw material partner, you are invisible.
Case Study #3: Texas HVAC Scrapper鈥擣rom Wrenches to Wealth
A two-man startup in Texas did one thing: collected HVAC units. They extracted copper and aluminum, resold them to local metal processors鈥攁nd hit $150K revenue in their first year.
What they did right:
鈥� Niche focus (HVAC only = easier training, faster processing)
鈥� Lean startup: van, basic tools, smart logistics
鈥� Sold directly to buyers they found via ScrapMonster and local forums
Lesson: You do not need a plant鈥攜ou need a plan. This is not about infrastructure. It is about having the right model. Whether you are in HVAC, appliances, or e-waste, niche beats scale when you are starting out.
Case Study #4: Italian E-Waste Operator鈥擳he HFC Gas Gambit
While most scrapers focused on metals, one operator in Italy went a step further. They captured HFC gases from decommissioned fridges and air conditioning units and sold them on the refrigerant market. That single move added 鈧�120K (approximately $139,500) in revenue in one year.
What they did right:
鈥� Recognized hidden value in 鈥渘on-metal鈥� components
鈥� Set up recovery and certification protocols
鈥� Built partnerships with chemical buyers
Lesson: Look beyond the obvious. Metals are just one layer. Hidden value hides in gases, plastics, batteries, even circuit boards. SRM winners think like miners, not like trash collectors.
Case Study #5: French Fire Extinguisher Company鈥擵alves That Pay Dividends
A company in France that replaced old fire extinguishers discovered that the brass valves alone could fund their collection program. They added an internal dismantling process and began selling valves by weight. The result? A profitable side-stream from something they used to pay to dispose of.
What they did right:
鈥� Monetized a previously ignored component
鈥� Internalized the sorting process
鈥� Sold to scrap buyers who paid cash per kilo
Lesson: If you are not dismantling, you are donating value to someone else. Create an internal sorting protocol for every product category you touch. Then assign a value per part. That is where margins hide.
Common Threads: What All Winners Do Differently
Let鈥檚 make it plain. These companies did not stumble into success. They followed a playbook. The same one I help my clients build with the SAM Method鈥攁 proprietary system built around Strategic Extraction, Accountable Production, Material Recovery Optimization, and Reintegration. Here is what separates the leaders:
- Daily Price Tracking: They monitor raw material prices, export tariffs, and buyer needs every morning鈥攂efore the trucks even leave the yard. That is not a habit. That is a strategy.
- Direct Buyer Relationships: No middlemen. No waiting on brokers. The best operators build networks with smelters, refiners, and manufacturers. They get premium prices because they deliver consistently.
- Laser Focused Niches: They do not 鈥渄o recycling.鈥� They do HVAC copper. Or aluminum from UBCs. Or textile waste. Niche focus = operational speed = higher ROI.
- Marketing Like Manufacturers: They market their output like they are selling steel beams or aluminum billets. Website. Spec sheets. Lead time. Freight terms. SRM companies that act like producers get paid like producers.
- Data-Backed Decisions: Contamination rates. Pickup times. Recovery percentages. These are not just tracked, they are also optimized. Every decision is based on metrics, not guesswork.
The Challenges They Overcame
Let鈥檚 not sugarcoat it. Every success story mentioned faced hard knocks:
- Eureka dealt with unpredictable tariff waves and had to redesign contracts quarterly.
- The Texas HVAC team got burned on contaminated loads early on鈥攗ntil they created their own dismantling SOPs.
- The Italian collector faced regulatory pushback on refrigerant gas handling鈥攕o they partnered with a certified technician.
- The French company had to train staff to identify and extract brass safely and efficiently.
Success came not from avoiding problems鈥攂ut from solving them faster than the competition.
The Alchemist鈥檚 Strategic Take
We are not in the waste business anymore. We are in the resources business. And every successful waste operator you have read about today made that mental shift. They stopped seeing trash and started seeing inventory.
So, if you are still stuck in the 鈥減ickup and landfill鈥� model, understand this: the guys cleaning your competitor鈥檚 shop are now supplying parts to their manufacturer. They are upstream in the value chain. And they are getting paid for it. The margin is not in collection. It is in connection.
To the raw materials market. To price data. To industrial buyers. To niche revenue streams.
If you do not know where to start, borrow what worked:
鈥� Pick one niche (HVAC, e-waste, aluminum)
鈥� Build a sorting system
鈥� Find three buyers
鈥� Track your margins weekly
鈥� Iterate and scale
The Alchemist鈥檚 Predictions
In the next 24 months, expect three things:
- Tariff pressure will increase, forcing manufacturers to source domestically.
- Secondary raw materials prices will rise, especially for copper, aluminum, and rare earths.
- The winners will be those who position themselves not as 鈥渨aste handlers鈥�, but as critical supply chain partners.
Those who build the bridge between the dumpster and the demand will own the future. If you are ready to be one of them, let鈥檚 turn your trash into tomorrow鈥檚 supply chain treasure. | WA
Samuele 鈥淪am鈥� Barrili, 鈥淭he Waste Management Alchemist鈥�, is known as the go-to guy for helping waste management companies execute growth strategies. He began his journey in this field in 2009 after completing his degree in Toxicological Chemistry and joining a wastewater treatment company to develop its market. Over the years, thanks to his proprietary SAM Method (Stream Advanced Management), Samuele has assisted dozens of waste management companies across America and Europe increasing their annual profits by more than 25 million dollars. In 2019, he transitioned from the C-Suite of a Chemical Hazardous Waste Company to launching his own MiM agency. His focus has always been on leveraging innovative business strategies to drive growth and profitability. Samuele began sharing content, educating, and consulting with waste company owners worldwide to help them transform their business results through strategic planning and execution. He has had the pleasure of working with world-class clients, implementing strategies that significantly enhanced their operations and profitability. Over the last decade, Samuele has helped small and mid-size waste operators across the U.S. and Europe turn dormant sites into seven-figure plays using strategies that fly under the radar of the big players. Sam can be reached at聽[email protected]聽or visit聽.