What publicly traded companies operate metal recycling/refining facilities in North America and what are their tickers?
Executive summary
Publicly traded firms that operate metal recycling or refining facilities in North America include both pure-play recyclers and larger steelmakers that run scrap-processing arms; several sources name Schnitzer Steel (SCHN), Gerdau (GGB), Nucor, Steel Dynamics, Commercial Metals and others, while other listed companies (Aqua Metals, Covanta, Clean Harbors, Sims Limited and Li-Cycle) are called out in reporting as recyclers or battery-battery‑recovery operators [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]. Reporting is fragmented and not all pieces include exchange tickers, so the following synthesis lists companies named in the sources and provides tickers where the sources themselves supply them.
1. Major steelmakers that run recycling/refining operations — Nucor, Steel Dynamics, Commercial Metals
Nucor is repeatedly described as a diversified North American steel and scrap operator that recycles and transports ferrous and non‑ferrous metals as part of its steelmaking business [2], Steel Dynamics is identified as “one of the largest domestic steel producers and metals recyclers in North America” with facilities in the U.S. and Mexico [3] [4], and Commercial Metals Company is cited for processing ferrous and non‑ferrous scrap at many locations [1]; the cited articles mention these firms’ recycling activity but do not supply tickers in the included snippets, and the reporting does not present a consolidated ticker list for every named company [1] [3] [2] [4].
2. Named pure-play recyclers and specialty recyclers — Schnitzer, Aqua Metals, Li-Cycle, Radius
Schnitzer Steel is explicitly named along with a ticker in InvestSnips’ list as Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. (SCHN) and characterized as a metal recycling company [1], Aqua Metals — noted for lead recycling via “AquaRefining” — appears among recycling stock roundups (AQMS is referenced in other coverage cited by the sources) and is included in recycling stock lists [7] [6], Li‑Cycle is highlighted as a lithium‑ion battery resource‑recovery company with North American partnerships [3] [4], and Radius Recycling is described as a large recycler with facilities across U.S., Puerto Rico and Western Canada [3] [4]; the individual snippets identify these companies’ recycling work but only some snippets include tickers explicitly [1] [7].
3. Waste‑to‑energy and environmental services firms with metal recycling arms — Covanta, Clean Harbors
Covanta is listed as operating waste‑to‑energy facilities and participating in metal recycling activities (CVA is supplied in InvestSnips’ list referenced in the sources) and Clean Harbors is named for hazardous material management with used‑oil and industrial recycling services (CLH is called out in the InvestSnips roundup) [6]. The reporting treats these companies as diversified environmental services firms that include metal recycling or recovery among their services, rather than pure scrap processors [6].
4. International players with North American processing footprints — Sims Limited (Sims Metal)
Sims Metal, a business division of Australia’s Sims Limited, is described as operating over 130 processing facilities in the United States and Australasia and recycling ferrous and non‑ferrous metals; the source notes Sims Limited is publicly traded on the Australian Securities Exchange and that its American Depositary Receipts trade OTC in the U.S., though the snippet does not give the exact ticker symbol used for the ADR here [5].
5. Market lists, rankings and coverage limitations — fragmented data and missing tickers
Multiple aggregators and finance outlets compile “scrap metal” or “recycling” stock lists (InvestSnips, InsiderTracking, Yahoo!/Finance roundups, SwingTradeBot, Danelfin, Recyclesaurus) and name many of the same firms — Schnitzer, Nucor, Steel Dynamics, Commercial Metals, Radius, Li‑Cycle, Aqua Metals, Covanta, Clean Harbors and others — but the assembled reporting is fragmented, often repeats company descriptions, and does not uniformly provide tickers for every cited firm in the supplied snippets [1] [3] [2] [8] [9] [4] [7] [10] [11] [6]. Consequently, a precise, exhaustive table of “all publicly traded companies operating metal recycling/refining facilities in North America with tickers” cannot be fully reconstructed from these sources alone; the sources reliably identify key players and supply tickers in some cases (for example Schnitzer SCHN and mentions of AQMS, CVA, CLH) but leave gaps that would require direct exchange lookups or company filings to close [1] [7] [6].
Conclusion — what can be stated with confidence
The reporting consistently identifies a set of publicly traded firms that operate metal recycling or recovery facilities in North America — notably Schnitzer (SCHN as given in InvestSnips), large steelmakers such as Nucor and Steel Dynamics that run extensive scrap programs, specialist recyclers like Aqua Metals and Li‑Cycle, and diversified services firms such as Covanta and Clean Harbors — and it underscores that lists from multiple outlets are useful starting points but incomplete without cross‑referencing exchange data or SEC/SEDAR filings for definitive tickers and corporate footprints [1] [3] [2] [4] [7] [5] [6].