As appeared in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (June 7, 2015 7:56 p.m. ET), U.S. Is Awash in Glut of Scrap Materials by James R. Hagerty and Bob Tita

U.S. Is Awash in Glut of Scrap Materials

Scrapper Bob ‘Hoop’ Hooper was making as much as $400 a day selling scrap just three years ago. ‘Now I’m doing $100 to $200,’ he says. American companies have complained for the past year that the headwinds of a strong dollar and a slowing Chinese economy are hurting their earnings. For sellers of scrap metal, used cardboard boxes, and other waste, those headwinds are more like a hurricane. Waste has long been a major U.S. export, providing material to be melted in foreign steel mills or made into new paper products. But the strength of the dollar has made American waste pricier abroad, cutting demand in China, Turkey and other markets. Bob Hooper scavenges dumpsters and roadsides around Pittsburgh looking for steel, aluminum and other metals. But he’s finding it harder to make a living

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