Born Scrappy
Born Scrappy
Stu Kagan
The Art of Buying Scrap (Into a Yard): Winning Tons with Bob Alvarez
44 minutes Posted Mar 4, 2026 at 2:00 pm.
Meet Bob Alvarez
Shapiro Metals
Learning to Buy Scrap
Differentiation Playbook
Service First Model
One Stop Shop Data
Training for Curiosity
Integrity in Pricing
Plan. Do. Check. Act.
Key Metrics and Intangibles
Traits of Great Buyers
Getting to Know Bob
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Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Born Scrappy, I sit down with Bob Alvarez, President at Shapiro Metals, for a true masterclass on the art of buying scrap into a yard. Bob didn’t grow up in scrap, but over the past decade he’s helped shape Shapiro into one of the most sophisticated industrial recyclers in the U.S. With over 120 years of legacy behind the company, Bob shares how they’ve evolved beyond commodity buying to become a high-value service partner to manufacturers. We unpack how ...