Recycling Scrap Metals Since 1920
- 1425 9th Street, Modesto CA 95354 | Mon - Fri, 8am - 4:30pm • Sat, 9am - 3pm | No appointment necessary! Drive in, unload, get weighed, unload, and get paid.
Recycling Scrap Metals Since 1920
No Appointment Necessary. Drive in, get weighed, unload, and get paid.
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About
Serving customers at our original location in Downtown Modesto for more than 100 years, we help customers get paid the most for their scrap metals recycling needs. We provide quick and convenient, high quality service.
100 years of recycling scrap metal
From Horse & Buggy to High-Tech Recycling
Founded in 1920 by Lithuanian-Russian immigrant Alex Highiet, Modesto Junk Company has been serving the Central Valley’s scrap metal recycling needs for over a century. What began as one man with a horse and buggy collecting “junk” throughout local farming communities has evolved into a modern, two-acre recycling facility equipped with state-of-the-art processing equipment.
Our company has grown alongside our community, expanding from purchasing rags, bones, and scrap iron in the early days to becoming a leading regional processor of both ferrous and non-ferrous metals. After extensive modernization in the 1990s, our current facility incorporates advanced recycling technology to serve customers locally and internationally.
At Modesto Junk Company, we maintain the same commitment to customer service that has driven our success for nearly 100 years. We continue to live by our core belief that one person’s waste becomes another’s opportunity, helping turn your scrap metal into valuable resources while contributing to environmental sustainability.
Our Facility
From “Save Scrap For Recycling” to “We Want Your Junk”
Our slogans have evolved over the decades, but our commitment to recycling excellence remains the same.
Modesto Junk Company has experienced steady growth since the World War II era, expanding our operations multiple times to meet increasing demand. While we’ve remained rooted at our original location, our facility has grown to span over two acres of modern recycling infrastructure.
In 1994, we undertook a major reconstruction project to build our current state-of-the-art scrap metal and recycling center. Completed in 1995, this modernized facility features advanced processing equipment designed to efficiently handle all types of scrap metal while meeting the highest industry standards for both our local community and beyond.
Today, our facility stands ready to process your materials quickly and professionally, continuing nearly a century of reliable service to the Central Valley.
About the Highiet Family
Alex Highiet
The American Dream took root in Modesto when Alex Highiet, a Lithuanian immigrant who arrived through Ellis Island in 1913, founded our company in 1920. After settling first in Stockton and then moving to Modesto where he married Nettie Zeff, Alex saw opportunity where others saw waste.
Armed with determination and a horse-drawn buggy, Alex traveled throughout the Central Valley’s farming communities, collecting what people then called “junk” – everything from rags and bones to scrap iron, copper, brass, and aluminum. His philosophy was simple but revolutionary: one person’s waste could become another’s opportunity.
From these humble beginnings at our current location, Alex built more than just a business. He established a legacy of turning discarded materials into valuable resources, serving the agricultural region with everything from scrap metal to government surplus materials.
The Highiet family – Alex, Nettie, and their three children Harvey, Martha, and Barry – laid the foundation for what would become over a century of recycling excellence in the Central Valley. Today, we continue Alex’s vision with modern equipment and the same entrepreneurial spirit that started it all.
1425 Ninth Street,
Modesto CA 95354
Mon – Fri: 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Saturday: 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
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