# Built to Work Podcast
**Colin:**
Welcome to Built to Work, the podcast that gets its hands dirty, dives into the grit, and uncovers the heart of what makes the blue-collar world tick. I’m Colin, your host, and I’m sitting down with the people who keep our world running. From those tackling the tough jobs no one else dares to do to the HR professionals working overtime to find the labor force we desperately need. Whether you’re in the trenches or behind the scenes, this podcast is for anyone who values hard work, determination, and stories that build the backbone of our workforce. So, grab your gloves, your coffee, or your clipboard. It’s time to get to work.
Welcome to another Built to Work podcast. I’m here with Tim Ritter Boss. Tim, thank you so much for being here with me to chat.
**Tim Ritter Boss:**
Yeah, man. Happy to be here.
**Colin:**
Yeah. So, I’m excited to talk to you. You know, I was able to swing by your guys’ office a couple weeks ago. We got to spend some time together, learn more about you guys, learn more about you. And I was like, hey, this Tim guy, he’s a cool guy. I need to talk to you some more. So, Tim, you are with Circular by Shapiro. And your role, you said, was the VP of Circular Business Development?
**Tim Ritter Boss:**
Yeah, vice president of circular business development. We’re a 121-year-old company. We started back in 1904. If you think about that, we’re headquartered in St. Louis. Back when the company started, they were introducing the ice cream cone, the X-ray, and the palace of electricity, which was basically a building with lights. So that’s basically the time period in which the company got its start and we really focus on recycling and sustainability and circularity programs for large industrial manufacturers.
**Colin:**
Okay. So, what does a circularity program look like when you say that? I mean, I can kind of get an idea that it’s going to be around recycling and reusing, but what do you guys define that as?
**Tim Ritter Boss:**
At the end of the day, right, it’s how you keep material in the economy for as long as possible in its highest and best use as possible. A lot of what I’ve done is really think about things in a different way than we’ve thought about them before, along with the whole team at Shapiro. We go to our customers and we try and expand our offerings to them, really looking at how we almost dumpster dive, right, and look at what’s going in their trash, what are they throwing away, and is there something better that they could be doing with those things? Obviously, in our industry, we focus heavily on recycling but we do business cases too where we say, “Hey look, you’re paying X amount of dollars per ton to landfill this, but this cardboard, this wire, this plastic actually has marketable value. So, how do we turn that into a revenue stream for you?” We do a lot of those programs.
**Colin:**
Okay. Gotcha. As I was learning more about your company, you guys have quite a few locations in various parts of the country, and your different locations perform different operations. Can you give me a brief rundown on what you guys do in your different locations because it’s pretty diverse?
**Tim Ritter Boss:**
We’ve got nine facilities. It doesn’t look like your traditional scrapyard. We’re more like a recycling center where everything is under roof. We have one steel yard still, but everything else is under roof, more like a warehouse. We really focus on non-ferrous, but in addition to metal, you’ll see plastics, cardboard, and other materials in our facilities. One of our facilities has a breakdown line for one of our large customers that we deal with on a national level. We’re providing some additional services in addition to general recycling.
Another thing that’s been good for us over the past few years is because we deal with industrial manufacturers, we think about supply chain and the flow of material in a different way. We have really spent a lot of time trying to build partnerships with other recycling companies across the United States, Mexico, and Canada. So if I’m dealing with an industrial manufacturer and they say, “Hey, we’ve got a facility out in Timbuktu,” hopefully I’ve got a friend out there who can help with whatever material they’ve got, help them process that and keep it out of the landfill. Lastly, we’ve got an innovation center down in Seymour, Missouri, near Springfield and Branson, where we do some R&D on unique products we offer to our customers.
**Colin:**
Awesome. I need to get you in touch with the guys at Missouri S&T. Have you been in touch with them at all?
**Tim Ritter Boss:**
No, tell me more.
**Colin:**
Missouri University of Science and Technology is about halfway between St. Louis and Springfield. They’re building an advanced materials lab. It’s all engineers. It’s like 95% engineers, 5,000 students. They’re starting to work with manufacturing companies looking at advanced manufacturing techniques with some materials. So maybe your R&D lab could tie in with them. They’re investing millions of dollars into new facilities, getting all sorts of equipment. I actually spoke on another podcast with Dr. Richard Billow that’s kind of heading up that department. They’re building this big thing they’re calling the protolex, like advanced manufacturing, additive manufacturing basically, and I don’t know, like microscopic laser welding. They’re working a lot on how to apply laser welding, like to repair cracked blocks.
**Tim Ritter Boss:**
That’s really cool. I think that’s where it’s all going, right? The rate of change and technology and innovation is happening so much faster today. Things that we just take for granted in the manufacturing space—it’s something that we think about at Shapiro. We assume it’s going to continue being like this. We assume that there’s a ton of 3D printing and other advancements. I have friends and family that work with big aerospace manufacturers, and during COVID, everything kind of shut down. However, the one department that was getting blank checks throughout that time was the one researching 3D printing of parts, so yeah.
**Colin:**
3D printing is what they were calling additive manufacturing. Very exact. Very small, accurate. A whole lot less waste, which kind of hurts the scrap industry a little bit, but you know, the world’s changing.
**Tim Ritter Boss:**
Well, and that’s it, right? You can’t put your head in the sand. There are going to be changes, things that change right? We need to be out ahead of it. I’ve got a good guy for you to talk to at some point named Anthony Butchbaker from Spartan Scanning Solutions.
**Colin:**
I’m not familiar with him, no.
**Tim Ritter Boss:**
I’ll put you guys in touch. He’s building a system that does digital twins. He’ll take a drone and fly it all around your shredder or recycling facility, creating very detailed 3D renderings, a digital twin of your facility. It’s so accurate that the drone using AI will sense any parts that might be unsafe—like a handrail that’s bent or a plate missing bolts—and it’ll notify you. So it’s about how the industry’s changing quickly. How we’ve done things for the last hundred years is not going to look like the next hundred, and probably not like the next ten.
**Colin:**
Yeah, it’s changing rapidly. The whole labor landscape is changing too, which is where I play quite a bit. Okay, well some of these jobs we were doing, you know, AI may be taking those, right? There’s more focus on desk jobs, inside jobs, white-collar jobs. Still, there’s even more demand for laborers, operators, and experienced workers like that. It’s amazing to see how it’s all changing.
**Tim Ritter Boss:**
Are you saying there’s less demand for pickers and more moving towards white-collar jobs?
**Colin:**
Yes. I’ve seen more people that don’t want to do the hard, dirty jobs. So yeah, there’s a reduction in pickers. Robotic pickers and such are replacing some positions. However, there’s increased demand for semi-skilled positions like operators and material handlers.
**Tim Ritter Boss:**
That’s the opportunity, right? If I could go back and talk to 17-year-old Tim, maybe I’d say, “Hey, do you want to go to college for four years, or do you want to do something like carpentry?” Skills like building, fixing AC units, plumbing, and electrical work are invaluable. There will be so much opportunity for people who know how to work with their hands in the future. We’ve been steering people away from those trades, but those skilled in them are incredibly successful now.
**Colin:**
Yeah, there are many opportunities out there for people like that in industries like recycling and scrap. How did you get into this unique industry?
**Tim Ritter Boss:**
I would have never thought I’d be in this industry in high school or college. I got out of school, got into finance, but didn’t like it enough. I wanted something tangible. I cold-called the local Caterpillar dealership for six months, asking to sell equipment. Finally, they let me in as a territory manager selling Caterpillar equipment. One customer was Shapiro Metals, and after some interactions and equipment swaps, I ended up joining their team. It was nothing like I thought. The industry has a Sanford and Sons scrapyard reputation, but it plays an important role in our economy. I took on the director of national accounts and have loved the journey ever since.
**Colin:**
A winding route to get into the industry. What are your goals looking forward, particularly with your circular program?
**Tim Ritter Boss:**
I’ve been playing in storytelling over the last couple of years, trying to tell the stories of this industry and sustainability. This industry stayed in the shadows for a long time, and there’s a huge opportunity to introduce tech. There’s also an opportunity to storytell for brands and manufacturers. The industry’s original sustainable business efforts are now becoming acknowledged. The industry has helped make the planet better and now, we have an opportunity to own the narrative. We can show how this industry is critical to our economy and help shine a light on those doing incredible things.
**Colin:**
That’s all great. Love the storytelling aspect. As you look at this industry, it’s the scrap side where there’s less recognition even though they’ve been doing it forever. The industrial clients you serve are generating so much that it’s surprising.
**Tim Ritter Boss:**
Yeah, they generate more recyclable materials and have been doing it forever due to monetary incentives. Believe it or not, that’s something they’ve been improving. These incredible stories about recycling plastic into usable items like railroad ties make interesting business cases. It’s important that the financial aspect makes sense long-term. I was excited to be able to tell stories like that.
**Colin:**
Yeah, when I first experienced the scrap side, it was eye-opening. Going into a scrapyard, seeing how it works—I was surprised by how efficiently industrial customers generate and handle waste.
**Tim Ritter Boss:**
Well, and it’s an intimidating experience for many, going into a scrapyard for the first time. We need to think about what face we’re putting on for those who have material we’d like to buy. Making the process more accessible is essential. I spoke about a modern energy facility in Copenhagen that practically looks like art, with a ski slope and green spaces—it’s impressive. How we present ourselves as an industry in the future matters for accessibility.
**Colin:**
Absolutely. The market is developing new ways to make recycling more engaging. There’s a company creating collection units powered by solar and managed via an app for certified users. They allow convenient aluminum and PET bottle collection. It’s a new approach that feels more integrated and less daunting than traditional scrapyards.
**Tim Ritter Boss:**
That’s important—making it feel like part of the normal environment without being intimidating. That helps engage more people in the recycling process.
**Colin:**
Yeah, my neighborhood doesn’t have cardboard recycling, which is a challenge. Lots of people would appreciate a simpler approach to recycling.
**Tim Ritter Boss:**
Ultimately, the reuse part of recycling is valuable too. Education and adapting to what’s going to bring about change help immensely in making it easier and more financially sensible. That’s the stuff that makes helping someone do better rewarding.
**Colin:**
Thanks so much, Tim. Great talking to you. If you guys want to reach Tim, look him up on LinkedIn or with Circular by Shapiro. Appreciate the conversation.
**Tim Ritter Boss:**
My pleasure. Anytime, man.