Recycling
The Importance of Recycling Software
Matthew Walsh
New rules and regulations along with stricter enforcement are impacting recycling businesses which, up until now, have remained loosely regulated. This trend has recyclers dealing with increasingly restrictive guidelines created by state and county legislators, risking huge fines and the possibility of being shut down.
For the last 50 years recycling professionals have found their customer bases increasing exponentially. In the U.S. alone, within one year, scrap metal processors handle about 47 million tons of scrap iron and steel, 1.5 million tons of scrap copper, 2.5 million tons of scrap aluminum and 10 million tons of scrap vehicles. It is no doubt that the increase in industrial growth over time coupled with the recently slowed economy has helped to precipitate this boost in the number of people dealing in scrap metal. However, as a result of these tighter regulations and people stuck in desperate economy, recyclers are quickly finding themselves on the wrong end of law enforcement.
Growing Theft
With scrap theft growing, legislators and law enforcement officers are stepping up their efforts to prosecute thieves and penalize or even close the yards where they sell these stolen materials. In some areas, law enforcement is requesting daily purchase records from scrap material handlers. Unfortunately, most recycling centers find that they are non-compliant with legal regulations and are unable to provide officers with the requested information. Although law enforcement officials cannot legally require documentation to be provided to them without the presence of a warrant, complying with the local officials is the most sensible option. Software exists on the market to aid recyclers in becoming fully compliant and eliminating the possibility of fines and/or forced dissolution of a non-compliant scrap yard. Advanced record keeping software is now becoming more of a requirement rather than an option as the laws change to combat scrap theft.
Most states require pictures of scrap materials to be taken at the time of purchase, as well as electronically capturing fingerprints, signatures, driver’s licenses, a photo of the seller, license plates and a description of the seller’s vehicle, regardless of the material type. Generally ferrous-materials are lower on the legal totem pole, but transactional information is still required to be available in the event the materials are stolen. Some states have less strict rules regarding these requirements, but as time progresses, more and more states are moving towards a unified set of rules which will govern recyclers.
Scrap Vehicle Purchases
Perhaps one of the largest issues that law enforcement investigates is in reference to stolen vehicles. Each state has different guidelines with what information is required to be reported to them about scrap vehicle purchases; some states have no reporting requirements whatsoever. Regardless of state reporting requirements, the federal government requires that motor vehicles which are purchased and intended for scrap, must be reported to the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS) (www.nmvtis.gov) as a way to protect consumers from fraud and decrease vehicle theft.
Recyclers that do not report vehicles to NMVTIS face a maximum penalty of $1,000 per unreported automobile (49 U.S.C. § 30505(a)). Penalties depend on a number of assessments but the main factors are the size of the business and the gravity of the violation. Recyclers could lose up to 50 percent of their gross profits for not reporting vehicles to NMVTIS. Most compliant recycling software handles NMVTIS reporting automatically eliminating the risk of federal non-compliance.
Laws and Regulations
Ohio requires daily scrap purchase information to be reported to LeadsOnline.com, a resource used by police and government officials to track stolen materials and arrest those responsible for the theft and sales of those materials. Tampa, FL has recently imposed a law requiring all daily scrap purchases to be reported to the Business Watch International which can be used to track materials back to the buyers and sellers of the items. These reporting guidelines are only found in about three software packages found on the market. Because each state and even each county is different, it may be important to pay attention to those details as laws are enacted regularly and the government is under no obligation to notify anyone of the change. It is the responsibility of recyclers to research their local laws. ISRI members are notified of laws as they change, non-ISRI members can use online resources such as www.scraplaws.com.
States will undoubtedly continue to create legislation to protect people from scrap thieves, as well as to regulate recyclers. These regulations will continue to target how scrap metals are received by the yards. Recyclers should have computer software installed that has the ability to track their scrap purchases and keep a constant inventory of their scrap materials, as well as the ability to track the purchase back to the person who sold it while retaining all required methods of identification.
One thing is for certain: the rules that govern recyclers are here to stay. As technology advances, more and more areas will begin requiring stricter guidelines to abide by. Local and state governments are quickly adopting a ‘be compliant, or else’ attitude towards the scrap metal industry. It is a good idea to get compliant, and go “above and beyond” the expected requirements of the law as many states are following in each other’s footsteps.
Matthew R. Walsh is President and Lead Software Developer for AEON Blue
Software & Development (Tampa, FL). He is an expert computer specialist and
programmer who has developed enterprise-level software for GM, Ford, Chrysler, BMW,
Lamborghini/Audi and Mercedes-Benz. Aeon Blue Software is the developer of the Nexus software package for recyclers. Matthew can be reached at (813) 333-1112 or visit www.NexusRecycle.com.