At Calbag Metals we believe that today's waste is tomorrow's resource. In keeping with a tradition of environmental excellence that goes back over 100 years, Calbag Metals has exceeded the standards set by Portland and Tacoma monitoring authorities for managing the storm water at our scrap metal yards.
In a rare move by Oregon's oversight agency, Calbag in Portland, has been given a storm water monitoring waiver, for its environmental management system, and now, a "no further action" designation. This from the DEQ as it identifies our yard to not pose any environmental risk to the community. Calbag succeeded through sincere compliance--we studied the problem, took it seriously, did scientific research, studied our site, and applied what we learned.

Calbag, the recycler's recycler

In 2018, another scrap yard had a fire that burned local residences and caused air, land and water contamination. Calbag Metals, the recycler where scrap metal yards take their metal for recycling, continues its tireless work to responsibly manage waste and water runoff. Decades of showing responsible and documented excellence protecting the land, air and water led to Calbag Metals receiving this coveted and rare "no further action" designation.

While the Oregon Senate considers revising state law to provide greater inspection over site following that tragic scrapyard fire, Calbag maintains its leadership role by knowing it exceeds any standards for responsible stewardship, now and in the future.

Initially, compliance for an industrial storm water permit could be attained through simple treatment, but a more comprehensive approach was necessary for us to achieve this success. We approached our storm water program with employee education, closer attention to maintenance, better understanding of site details and usage patterns.

The OE (Original Environmentalist)

Calbag Metals may well be the original environmentalist, going about our work to convert today's wastes into tomorrow's resources. Scrap metal yards are often not well understood. At Calbag Metals we are at core an industrial operation with all the heavy equipment and manpower training found in many manufacturing facilities. Sorting metals from aluminum to zinc, we have all the hustle and bustle of long-haul trucks and heavy equipment operations all while managing the flow of nearly 100,000,000 pounds of reusable, non-ferrous metal per year out of the Pacific Northwest.

In Portland it rains. And this is where our story starts. Read more about our higher standards.