In addition to recycling, Sun-Lite is also busy with a number of demolition projects. The City of Yorba Linda is replacing one of their water plants. As part of the project the old pipe has been removed. Sun-Lite’s role in the project is to demo and recycle the pipe. So far they have removed approximately 250 feet of pipe that is 20 feet in diameter – literally big enough to drive a truck through. Sun Lite cuts the pipe into 20-foot sections and reduces it further down to three-foot by three-foot sections for export. The company uses their new Komatsu PC 400 with a Genesis 660 sheer attachment. “The Genesis 660 is able to cut through the one and a quarter inch steel plate easily,” said Lite. “The Genesis is an incredible piece of machinery and has made a big difference on this project. The financing provided by the Bank of the West has helped us grow into a major force in demolition.”

Left to Right: Leonel Lopez, Sun-Lite Metals worker; Claixtro Ramos, Sun-Lite Metals operator;
Greg Burgman, Road Machinery general manager; Jay Lite, owner of Sun-Lite Metals;
Alona Geller, assistant; Flavio Arce Jr., demolition coordinator and George Davis,
Road Machinery sales manager.

Recently they demoed the inside of two former concrete mixing factories in Azusa. They also demoed the machinery at an aluminum wheel factory in Whittier. The company is just starting a project that includes the demolition of all the machinery and silos at a manufacturing plant in the City of Orange. For jobs of this nature Sun-Lite uses a Genesis 990 sheer that is very capable of cutting through one and one-half inch sheet metal, as well as a Sierra sheer baler that cuts two-inch metal plate into 18-inch by 18-inch sections. This allows for greater density to be loaded into the shipping containers.

(Below) A full view of the job site.

Increasing government and environmental restrictions challenge all recycling companies like Sun-Lite. “There is a bill in State Legislature that would have us wait ten days before paying our customers. This would probably put a lot of the smaller companies out of business. The scrap peddler provides a service to the community as part of the chain in recycling. They generally have a thin margin for profit. If companies like Sun-Lite are restricted in the manner in which we can pay these people, it is going to have an affect all the way around.”

Lite keeps a positive outlook on the industry despite the proposed restrictions. “With the world’s demand for metals on the increase, recycling has become a very important factor. There is going to be an even greater demand for scrap metal over the next 20 years.” The old adage that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure certainly applies to metal recycling. Sun-Lite made a profitable business out of dealing in heavy and light metals. Cc