Zalev Brothers Scrap Yard (Windsor, Ontario)

Canada / Ontario / Windsor / Windsor, Ontario / Grand Marais Road East, 100
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Zalev Brothers Co. is a ferrous and nonferrous metals recycler and a wholly owned subsidiary of Ferrous Processing and Trading one of the largest scrap processors in North America which is in turn owned by Detroit based Soave Enterprises. It buys steel turnings and cast iron borings mainly from the auto industry and its suppliers which it processes into briquettes. These are shipped by rail to steel minimills, integrated steel producers and foundries in Canada and the U.S.

The Zalev Brothers came to Windsor from Sarnia in 1921 and located at Mercer Street and Ellis Street East on lands which were subsequently acquired by Kelsey-Hayes. In 1946 operations were moved to a 36 ac. site of swampy scrubland on Howard Avenue which had to be drained and graded. In 1998 the Zalev family sold the scrap yard to Soave.

Zalev Brothers has long been the subject of air pollution complaints.
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   42°16'46"N   83°0'52"W

Comments

  • The Zalev Brothers' Scrap Yard may seem out-of-place in the middle of a large city, but technically, they were here first. The Zalev Brothers were a pair of russian jewish immigrants who came to Windsor around the turn of the century (1900s), and opened a steel recycling center. The city began growing around Zalev's in the following years with the construction of Devonshire Raceway (now Devonshire Mall), Roundhouse Center, and other subdivisions. When the scrap yard first opened, it was located a fair distance from the city center and from most development, as it was farmland at the time.
  • The Roundhouse Center wasn't just some stripmall that came out of nowhere. It was a major, and very large rail terminal for the Michigan Central / Canada Southern railways. 90% of what Zalev is located on today was a former railyard.
  • I worked at Zalev's as a contractor one day, and I was told the company can't move the operation. The Hot Coal Briquettes, as they call them is a very dirty process, and the Canadian and US governments won't allow any new licenses to start the manufacturing of them. The current license is Grandfathered in, but they cannot get a new license, so they will stay right where they're at. Even if they did move, the land wouldn't be useable for a long long time.
This article was last modified 15 years ago