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In Quebec, thieves working in the dead of
night made away with sections of roofs, gutters, and wiring made of copper from
four Quebec City
churches. In metro Atlanta,
Georgia, reports
of air conditioning thefts from a few home and commercial sites are cause for
concern. Meanwhile, mobile phone base station equipment has been destroyed as
the result of theft of the copper wire and feedline. This widespread problem of
metal theft has had a significant impact on the recycling industry and other
businesses whose supplies or equipment have been deemed valuable by
unscrupulous individuals looking to cash in on the rising price of metal.
In fact, the increased price of stainless steel has brought a shared problem
for two diverse, and seemingly unrelated, industries: scrap recyclers and beer
distributors. As the scrap value of kegs has become higher than the deposit,
thieves, dishonest consumers and, in some cases, retailers, have redeemed the
metal barrels at scrap recycling yards instead of returning them to the
rightful owners. In 2007, beer makers say they lost hundreds of thousands of
kegs and millions of dollars as the stainless steel holders of brew are stolen
and sold for scrap.
The problem can be twofold as keg-buying customers opt to forgo their
deposits, which can range from $10 to $30, knowing they can cover that expense,
and then some, if they sell to scrap dealers. Given current metal trading
prices, a keg could fetch from $15 to $55 or more at scrap yards.
"Beginning in 2005, we started noticing a pronounced loss of kegs
during our annual audit by Anheuser-Busch," explained Mike Dowd, Vice
President and General Manager for CITY Beverage-Markham. "Distributors are
billed for the missing kegs. CITY Beverage was not alone in the significant
funds we expended to replace the stolen kegs. It is an industry-wide problem."
Roger Bushnell, Ferrous Processing & Trading‘s (FPT) Vice President of
Non–Ferrous Metals, learned of this concern soon after it developed. "Because
of our relationship with sister companies CITY Beverage and Kalamazoo Beer
Distributing, FPT quickly became involved in spreading awareness to our
industry. The wide–ranging portfolio of companies…allowed us to gain knowledge
of the growing number of keg thefts early on."
Industry associations have now joined together to actively deter the illegal
practice. In July 2007, the Beer Institute, the Institute of Scrap Recycling
Industries, Inc., and the Brewers Association issued a joint letter to recyclers
with the simple message: "Don‘t accept beer kegs at your facility."
The letter also provided window stickers warning would–be thieves that beer
kegs should be returned to local beer wholesalers or retailers.
"If there is no available market, the kegs will be returned to the
retailer, and ultimately, the distributor," noted Bushnell. In Michigan, brewers were
recently allowed to raise the keg deposit and the market is correcting itself. Illinois legislators
have passed a bill that becomes law on August 18, 2007 making it illegal for
scrap recyclers to accept kegs.
"All kegs are stamped with the owners' name. Anyone attempting to
redeem them will have to prove ownership," detailed Dowd. "This new
law will help us to get our arms around this problem."
Sister company FPT is doing its part to stop the unwelcome practice. "Our
ongoing and historical policy is not to accept kegs," Bushnell firmly
noted.
Soave Enterprises
is a diversified management and investment company founded by Detroit
businessman Anthony L. Soave that provides strategic planning, financial and
other management resources to its affiliated business ventures in the real
estate, automotive retailing, beer distribution, scrap metal, industrial
services and transportation industries, among others. For more information on Anthony Soave and
Soave Enterprises, please visit www.soave.com. |
