The beginning of a new year is a great time to evaluate opportunities to improve the efficiency and profitability of your scrapyard.
In our last blog, we explored three New Year’s resolutions scrap metal recyclers could make in 2026. Specifically, we discussed reducing reliance on cash with a cashless payment option for your vendors, increasing employee retention in an uncertain economy, and going paperless during a time of rapid tech developments, as three projects firms could undertake in the new year. In our second installment, we explore a fourth possible New Year’s resolution for scrap metal recyclers: getting 2026 software.
Get industry specific software
For those without a solid software program, huge benefits can be reaped by installing state-of-the-art, industry-specific software. Industry-specific software is a product designed specifically for the scrap metal recycling industry, by industry experts, who understand your business. Some companies may sell software to a variety of industries, tweaking their product for scrap metal recyclers. This approach will always come up short for scrap recyclers who face specific concerns unique to the industry. For recyclers that already have software, it might be beneficial to evaluate if your software can be doing more for you.
There are numerous benefits of recycling software, but most fit into three primary categories: profitability, regulatory and anti-theft compliance, and inventory management.
1. Profitability
Managing pricing and contracts and optimizing fleets of trucks and their routes are just a few of the areas in which software can help make decisions that impact the bottom line. Software can manage materials, cash, shipping, sales and inventory. Software can enhance recycling business owners’ ability to make choices and set up systems to enhance profits and facilitate business growth with the use of better data. Here are some of the ways software can help profits and efficiency:
Managing Purchases, Quotes and Contracts
Nothing impacts the bottom line like the purchasing process. With software keeping track of purchases, recyclers can have quick access to an assortment of pricing methods. With the software’s insight, recyclers can improve productivity and adapt purchase and sales decisions according to the ever-changing market conditions.
Route Optimization and Fleet Management
With GPS and route optimization software, incredible efficiencies are available to recycling businesses by making sound decisions about fleet use. Fleet dispatching software optimizes precision scheduling for container movements and vendor servicing. Using this software, recyclers can get an overview of total composite costs.
2. Regulatory and Anti-theft Compliance
As the popularity of recycling programs has increased, so has the regulatory burden on recycling businesses. Much of the regulation, especially in the scrap metal recycling business, has to do with cracking down on the theft.
Here are some of the features good recycling software packages should have to help recycling businesses comply with state and local laws.
License scanning – License scanners allow recycling businesses to scan vendors’ drivers’ licenses and immediately and permanently associate those with a purchase ticket. These can be filed and accessed for law enforcement inquiries.
Signature and thumbprint capture pads – These can be used to link a thumbprint or a signature to a purchase ticket. The data can be reproduced for any ticket requested by police.
Network digital camera interface – Cameras can be linked with a scale interface to take photographs of incoming material. These photos can be printed, saved, emailed or uploaded to compliance websites, like Leads Online.
Tag and Hold – As theft of valuable material has become more common, some state and localities have passed “tag and hold laws.” Many software recycling systems include a mechanism to print tickets that comply with these laws and avoid a shut down.
Payment method – The use of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and other cash dispensers allow recyclers to choose payment methods that are most appropriate for complying with state and local laws. A good recycling software package will integrate with ATMs and cash dispensers. ScrapWare now gives its customers the option of using a cashless payment system to replace or use in addition to payments by check or cash, using a reloadable Mastercard® prepaid card. ScrapWare has teamed up with Paysign®, a leader in the cashless payment industry, to provide this digital payment system. This option reduces the expense and risk of handling cash.
Anti-theft reporting – Most recycling software generates a variety of reports to help comply with state and local anti-theft laws. These reports can be uploaded to law enforcement or kept on file to retrieve whenever they are requested by police.
Date files – Leads Online, BWI, Texas DPS. These are just some of the places recyclers upload data files to comply with local laws targeted at anti-theft measures. A good recycling software system will allow recyclers to upload files to these organizations and others from different states and of different formats.
3. Inventory Management
Recycling is an inventory-based business. Recyclers need to have a firm grasp of what they have in stock, at what yards and at what costs. Software can put this information at a recycling business’s fingertips, giving them visibility over all inventory in real time.
ScrapWare’s inventory management system allows you to set up, maintain and manage your inventory in three ways. The first way is to “Regrade” it, which allows you to regrade a purchased raw material to a finished good and/or one or more commodities. Secondly, they can “transfer” inventory, which lets them move material between yards or from one division to another within the same yard, without cost information. Finally, the inventory can be moved to “finished goods.” This classification enables them to place processed, packaged finished goods, such as bales and boxes, into inventory.
Following Through on Resolutions Key to Success
A key part of making a New Year’s Resolution is planning for follow-through. ScrapWare software makes it easy for scrap metal recyclers to learn more about and implement its software solution. Visit our website and schedule an online demonstration or call 301-517-8500. You can even do a demo of ScrapWare online. ScrapWare works side-by-side with customers to ensure their success with utilizing its software. With ScrapWare’s premier installation and training, companies that move forward now can have new recycling software up and running soon. In this way, they can experience the operational benefits of recycling software to gain a competitive advantage in the coming year and beyond.
This card is issued by Patriot Bank, N.A., Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Mastercard, and is serviced by Paysign, Inc.
About ScrapWare Corporation: Since 1989, Rockville, Maryland-based ScrapWare Corporation has been the software of choice for the recycling industry. Its ease of installation and simplicity saves users time and money while helping them achieve compliance and maintain accurate business insights. With state-of-the-art functionality tailored to each organization’s unique requirements, ScrapWare is an advanced dynamic software solution that alleviates the most pressing recycling industry worries. For more information, please call (301) 517-8500 or visit https://www.scrapware.com/.