The 117-year-old steel maker that’s key to solving climate tech’s recycling issue

Published

2 years ago

August 11, 2023

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One of the first questions Tamara Lundgren often heard when she introduced herself as the CEO of Schnitzer Steel is, “What kind of steel do you make?'”

Founded in 1906 by Russian immigrant Sam Schnitzer, the company started as a one-person scrap metal recycler. Over 117 years later, a series of acquisitions and organic growth has made it one of the largest manufacturers and exporters of recycled metal products in North America, and a global leader in the collection, processing and sale of steel.

And while yes, Lundgren told CNBC, the company does make steel – some of the lowest-carbon emissions steel made in the world, she noted – it’s now the smallest part of its business.

“The name Schnitzer Steel just no longer really reflects our work,” said Lundgren, who joined the company in 2005 and was elevated to CEO in 2008. “We finally got to the point where if you’re introducing yourself by explaining what you do a little bit of, but not the most, it’s probably time to rebrand.”

Under Lundgren’s leadership, the company is now right in the middle of the growing circular economy, operating metals recycling facilities, auto dismantling and retail stores that sell used auto parts, and a third-party recycling service for manufacturers, industrials and retailers.

“In today’s environment, the importance of recycling and the importance of recycling metals has reached a level that didn’t exist 10 years ago,” Lundgren said. “With the transition to low-carbon technologies like electric vehicles, solar, wind, and the like, all of those technologies require more metal than the technologies that they’re replacing.”

An example of the recycling challenges in the climate transition is the wind turbine, which is recyclable, from the steel tower to the composite blades, typically 170 feet long, but most ends up being thrown away, a waste total that will reach a cumulative mass of 2.2 million metric tons by 2050, according to a 2021 study.

As this energy shift was happening in the broader economy, so too were conversations within the company and at the board level about a potential rebrand, Lundgren said.

That came to a head in January, while Lundgren was at Davos. Schnitzer Steel was named the “Most sustainable company in the world” by the sustainable economy magazine Corporate Knights, but Lundgren said most of the headlines she saw were focused on it being a steel company.

“I’m glad we were getting that attention, but fundamentally what drove it was all of our recycling activity,” Lundgren said. That quickly sparked a call to her communications team to bounce the idea of exploring a rebrand, which then led to larger discussions with experts to brainstorm and then formal discussions with the board and an internal team for feedback.

A few ideas were kicked around, including some bespoke names. But Lundgren said the name Radius Recycling resonated with everyone they mentioned it to, which called back to what kicked off the whole process. “The catalyst was having a name where people understood what you did from the name,” she said.

The process was closely guarded due to being a public company, so Lundgren said that there were employees and stakeholders who would only learn of the name change when it was publicly announced on July 26. But she was confident that it would resonate across the board.

In fact, she said she expected it to particularly resonate among the ESG investor community. While the company has backing from that sector of investors already, Lundgren said the new name will “open up doors more easily to people who might otherwise put us in a category that wasn’t in their scope of interest.”

Could it also bring negative feedback due to those ESG ties? Lundgren said she doesn’t believe it will, as the company has been “about sustainability before sustainability was a word. We are about recycling, and there’s no fluff there.”

The rollout of the change to Radius Recycling will take some time, Lundgren noted. While the company doesn’t necessarily have a product on a shelf or packaging it needs to redesign, it does have plenty of heavy machinery that will be repainted or rebranded when that equipment rolls over, she said. Most of the effort will come on the digital side of things, so that will not require the company to accelerate any capital spend towards it. Its Nasdaq ticker symbol will switch in September.

Reflecting on the process, Lundgren said that one thing she would highlight for other companies in the middle of a massive economic and market transition is just how much of it focused on listening: listening to what people’s first reactions to the company were, what questions they asked, and where stakeholders felt the company’s future was headed.

“It was connecting all of those dots and communicating,” she said. “And to make this successful, that communication has to continue.”

Some of that communication will be speaking to fellow CEOs about the services the company can offer in helping to lower carbon footprints and environmental impact, which Lundgren hopes becomes easier by just hearing the name of the company she leads.

“I think it’s great to be able to take an old economy company and an old economy industry and really position it to the point where we are an essential business and we are critical to the success of the circular economy and we are critical to this transition to a low-carbon world,” she said.

Environment

NYC debuts Bronx EV fast-charging hub for taxis and residents

Published

14 hours ago

October 17, 2025

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NYC debuts Bronx EV fast-charging hub for taxis and residents

New York City just brought another EV fast-charging station online, this time in the Bronx, one of the city’s most underserved areas for clean transportation.

The New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) has opened a new public fast-charging station at its White Plains Road Municipal Parking Field in the Bronx Park East section of the borough, at 2071 White Plains Road.

The site includes four DC fast chargers, three 50 kW units, and one 175 kW unit, which can give most EVs an 80% charge in about 20 minutes. Four additional Level 2 chargers can fully charge most vehicles in six to eight hours.

This new Bronx hub sits in a community with one of the city’s highest concentrations of Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) drivers. Nearly 1,000 TLC-licensed drivers live nearby, and another 1,500 live in adjacent neighborhoods. TLC drivers can sign up through the EV Connect app for a 15% discount on charging fees.

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“Achieving a greener transportation future means investing in electric vehicle chargers that will help us say goodbye to fossil fuels,” said NYC DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, a former cab driver himself. “East Bronxites will benefit significantly from these new EV chargers, and we look forward to continuing this critical work to fulfill the Adams administration’s ambitious goals.”

Those goals include the Green Rides Initiative, which aims to make all high-volume for-hire vehicle trips zero-emission or wheelchair-accessible by 2030. The new Bronx station also moves the city closer to Mayor Adams’ PlaNYC target of ensuring that every New Yorker lives within 2.5 miles of a fast charger by 2035. With this latest installation, the share of New Yorkers who live near a fast charger jumps from 81% to 88%.

The Bronx currently has the fewest fast chargers of any borough, and most of the city’s existing stations are concentrated in higher-income areas of Manhattan and inner Brooklyn and Queens. NYC DOT says this new location is part of a push to make EV charging more equitable and accessible.

As of September 2025, 79,036 EVs are registered in New York City – about 25% of New York State’s EVs.

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The Hyundai IONIQ 5 is still a great deal

Published

14 hours ago

October 17, 2025

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The Hyundai IONIQ 5 is still a great deal

The 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 was one of the most affordable EVs you could lease in the US. Although the $7,500 EV credit has now expired, Hyundai is keeping the savings going with the 2026 model.

Hyundai extends EV deals for the 2026 IONIQ 5

Hyundai reduced prices on the 2026 IONIQ 5 by up to $9,800 earlier this month compared to the outgoing model. Starting at under $35,000, it’s now one of the most affordable EVs, putting it on par with the Chevy Equinox EV.

The Hyundai IONIQ 5 remains a top-selling EV in the US, and may still be your best bet if you’re looking to go electric.

You can still lease the new 2026 Hyundai IONIQ 5 SE Standard Range for as low as $289 per month. That’s only $10 more per month than before the $7,500 federal EV tax credit expired at the end of September. The offer is for a 24-month lease with $3,999 due at signing.

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However, upgrading to the longer-range SE trim might be an even better option. The 2026 IONIQ 5 SE is listed at just $299 per month, even though it costs $2,500 more than the base model at $37,500.

The standard range model has an EPA-estimated driving range of 245 miles, while the SE trim offers considerably more, at up to 318 miles. For just 10$ more per month, a 30% improvement in range is a pretty sweet deal.

Hyundai is offering $4,500 in lease cash on the longer range 2026 IONIQ 5 SE, compared to just $750 for the base model.

Hyundai IONIQ 5 Trim	Driving Range (miles)	2025 Starting Price	2026 Starting Price*	Price Reduction
IONIQ 5 SE RWD Standard Range	245	$42,600	$35,000	($7,600)
IONIQ 5 SE RWD	318	$46,650	$37,500	($9,150)
IONIQ 5 SEL RWD	318	$49,600	$39,800	($9,800)
IONIQ 5 Limited RWD	318	$54,300	$45,075	($9,225)
IONIQ 5 SE Dual Motor AWD	290	$50,150	$41,000	($9,150)
IONIQ 5 SEL Dual Motor AWD	290	$53,100	$43,300	($9,800)
IONIQ 5 XRT Dual Motor AWD	259	$55,500	$46,275	($9,225)
IONIQ 5 Limited Dual Motor AWD	269	$58,200	$48,975	($9,225)

2025 vs 2026 Hyundai IONIQ 5 prices and range by trim

For those looking to save a little extra, Hyundai is still offering $11,000 in retail cash on 2025 IONIQ 5 models and 0% APR financing for 72 months. The 2025 IONIQ 5 can be leased from $189 per month until November 3. The offer is also for 36 months with $3,999 due at signing.

Interested in test-driving Hyundai’s electric SUV? You can use our link to find Hyundai IONIQ 5 models at a dealership near you.

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ZEVs capture record 29.1% of California’s new car market in Q3

Published

15 hours ago

October 17, 2025

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ZEVs capture record 29.1% of California’s new car market in Q3

ZEVs California — The California Dune Edition of the R1S / Source: Rivian

Californians just set another record for zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) adoption. In Q3 2025, residents bought 124,755 ZEVs – that’s nearly 1 in 3 new cars sold statewide. The 29.1% market share marks California’s highest quarterly total of ZEVs yet.

Governor Gavin Newsom called the milestone proof that Californians are all-in on clean transportation, even as the federal government moves in the opposite direction. “We’re nearing a third of all new vehicles sold in the fourth-largest economy on the planet being clean cars,” he said. “While Trump sells out American innovation to China, California will keep charging ahead on our path to a future of cleaner air.”

California Energy Commissioner Nancy Skinner added that the state’s massive charging expansion is paying off. Thanks to new investments, nearly every Californian now lives within 10 minutes of an EV fast charger. “Now, new EV owners can enjoy a great driving experience, bidding goodbye to smelly gas stations, messy oil changes, and costly engine tune-ups,” she said.

The state’s ZEV market is also growing more diverse. In Q1 2024, there were 105 ZEV models available; by Q1 2025, that number had climbed to 146. Of the 124,755 ZEVs sold in Q3, 108,685 were fully electric, nearly a 30% jump from Q2 2025.

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