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Letting nothing go to waste

New scrap metal recycling and exchange shop opens in Saranac Lake

Matt Pafundi of Team Predator Scrap Metal heaves a tire rim out of the back of a truck into his scrap metal recycling and exchange shop on Broadway in Saranac Lake. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

SARANAC LAKE — The sound of clanging metal has been ringing in downtown Saranac Lake as Matt Pafundi moves giant saws, long pipes, radiators and anchors from a U-Haul truck into his new storefront at 38 Broadway.

Pafundi is opening a scrap metal recycling and exchange shop soon.

He takes truckloads of what people drop off — pure metal and items he harvests copper, lead, brass and aluminum from — divvies it up by types of metal, and sells it in bulk to processors in Albany. Pafundi said it’s a good way to recycle metal.

“Nothing goes to waste,” he said.

That’s how he got his business name, “Team Predator Scrap Metal.” He said in the wild, a predator doesn’t waste anything.

Matt Pafundi of Team Predator Scrap Metal heaves a tire rim out of the back of a truck into his scrap metal recycling and exchange shop on Broadway in Saranac Lake. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

On top of recycling, he’s also looking to exchange and sell the usable second-hand products he has — tools, canoes, shelves and decorations.

The front window of his shop is filled with oddities he hopes will make people stop and come in. There are fishing lures, cast iron kettles and fire pokers. Some of it needs some love, with a patina of age over the metal surfaces. Some of it looks perfectly rustic the way it is.

Pafundi is a self-described “mountain boy.” Years ago, he lived on the road, traveling from town-to-town, working on farms and sleeping in hotels. But he always changes up what he does for work.

The metal market is up right now, and he said everyone he talks to around town has scrap metal they know of.

He’s collected literal tons of metal. His U-Haul is filled to the brim with all sorts of metallic flotsam. He needed a place to put it all and found an empty storefront on Broadway.

Matt Pafundi of Team Predator Scrap Metal shows off the muscles he uses to heft scrap metal into his recycling and exchange shop on Broadway in Saranac Lake. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

Pafundi said he has scales, pays by the pound and his rates change every day based on the numbers he gets from Albany.

The store doesn’t have solid hours yet. He’s still setting up. But Pafundi said people can stop by to talk, trade or treasure-hunt whenever he’s there. If his U-Haul is there, he’s probably in the shop.

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