The company history of Ferrous Processing & Trading is long and rich starting in 1904 to the present day. Our history establishes our company as North America’s premier processors, sellers and recyclers of scrap metals.
| 1904 | Sam Allen & Sons (later TBS Recycling) founded in Pontiac, Michigan. |
| 1914 | Zalev Brothers established in Sarnia, Ontario, to collect and recycle rags, paper and metals. Relocates in 1925 to Windsor, Ontario, and develops into the largest integrated scrap processing operation in Canada. |
| 1933 | Zalev Brothers begins automation of scrap processing in the region with the first powered guillotine shear for cutting scrap into furnace-sized pieces. |
| 1936 | Nate Schlafer, Schlafer Iron & Steel, installs the first high-compression scrap steel baler in southeast Michigan to supply the open-hearth steelmakers. |
| 1942 | Detroit-area scrap processors initiate massive scrap iron collection efforts in support of wartime steel production. |
| 1963 | Zalev, and later Alport, install some of the earliest equipment for bonding iron borings and turnings into remeltable briquettes through rotary kiln heating and roll-forming. |
| 1986 | Ferrous Processing installs world’s first Super Heavy Duty Shredder, enabling the processing of lower residual (higher quality) scrap items to broaden scrap supply and improve product quality. |
| 1987 | Zalev Brothers achieves Ford’s first Q-1 Award for full-service scrap supply and becomes the first Q-1 supplier in Canada. |
| 1988 | Ferrous Processing begins development of the largest high-quality nuggetized furnace, ladle and tundish additive production facility in North America and becomes the largest supplier of these important steel production materials. |
| 1992 | Ferrous Processing implements SPC-based Scrap Quality Management and begins expansion of raw material and product testing facilities to include a batch melting furnace. |
| 1995 | Zalev and Ferrous Processing are pioneers in the United States and Canadian scrap industries by earning ISO 9001 and QS 9000 certification. |
| 1996 | Construction begins for Strong Steel Products near downtown Detroit, a greenfield recycling facility, including one of the world’s largest and most powerful mega-shredders. |
| 1997 | Ferrous Processing acquires TBS Recycling, Schlafer Iron & Steel, Mason 1&M and Metal Alloys Corp., all located in southeastern Michigan. |
| 1998 | Ferrous Processing acquires Zalev Brothers Limited, including SLC Recycling Industries, becoming the largest ferrous and non-ferrous metals recycler in Michigan and southwestern Ontario. |
| 1999 | Ferrous Processing acquires the assets of Atlas Iron & Metal, including processing operations in Cleveland, Ohio, and Miami, Florida. |
| 2001 | SLC Recycling completes construction of the world’s first completely automated non-ferrous metals processing facility in Warren, Michigan, including mass shredding, sizing, eddy-current separation and dry media separation. |
| 2005 | Parts Galore, a self-service used auto parts facility, opens its first operation in Detroit. The second Detroit facility opens in 2007, and a third opens downriver in 2011. |
| 2007 | Ferrous Processing acquires the assets of the M. Weingold Company in Cleveland, Ohio, as well as the assets of P&S Auto Salvage in Ft. Myers, Florida. |
| 2008 | Ferrous Processing acquires the assets of All World Recycling in Canton, Ohio. |
| 2012 | Ferrous Processing acquires Sunrise Recycling in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. |
| 2013 | Ferrous Processing opens location in Massillon, Ohio. |
| 2014 | Ferrous Processing begins purchasing within Ypsilanti, Michigan. |
| 2014 | Ferrous Processing opens office in Tennessee. |
| 2016 | Ferrous Processing acquires locations in Toledo, OH and Detroit, MI (Lonyo). |
| 2018 | Ferrous Processing begins operating a location in Aguascalientes, Mexico and also opens a local office. |
| 2020 | Ferrous Processing acquires H & H Metals in Inkster, MI and rebrands the location to FPT Inkster. |