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The last few weeks have been a whirlwind for Nate Miller.

He recently moved to Portland from Medford to join a business partner and start Northwest Metal Buyers, which specializes in recycling metal waste from jobsites.

With one job in hand, Miller sees vast potential in metal recycling. He just needs to get the word out, he said.

“Most construction companies – unless they are extremely large and have an in-house construction person – they are literally paying people to haul waste off their site,” he said. “We pay them for that same metal and take it to places … to have it recycled. We’re good for their business and the environment.”

Miller eventually will hire a driver to take care of the labor end of the business, but for now, that’s one of his many jobs. He has purchased 15 bins, each able to hold 1,000 pounds of metal materials. He also has equipment to saw materials down to size and haul them away in the company’s 17-foot, F800 Ford truck; it has been rigged with a giant crane, he said.

The demand for recycling services is in part fueled by a city of Portland requirement that 75 percent of construction and demolition debris be recycled on projects valued at $50,000 or more. Additionally, all wood, metal, concrete, land-clearing debris and cardboard must be recycled, said Shawn Wood, construction waste specialist for the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability.

Despite the requirements, enforcement is difficult and more than half of construction and demolition waste ends up in the landfill, according to the city of Portland. As a result, more than 25 percent of Portland’s landfill contents is construction and demolition debris.

Demand for metal – particularly the nonferrous, or nonmagnetic kinds such as aluminum and copper – is high. Commodities prices for copper were $3.22 per pound at the end of trading last week, according to Infomine.com.

“I think for sure there’s an opportunity, particularly for smaller sites where there would be more frequent pickup,” Wood said. “It seems like a logical model where both parties win.”

At Northwest Metal Buyers’ first job, in Tigard, its client was G&W Builders LLC, which is demolishing a commercial site. Miller drove the F800 truck, which has a 2-ton-capacity crane attached to it and an outrigger at the base to stabilize the truck for heavy loads, and helped disassemble a giant heating and cooling system. Recyclers paid $2,200 for it, he said, and about $1,000 of that went back to G&W Builders.

At a typical jobsite, all materials – including wood, metal, plastic, drywall and concrete – are thrown into a single box, said Alexander Whittier, co-owner of Portland-based G&W Builders LLC.

“You’ve got one dumpster and a lot of different trades out there sharing one box,” he said. “A lot of the times, you don’t have room, especially if you are in downtown Portland or on a postage-stamp (lot).”

While recyclers frequently come by jobsites in a small pickup truck looking for recyclable materials, Northwest Metal Buyers has a crane and a scale on its truck, Whittier said.

“He’s new to this, but the concept is great,” he said. “They were just going to throw that stuff away, but it’s worth money.”

Strong demand for steel also presents opportunities, said David McMahon, owner and manager of Cloudburst Recycling. It serves commercial and residential users throughout Portland and unincorporated parts of Multnomah County.

Cloudburst typically picks up boxes with commingled materials – metals, wood and other recyclables. Rarely do customers put all their metal materials in one box, but their value often exceeds the cost to haul it, he said.

“There’s lots of demand for metal recycling of all kinds,” he said. “It’s coming from … overseas, principally from Asia.”

Recycling is a significant part of both adaptive reuse projects and remodeling projects that are taking off around the Portland area, said Steve Malany, president of P&C Construction Co.

P&C typically has its materials all in one box, which a waste management company picks up and sorts, Malany said. P&C then receives a report of different materials that were recycled. The report can be used for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification, he added.

Malany said it would be tough for Northwest Metal Buyers to compete with larger firms.

“Unless they are offering something different,” he said. “The more services they offer – like having a crane on their truck, loading or dismantling services. Those would help.”

Miller is hoping that his company can differentiate itself by sorting materials in separate drop boxes, using the crane and scale, and paying cash in hand.

“With the amount of steel that’s being dumped – it’s just sheer volume,” he said. “It’s not just in the demolition processes, but in the construction processes as well.”