Atlas Metal and Iron

What Atlas Metal and Iron does

Atlas Metal and Iron Corporation is a family-owned scrap metal recycling company founded in 1956 by Don Rosen in Denver, Colorado. The company operates two processing facilities, a 14-acre headquarters at 1100 Umatilla St in Denver and a second yard at 2601 Chambers Road in Aurora, staffed by 100+ workers. Its core capability is physical metal processing including baling, cutting, chopping, shearing, and sorting of ferrous metals (steel, stainless steel, cast iron, tin) and nonferrous metals (aluminum, brass, copper, lead, zinc, alloys). Atlas operates the largest wire chopping facility in the Rocky Mountain region, which supports its sole manufactured product, copper pellet chops sold into domestic and foreign metallurgical and plating markets.

The company serves three distinct customer segments through differentiated channels. Retail sellers and individuals visit the Denver and Aurora yards to sell smaller quantities of scrap for cash. Industrial accounts in auto manufacturing, construction, roofing, electrical supply, appliance manufacturing, and food/beverage production receive ongoing service including a fleet-based container delivery and swap program using roll-offs, luggers, trailers, and gaylord boxes. A regional dealer network across Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Nebraska supplies scrap into Atlas's yards. The company has also added a computer and electronics recycling service that processes components for precious and base metal recovery.

Revenue is generated primarily through commodity spread economics, purchasing scrap at market rates and reselling processed metals and manufactured copper chops into domestic and foreign end markets, with secondary revenue from container service fees. Pricing is market-based and fluctuates daily with commodities, and the business is structured as a privately held, multi-generational family enterprise with no institutional investors, no public listing, and no disclosed M&A activity. The company positions itself as a national leader in the recycling industry and a premier regional processor in the Rocky Mountain region.

Name

Atlas Metal and Iron

Legal name

Atlas Metal and Iron Corporation

Website

https://atlasmetalandiron.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1956

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Atlas Metal and Iron is a family-owned scrap metal recycler founded in 1956, operating two Denver-area processing yards on 14 acres. It purchases, processes, and resells ferrous and nonferrous metals, manufactures copper pellet chops, and serves retail sellers, industrial accounts, and regional dealers across Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Nebraska.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Scrap Metal Recycling

NAICS

Nonferrous Metal (except Aluminum) Smelting and Refining (33141), Secondary Smelting and Alloying of Aluminum (331314)

SIC

Secondary Smelting & Refining Of Nonferrous Metals (3341)

akta.pro primary industry

Non-Ferrous Scrap Processing & Brokerage (Aluminum, Copper, Brass/Bronze, Lead, Zinc, Nickel) (IMAKAMAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Ferrous Scrap Processing & Brokerage (Steel & Cast Iron) (IMAKAMAA), Radiator, Cable & Wire Recycling (Copper/Aluminum Wire Chopping, Insulated Cable) (IMAKAMAJ), E-Waste & Electronics Metal Recovery (ITAD, Circuit Boards, Precious Metal Recovery) (IMAKAMAG), Aluminum Scrap Collection, Sorting & Processing (IMAKACAJ)

Keywords

• Scrap metal recycling
• Copper wire chopping
• Industrial container services
• Electronics recycling services
• Nonferrous metals processing

Headquarters

HQ city

Denver

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Scrap Metal Purchasing and Processing: Atlas purchases both nonferrous and ferrous scrap metal (aluminum, brass, copper, lead, stainless steel, zinc, cast iron, and steel) from retail customers, industrial accounts, and regional dealers. The processed metals are baled, cut, chopped, sheared and sorted to meet requirements of multinational end users. Revenue is generated through the sale of processed commodities to domestic and foreign markets.
2. Container Service: Container rental and swap-out services for industrial and commercial customers, with fleet drivers delivering and exchanging containers at job sites.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Atlas Metal & Iron purchases, processes, and recycles ferrous and nonferrous scrap metals—including aluminum, brass, copper, lead, stainless steel, zinc, cast iron, tin, alloys, and electronic/computer components—at its Denver and Aurora facilities through baling, cutting, chopping, shearing, and sorting. The company also manufactures pure copper pellet chops at the largest wire chopping facility in the Rocky Mountain region for sale into domestic and foreign metallurgical and plating markets. Supporting the core metal processing business are container delivery and swap-out services for industrial job sites, retail scrap purchasing for individuals, and regional dealer purchasing across the Western states.

Product overview

Atlas Metal & Iron Corp is a scrap metal recycling company offering a portfolio of recycling services and one manufactured product. The core service portfolio includes metal recycling across multiple categories (aluminum, brass, copper, lead, steel/stainless steel, zinc, cast iron, tin/sheet metal, and alloys) plus specialized electronics recycling. The company provides services across customer segments: retail scrap purchasing for individuals, industrial accounts for ongoing commercial relationships, and a regional dealer network. Container service supports job site waste collection with various container types and sizes. The company's sole manufactured product is Copper Pellet Chops, which it produces as the largest wire chopping facility in the Rocky Mountain region. Computer/electronics recycling is offered as a distinct service accepting various electronic components. These offerings are unified by the company's scrap metal processing capabilities including baling, cutting, chopping, shearing, and sorting.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Copper Pellet Chops Sole manufactured product of Atlas Metal & Iron, consisting of pure copper chops processed from scrap copper wire at the largest wire chopping facility in the Rocky Mountain region. Sold into domestic and foreign markets for metallurgical and plating applications across transportation, engineering, machinery, electrical, building, automotive, and computer industries, as well as exterior paint.
• Retail Scrap Purchasing Walk-in service for individual customers selling smaller quantities of recyclable metal at the Denver and Aurora yards, converting recyclable materials into cash with top-dollar payouts, knowledgeable staff, and convenient locations/hours.
• Industrial Accounts Ongoing scrap metal recycling account service for industries including auto manufacturing and body shops, construction, roofing, appliance manufacturing, canned food and beverage production, and electrical supply manufacturers, featuring scheduled container drop-off and swap-out to turn large-volume industrial recyclables into a second revenue stream.
• Regional Dealer Network Wholesale scrap metal purchasing program for regional dealers across Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Nebraska, with dedicated delivery areas and ongoing service relationships providing reliable regional scrap intake.
• Container Service Fleet-based container delivery and swap-out service for industrial and commercial job sites, offering multiple container sizes including roll-offs (20–50 yard), luggers (6–12 yard), warehouse boxes (1 cubic yard), cargo trailers (40 ft), flatbed trailers, van trailers, and gaylord boxes.
• Electronics and Computer Recycling E-waste recycling service accepting CPUs, power supplies, drives, computer boards, PCI/ISA/AGP cards, and RAM, with component-level dismantling to extract valuable metals including gold, copper, and aluminum from motherboards, graphics cards, memory cards, CPUs, connectors, and hard drives. Excludes keyboards, mice, and screens.
• Scrap Metal Recycling (multi-metal) Core processing service for ferrous and nonferrous metals including aluminum, brass, copper, lead, steel and stainless steel, zinc, cast iron, tin/sheet metal, and alloys, with material baled, cut, chopped, sheared, and sorted to meet end-user specifications across multiple metals grades and forms.

Quantifiable outcome

• Serving Rocky Mountain Region with 2 facilities on 14 acres
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Radius Recycling (formerly Schnitzer Steel Industries): Large publicly traded scrap metal recycler and steel manufacturer operating dozens of yards across the U.S. and internationally, including ferrous and non-ferrous processing, auto shredding, and downstream steel mill offtakes. Directly comparable business model to Atlas but at vastly greater scale and geographic reach.
• SA Recycling: One of the largest full-service ferrous and non-ferrous metal recyclers in the U.S., with a network of yards across the western and southern U.S. Operates the same retail/industrial scrap purchasing and container services as Atlas, with a stronger southern/western footprint and integrated shredding capacity.
• EMR Metal Recycling (EMR Capital): Global metal recycler with U.S. operations (formerly Metalico) processing ferrous and non-ferrous scrap, including wire chopping and copper recovery. Closely matches Atlas's non-ferrous, copper-focused processing and the manufactured-product angle of copper chops.
• David J. Joseph Company (DJJ): One of the largest U.S. scrap metal brokers/processors, subsidiary of Nucor. Operates an extensive yard and dealer network with ferrous and non-ferrous processing, providing a direct national-scale comparable for Atlas's regional scrap-brokering business.

Direct peers

• OmniSource Corporation: Mid-large U.S. scrap metal processor and broker with ferrous and non-ferrous operations across the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic, serving industrial accounts and retail sellers. Same business model (purchase, process, sell to mills/smelters) as Atlas at a larger regional scale.
• Alter Trading Corporation: St. Louis-based scrap metal processor and broker with yard locations across the central U.S., serving industrial accounts, dealers, and retail sellers. Comparable end-to-end scrap processing including non-ferrous and container services.
• Ferrous Processing & Trading: Midwest-based scrap metal processor handling ferrous and non-ferrous materials for industrial and retail customers. Comparable to Atlas in scale, mix of services (retail purchasing, industrial accounts, container services), and end markets.
• Metalico: U.S. scrap metal recycler with yards focused on non-ferrous processing, catalytic converter recovery, and lead/acid battery recycling. The non-ferrous and e-waste focus (and catalytic converter mention) directly parallels Atlas's short_description and product set.

Emerging players

• Schnitzer Steel / Pick-N-Pull (auto parts): Self-service auto parts salvage operation formerly part of Schnitzer's retail brand. While more consumer-facing, it competes for retail scrap sellers and end-of-life vehicle materials in the same regional markets Atlas serves.

Regional players

• EcoMet Recycling: Regional scrap metal recycler in the western U.S. with retail and industrial accounts. Closest size and footprint analog to Atlas — a regional, multi-yard scrap processor rather than a national network.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/atlasmetaliron

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Atlas Metal and Iron