How scrap yards can reduce cost per ton through strategic partnerships
Lindemann is transforming its commercial strategy by focusing on reducing real operating costs for scrap recyclers
In an industry where margins are tight, energy costs are rising, and global competition is fierce, metal recyclers are under more pressure than ever to improve efficiency and profitability. For Lindemann Metal Recycling, this challenge presents a clear opportunity — not just to sell machines, but to help recyclers unlock lasting value from them.
Lindemann wants to transform the basis of its commercial strategy by focusing on reducing real operating costs, particularly the cost per ton.
That shift may sound subtle, but in practice, it represents a profound change in how Lindemann works with clients. Instead of selling a machine and walking away, the company is committing to a long-term, data-driven partnership that helps recyclers extract more value from every ton of scrap they process.
Understanding (and reducing) cost-per-ton
The key to this new approach is understanding a recycler's cost-per-ton, a complex figure that accounts for energy, labour, downtime, maintenance, and throughput.
Not every recycler knows their exact cost-per-ton. So, Lindemann has developed a comprehensive tool that helps map all the relevant factors. That gives a baseline from which to build a business case for improvements.
Once the established cost-per-ton is established, the most cost-effective upgrades can slash that figure and thereby boost profitability. That could mean adding a pre-shredder to reduce wear and tear in the main shredder, fitting a frequency inverter to cut energy consumption by up to 20 percent, or installing Lindemann's Shredder Drive Assistant, which can increase throughput by a similar margin.
Partnership is the way forward
This performance-led philosophy is also changing the business model at Lindemann, developing a subscription-based service, one that bundles wear parts, maintenance, analytics, and technology upgrades into a single monthly fee. The aim is to provide peace of mind and predictable costs for recyclers, while ensuring machines always operate at peak efficiency.
The benefits of a close relationship with recyclers extend beyond cost reduction. Improved shredder performance can lead to purer, denser scrap output, fetching higher prices in the market. In some cases, the right investment might even increase cost-per-ton slightly, but still result in better overall profitability, due to higher-value output.
Culture shift meets opportunity
While the benefits are clear in theory, the shift to performance partnerships requires a mindset change for them to be accepted in reality, particularly in a traditionally conservative industry like metal recycling.
Investing in order to save isn't always an easy sell, but the numbers speak for themselves. Between energy savings and productivity gains, Lindemann is creating potential double-digit improvements to profitability.
