RRecycling is a concept that has been gainingmomentum across the nation for the last fewdecades. Yet, for St. Paul-based Kaplan’s MetalReduction Company, Inc., recycling has been away of life for four generations of familymembers who have helped lead the highlysuccessful enterprise since early in the lastcentury.

A pioneer in the scrap metal industry since1915, Kaplan’s Metal Reduction Companybegan operations in Northfield, Minn., withonly a horse and wagon before establishingoperations in St. Paul in 1929. Today, thecompany operates a large yard in downtownSt. Paul at 355 East University Avenue underthe name Metals Recycling Center. It uses state-of-the-art processing equipment and methodsto recycle scrap metal from automobiles as wellas other ferrous and nonferrous metals. The oldhorse-drawn wagon sits on top of thecompany’s office complex, showcasing itsproud history in the industry.

According to general manager Bob Kaplan,great-grandson of the company founder, more

KAPLAN’S METAL REDUCTIONCOMPANY, INC.

Four-generation scrap recycling business built on quality customer service

than half of the Metals Recycling Center’sbusiness is environmental processing andpackaging for cars, which involves draining allthe fluids, then harvesting usable metal. Theother part of the business is recovering ferrousand nonferrous materials from various sources.“Ferrous material could be cast iron, sheet iron,unprepared iron. The nonferrous materialconsists of aluminum cans, aluminum scrap,copper, brass, stainless. We bring it all togetherand make packages. We’ll buy 100 pounds at atime, then we’ll turn around and sell 40,000-pound loads. It’s really not any different fromwhat my grandfather and his father did,” headded. “You put little bits here and theretogether, make it a package and ship it out.”

Today, the strong family business is guidedby three generations of the Kaplan family: BobKaplan; his father, Harold Kaplan, who servesas president; and Bob’s grandfather, ReubenKaplan, a consultant for the firm after servingas president for many years. Together, theyhave a total of 111 years of experience in thescrap metal industry.

Turning trash into treasureAs an industrious arrival to the U.S. early in the

1900s, Reuben’s father, Hyman Kaplan,developed a business as an itinerant peddler,collecting and selling wares of all kinds.“Immigrants would pick out a territory, buy ahorse and wagon, and peddle that little area untilthey made enough money to move forward,”Reuben explained. Hyman immigrated to theU.S. from Poland in 1910. He left a sweatshop jobin St. Paul to purchase a horse and wagon from apeddler in Northfield in 1915.

“My dad was really a go-getter, and as aresult he did extremely well,” said Reuben,who joined the company full-time in 1942.Hyman branched out into the fur and hidebusiness, purchasing goods from local trappers,along with rags, paper, bottles and rubber.

Three generations guideKaplan’s MetalReduction Company.Standing in front of thecompany’s St. Paulfacility are presidentHarold Kaplan (left); hisfather, Reuben Kaplan,consultant and formerpresident (center); andHarold's son, RobertKaplan, generalmanager.

A SALUTE TO AN CUSTOMER

Once the business was established, Hyman’swife Molly joined him in Northfield. “Sheworked right alongside my father. My dadwould take the horse and wagon and go outpeddling. My mother would stay in the house,and our backyard was full of the things wecollected that she bought and sold. She reallywas equal to my father in the business and wasa key to its early success.”

In 1929, the Kaplans returned to St. Paul withtheir business and Hyman bought out anotherdealer in town and operated under the nameH.S. Kaplan Scrap Iron & Metal Company, Inc.for many years. “He became the big yardbuying from all the little yards and he grew andgrew,” said Reuben. “When we moved to a siteon Shepherd Road in 1965, we were the largestscrap yard west of Chicago. We worked long,hard hours and stuck with it through thick andthin and made it.” In 1990 the company movedfrom its recycling facility along the banks of theMississippi River to its present location.

Reuben Kaplan, who today serves as thecompany’s “consultant and official historian,”became involved in the business before hestarted school. “Remember the zinc jar coversthat we used to have on bottles, with a glassand a rubber ring?” he recalled. “When I wasfour years old, I had a little hatchet, and my jobwas to put a hole in it, knock the glass out, thenpull the rubber ring and put those in agunnysack.”

Reuben’s son Harold also got involved at ayoung age, joining the firm full-time in 1967after graduating from the University ofMinnesota. Harold’s son, Bob, worked part-timeat the company during his school years. Hejoined the firm full-time after earning a degreefrom the University of Minnesota in 1993. BothHarold and Bob credit Reuben with teachingthem the all-important people skills that havemade the business successful over the years.

“This is very much a relationship businessand you have to be able to deal with people,”said Harold. “We have people come in today,believe it or not, who are grandchildren ofcustomers who knew my dad. I credit thebuilding of these long-term relationships withthe customer-oriented philosophy we have hadin place from the beginning. It’s a real credit tomy dad and grandfather. We believe that ourdedication to high-quality customer service andcompetitive pricing for recyclable materials hasbeen the key to our success. And we conduct allof our business in a very friendly atmospherethat I think our customers enjoy. For example,

my dad has always been known to pass outcandy and cookies to kids who come throughhere. He even has treats for the customers’ dogs.So it’s a really fun atmosphere around here.”

For Bob, being the fourth generation in thefamily business means a great deal. “I take a lotof pride being part of a business that wasstarted by my great-grandfather and operatedby my grandfather and father,” he said. “Myfather and grandfather have taught me a lotabout the business and I have learned as muchfrom them as I did in college. I really enjoy thisindustry and the people involved in it. It’sreally a small fraternity where everyone knowseach other.

An operator for Kaplan’s Metal Reduction uses a Komatsu PC300 equipped with aLaBounty MSD50 shear to cut a tank in the scrap yard.

Kaplan’s uses threecustomized Komatsuscrap handlers in its St. Paul operation. Here,an operator movesferrous scrap with aPC300 equipped with amagnet.

Continued . . .

“We enjoy going to the events sponsored bythe Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries andseeing our friends in the industry,” added Bob.“When I go to these ISRI meetings, the Kaplanname is well-known. Everybody knows mygrandfather and father. They have established agreat tradition for the company that we arebuilding on today.” Bob has been a board memberof the Northwest Chapter of ISRI the last six yearsand now serves as president of the organization.

Growing with customersAt one time, railroads and heavy industry in

the Twin Cities were a source for much of thescrap metal recycled at the operation, ReubenKaplan said. “We used to get a lot of scrapmetal from farm equipment, but today farmershave one machine that does the work of 10 or12, so there’s not as much. The biggestcontributor today is the automobile. Thatsegment just keeps growing and growing.”

Kaplan’s other scrap metal sources come froma wide range of manufacturing companies andmachine and metal stamping shops in the TwinCities. The company has more than 150 rolloffcontainers used to collect scrap metal atcustomer sites and transport it back to thecompany’s yard. Kaplan’s, which employs 20people, receives scrap from customers within a50-mile radius of its headquarters and shipsrecycled materials to mills and foundries inMinnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois. Muchof Kaplan’s finished product from its automobile

recycling operation goes to a nearby North StarSteel plant, where the material is used primarilyto manufacture rebar and steel billets.

“To process materials for North Star Steel, weuse an automobile crusher, baler and shear,”said Harold. “We preprocess all theautomobiles for the shredder at North StarSteel. When it comes to all of the scrap metal weprocess for the mills, you have to meet theirspecs. The shear processes for the number oneand number two grade metals we recycle andthe baler makes square bales for the steel mills.”

Over the decades, the tools, equipment andmethods used by Kaplan’s to recycle materialshas changed dramatically. “It started out beingtough hand work using tools like a sledge untilthe first acetylene torch was used,” notedReuben. “Then it evolved into using heavyequipment, going from cable cranes to thehydraulic scrap handlers we have today. Sotechnology has really changed the industry,making it much more productive and less labor intensive.”

Custom-built scrap handlersCustom-built material handlers have made a

big difference in productivity for Kaplan’s.When the company relocated to its presentyard, Kaplan’s initially subcontracted out itsautomobile processing to crush, shear and balethe recycled cars. Then they turned to RoadMachinery & Supplies Company and veteranterritory manager Denny Hook to supply alarge and productive fleet of Komatsuequipment, including purpose-built scraphandlers. Now the yard is all Komatsu,including a new PC300 scrap handler equippedwith a magnet. RMS service technicians at theSavage Service Department customized anddelivered it this past fall. Modificationsincluded a cab riser and a 20 kW generatorhoused in the machine’s counterweight andprotected by a special cooling panel.

The new scrap handler, which has a liftingcapacity from 6,500 to 7,000 pounds, is nowworking alongside two other Komatsu PC300sin the yard –– another scrap handler with amagnet attachment and a unit with a LaBountyMSD50 shear. Additionally, the company usesKomatsu WA450-1 and WA450-3 wheel loaderswith forks, primarily in the car processingoperation. The WA450-1 also is outfitted with aquick coupler so the operator can quickly andeasily change attachments.

A Komatsu WA450 with forks makes stacking crushed cars look easy. “Komatsuequipment has worked so well for us and has fit our needs as we have grown,” saidKaplan’s president, Harold Kaplan.

New technology increases production. . . continued

“We have had a great relationship withDenny and RMS for many years,” said Harold.“When we started our own baling and carcrushing operation at the yard in 1995, weturned to Denny for a Dresser excavatorequipped with a shear. Then we got theWA450-1 wheel loader when we set up ourown car-crushing crew. We added moreKomatsu equipment because it has worked sowell for us and fit our needs as we have grown.We have two PC300s with magnets forunloading customers, moving iron andspreading it out. We use the other PC300 withthe shear to cut up the material. Once it’s all cutup, we use the magnet to throw it all into thepile and put it in the trucks. The wheel loadersare used for processing cars and unloadingtrucks as well as moving material around theyard with the forks. We also put the bucket onthe WA450-1 to move iron around the yard.”

As the Kaplan’s fleet of Komatsus has grown,so has their appreciation for RMS’s technicalexpertise to adapt and service the equipmentfor their unique work. “We’ve had phenomenalluck with the Komatsus, there’s no doubt aboutthat,” said Harold. “But the real reason we keepgoing back to Komatsu equipment is the greatservice we get from RMS. They have veryknowledgeable people who have alwaystreated us very fairly and been there when weneed them.”

To ensure the large fleet of Komatsuequipment is maintained properly, Kaplan’shas RMS service all the machines on a regularschedule. “They do all our service and all ourmaintenance,” said Harold. “They have fieldservice technicians who come to our yard,usually after hours, to do the work. They takegreat care of us.”

The people at RMS who work with Kaplan’salso have high praise for the Kaplan family.“There’s always a friendly atmosphere towardme and toward the customers, and that’s thenumber one thing,” said RMS sales rep DennyHook. “It’s a fun company and veryprogressive. They have a great reputation in theindustry and it has all been earned.”

Proud past, bright futureRecycling is a very old idea that is gaining

popularity, according to Reuben. “Myintroduction to recycling goes back to the Bible.What were you supposed to do with yourswords? Beat them into plowshares. That’s

recycling. Who was one of the people whomade America great? Paul Revere. He was acoppersmith and he’d take old copper and beat it into something else. This recycling is notat all new.”

As Kaplan’s takes recycling into the nextgeneration, they will continue to employ newmethods and new machines, while remainingcommitted to their customers. “We’re growing ata nice steady rate,” said Bob, “but not so fast thatwe can’t keep everybody happy. Our number-one goal is to keep our current customers happy,and by doing that, new business will comearound by word-of-mouth. That’s been the key tothe success of the company since my great-grandfather founded it.”

Kaplan’s uses its two Komatsu WA450 wheel loaders for a variety of jobs around the scrapyard, including processing cars, unloading trucks and moving material around the yardwith forks.

(Left to right) Kaplan’s president Harold Kaplan, RMS sales manager Tom Ernst, retiredKaplan’s president Reuben Kaplan, RMS territory manager Denny Hook and Kaplan’sgeneral manager Robert Kaplan stand in front of the Kaplan’s Metal Reduction Companyfacility in downtown St. Paul. The wagon used by company founder Hyman Kaplan isdisplayed on the building’s roof behind them.