METAL THEFT: Avon Metals moves out of ‘minefield’ of cash payments

Dec 02, 2011 | 11:07 AM |

Avon Metals was once an example of a company whose scrap sourcing business could have been an easy target for those looking to turn stolen metal into cash. The Gloucestershire-based secondary aluminium producer has had safeguards in place for a long time, but the cash-based door trade, whereby people could come in off the street with scrap metal and exchange it for cash, has always been a mark for thieves looking to sell stolen metal. Its strong views on this trade are indicated by the fact that Avon, unprompted by any new legislation, recently ended cash payments for its door trade – one of the main factors of the private members’ bill recently introduced to the House of Commons by MP Graham Jones. “We still offer cheque payment, but we’ve done away with cash,” Avon ceo Steven Munnoch told Metal Bulletin. “It was just a minefield for legitimate recyclers like ourselves.” Though companies such as Avon have measures in place to combat....