Industrial by-products management with family roots
W. Silver Recycling (WSR) provides by-products management for major manufacturers and industrial sources across the U.S. and Mexico. We are driven by one goal: to be the most efficient scrap operator in North America.
What we do today
Safety, transparency and partnership.
Our customers are our partners. WSR builds recycling and by-products programs for manufacturers, utilities, demolition contractors and other industrial businesses.
Operational support
We connect equipment, in-plant support, collection, logistics and processing. The scope can include specially designed containers, in-plant labor and material analysis.
Commercial clarity
Pickup records, scale weights, material grades and settlement documentation help customers understand what was collected and how its value was determined.
Regional experience
Our network supports U.S.–Mexico material flows, including Mexican national purchases and managed IMMEX programs where applicable.
Our G.O. S.A.F.E. principles guide how we work with customers and each other.
Our network
12 facilities and administrative offices across the U.S. and Mexico.
Regional connections. Global reach.
Across our operations
Our guiding principles: G.O. S.A.F.E.
Six company pillars guide how we approach our work and decisions.
Growth
Grow our business through safe, reliable operations and better use of our facilities. Build a stronger WSR that creates opportunities for our people.
Opportunity
Help team members build skills, take on responsibility and pursue lasting careers at WSR. Make development a shared effort through individual initiative and leadership guidance.
Safety
Put people’s safety first in every task and decision. Speak up about hazards and address unsafe conditions so everyone can go home safely. “I will do everything safely or not at all.”
Accountability
Own our work, keep our commitments and raise problems early. Leaders provide clear expectations and support; every team member contributes to solutions and follows through.
Financial Responsibility
Use company resources wisely to protect WSR’s long-term strength. Care for equipment, prevent waste and manage costs without compromising safety.
Efficiency
Listen to the people doing the work and continually improve how it gets done. Reduce wasted time, material and effort without compromising safety or quality.
Four generations of the Silver family
For the Silver family of El Paso, recycling is a tradition spanning four generations and more than a century. The company’s roots reach back to the early 1900s and the trading business of William Silver, an immigrant from Poland, and his wife, Lena.
William traded textiles and metals in Arizona and Mexico. William and Lena settled in Bisbee, Arizona, where they sold Army/Navy surplus to local miners, before moving to El Paso and establishing a small junkyard. Buying scrap metals, rags and other materials for resale grew into work that included pipe trading, railcar dismantling and rail rerolling. Finding value in materials others no longer needed became the foundation of the business.
From a junkyard to material processing
In the 1960s, the dismantling of the original El Paso courthouse and several unsafe steel bridges brought substantial quantities of salvaged copper, steel, brass and aluminum to W. Silver. This work was an important step in the company’s development into a sorting and processing business.
A family tradition carried forward
After William, leadership passed to his son-in-law, Bernie Fenenbock, who was married to William and Lena’s youngest daughter, Jeannette Silver. Bernie expanded the company’s work with industrial and utility customers and its insulated-wire chopping operations.
William’s great-grandson, Lane Gaddy, joined W. Silver in 2005 and now serves as Chairman of the Board. The company acquired El Paso Iron and Metal in 2016, another step in the development of its operations. The four-generation story reflects the Silver family’s continuing connection to the business.
Patrick Merrick, also part of the W. Silver team since 2005, became President in 2021. Today, Lane continues the family’s leadership as Chairman of the Board, while Patrick leads day-to-day operations with the management team and employees.
From the W. Silver archive
Images of the equipment, people and printed materials in our company archive.
Safety, environment and community
Learn about our industrial role and how to ask a question about a local operation.
Our operations and communitiesWorking at WSR
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