About Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling

Corporate Profile

Today, Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling generates sales of approximately $750 million dollars per year. With over 400 employees, Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling is headquartered on a 17-acre environmentally certified facility in Owego, and operates yards in Owego (2 locations), Binghamton, Syracuse, Scranton, Rochester, Jamestown, Hornell, Allegany and Albany, NY (port facility and retail scrap yard), and Scranton and New Castle, PA.

As the East Coast’s largest privately owned scrap metal processor and recycling center, and one of the largest operations of its type in the United States, Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling will process approximately 1 million tons of ferrous and 250 million pounds of nonferrous in 2019. Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling’s metal shredding and separation operation handles all types of ferrous and non-ferrous scrap metals: automobiles, trucks, appliances, machines and scrap generated from industrial production.

Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling’s leading-edge process ensures the production of clean, bulk, scrap metal commodities that are sold to foundries, mills and manufacturers domestically and around the world where they are reprocessed to make new products.


Our Mission…

  • To provide the best retail and commercial scrapping experience to our customers.
  • To ensure that each and every transaction is fair, honest and ethical!
  • To hold every person within the company to the highest standard in regards to safety, environmental concerns, cleanliness and honesty.

With all of that in mind, we will strive to maximize profits and contribute value to the organization, as well as to the communities we serve.

Company History

Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling’s sister company, Ben Weitsman & Son, Inc., was founded by Adam’s grandfather, Ben in 1938. The business continued under Adam’s father Fred until his retirement in 2005 when Adam acquired the business from his father.
In August 1996, Adam Weitsman began discussions with the Tioga County Economic Development and Planning to establish a new business called Upstate Shredding - Weitsman Recycling. Six months later Upstate Shredding - Weitsman Recycling opened on a 17-acre site at the Tioga County Industrial Park in Owego, New York. The location was outfitted with three buildings of 1,200, 1,800 and 3,600 square-feet respectively and outfitted with latest scrap metal handling and processing equipment.
In 2007, Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling purchased an adjacent 4.67-acre property from Tioga County and made an additional private capital investment of $10 million in the facility. Upgrades included the enclosure of the 200,000 square-foot Owego plant, a new storm water treatment plant that meets the highest environmental standards and become the first “green” plant of its type in the State.
In 2009, Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling installed of one of the world’s most sophisticated Dynamic Ferrous Metal Separation Systems featuring Eddy Current, X-Ray, Dry Heavy Media, Optic Color Sorting technology and a Wire Recovery System that removes copper from insulated wires. A new 10,000 hp Riverside Engineering 122 inch Mega Shredder was installed. Equipped with the latest electronic controls, it can shred automobiles, trucks and motor blocks at the rate 450 tons per hour. A Polishing Drum Magnet System automatically removes electric motors containing copper.
In late 2009, Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling acquired the assets, land and equipment of Matlow Company, Inc. to expand operation into the Syracuse, New York market. Equipped with a railhead, Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling is modernizing the facility to improve production and customer service, and to use as a hub for rail transportation to ports for export markets. Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling plans to open a facility to serve the Scranton, Pennsylvania market in the spring of 2010. With a strategic vision of offering customers the highest value for scrap metals, operating safe, state-of-the-art facilities with world-class environmental standards, Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling plans further improvements to better serve its customers.
Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling continues its aggressive expansion with the acquisition of Weinstein Scrap Metal Corp. in Jamestown, NY
Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling acquires Genesee Scrap & Tin Baling Co. Inc. in Rochester, NY and opens a brand new scrap metal facility in Scranton, PA, marking the first Pennsylvania location for the company.
Direct access to the waterways: Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling finalizes plans for new $15 million port facility and retail scrap yard in Albany, NY. Purchased from bankruptcy auction, Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling adds it’s 12th location (2nd in Pennsylvania) with the purchase of Ferrotech in New Castle, PA. The company was ranked as the 18th largest scrap metal processor in North America and was honored as an AMM finalist for Scrap Company of the Year.
Upstate Shredding - Weitsman Recycling acquires Reamer Recycling, marking the 2nd location (in addition to new steel service center) in Ithaca, NY. 18 acre retail scrap yard and port facility in Albany, NY opens in August 2013. Valley Recycling in Allegany, NY acquired by Upstate Shredding - Weitsman Recycling, marking the 15th location for the company. Upstate Shredding - Weitsman Recycling announces the company's third shredder to be installed in Albany
Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling continues aggressive expansion with the acquisition of the assets of Hornell Waste Material Co. in Hornell, Capitol Scrap in Albany, and Brant Auto Parts in Brant, NY. Construction of the new shredder and wholesale/retail scrap facility in New Castle begins, with an anticipated opening in the beginning of 2015. Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling wins the 2014 Platts leadership award for top scrap recycling company in the world.
Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling wins Scrap Company of theYear (large category) from American Metal Market, North America’s leading media resource for metals and mining.
Weitsman acquires Empire of Watertown in Watertown, NY; Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling wins the Platts Global Scrap Company of the Year (worldwide) and Scrap Company of the Year from American Metal Market (second consecutive AMM award).
Weitsman commissions new micro fines plant and announces construction of new heavy media plant.
Commissioning of heavy media plant at the Owego facility. Announcement of the company’s third shredder to be installed in Albany and commissioned in early 2019.

Supporting the Community

When you give, you get rewarded!

When you bring your scrap metal in to any of our Weitsman locations, we can donate the money you would receive to a charity or non-profit organization of your choice if you choose to do so!

Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling has been a long time supporter of countless organizations throughout Upstate New York and recently incorporated the programs Southern Tier Tuesdays, and CNY Tuesdays, as a way to give back to the local communities every week.

A group of students packing boxes in front of Adam Weitsman's private jet

Adam Weitsman speaking with children from St Jude's Hospital

Adam Weitsman with a donation to the Tioga County Probation Department