Big Daddy Scrap
Delivering Reliable Metal Recycling with a Focus on Service and Sustainability

Offering a convenient and hassle-free option to recycle scrap metal, Big Daddy Scrap is a family-owned and operated business at the heart of metal recycling in the Chicago Metropolitan Area. Originally part of an auto parts and salvage business led by Mike Spatola—an industry veteran with 30 years of experience, the company entered the next phase of its journey in 2013. After selling the auto parts business founder Spatola partnered with, son Mike Spatola III (Opie), son-in-law Josh Friend, and daughter Tiffany Friend to continue to run Big Daddy Scrap and have made it the cleanest, most efficient metal recycling facility in Chicago and across Illinois.

Setting the company apart from market contemporaries is its strong commitment to delivering superior customer service. Whether roll-off services, scrap metal purchases, or demolition assistance, Big Daddy Scrap understands customers’ needs before crafting efficient, tailored solutions. Its team comprises dedicated professionals with five to nine-year tenures who work tirelessly to ensure a seamless experience from the moment a client engages with them to achieving their desired outcomes at the right prices.

"We go beyond scrap metal processing at Big Daddy Scrap; we're in the business of building relationships. From the outset, our longstanding workforce becomes like family for clients, ensuring a streamlined and efficient customer experience,” says Spatola III, operations manager at Big Daddy Scrap.

Forming a close-knit, familial bond with customers, the company’s workforce offers a genuine engagement experience where they know clients by name and deeply understand their metal handling needs.

The company continues to redefine the metal recycling experience with two state-of-the-art facilities that span over 27 acres and a building space of 44,000 square feet. These sites enable Big Daddy Scrap to offer a guaranteed 24-hour turnaround for roll-off services, which is pivotal for clients looking for a rapid response. This reliability underscores the company’s dedicated workforce and its ability to foster enduring client relationships.

For industrial clients who generate significant amounts of recyclable metal as a byproduct of their primary operations, Big Daddy Scrap takes on the educator role, guiding them to maximize their recycling efforts. It achieves impactful knowledge sharing by providing insights into what can be recycled, the most effective recycling methods, and how to optimize returns on recyclable materials.

Leveraging its strong core competencies, Big Daddy Scrap has reached numerous milestones in the last decade. A notable success story that exemplifies its steadfast obligation to service, transparency, and sustainability involved a major HVAC firm in Chicago. This client, a prolific producer of AC units and furnaces, found immense value in recycling various components such as radiators, electric motors, and sealed units. Extending past the intrinsic value of the metal, the client struggled to manage their scrap metal effectively. To address this, they employed personnel to strip the materials manually. But, issues related to retention and logistics emerged, leading to metal accumulation, theft concerns, and neighbour complaints.

Mitigating these issues, Big Daddy Scrap provided specific containers to their facility and educated employees on effectively unloading their vans into the designated bins. Once the containers are filled, the collected materials are taken to its facilities, where they undergo thorough processing. Big Daddy Scrap actively takes responsibility for providing fair remuneration, a competency showcased by its emphasis on post-processing to separate scrap steel, copper, and other valuable materials. This also enabled the client to efficiently identify and devise the best recycling methodologies for their scrap metal. By prioritizing sustainability and offering tailored solutions, Big Daddy Scrap contributed to its client's revenue growth and fostered a mutually beneficial and longstanding partnership.

Successes like this highlight Big Daddy Scrap’s ability to redefine the metal recycling experience with its cutting-edge facilities and deliver a tailored, transparent, and sustainable service. As the company evolves, it remains committed to providing a blueprint for a new era of metal recycling with efficiency, education, and customer-centricity at the forefront.