City county and state governments are warned to be on the lookout for a new wave of material thefts. The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc, US trade association for the scrap recycling industry announced that it is seeing an increase in the theft of ferrous infrastructure metals, such as manhole covers and sewer/storm water grates in the past few weeks, joining the list of other metal materials that have been targets of thieves for several months.

Mr Chuck Carr vice president of member services of ISRI said that "Government agencies, police and the public should be on alert that the metal theft epidemic that we have been experiencing for the past two years has now apparently spread to ferrous materials.”

Mr Carr said that “ISRI has worked hard over the past two years to develop tools to help law enforcement fight material theft crimes and to educate stakeholder groups about the need for comprehensive efforts to solving this problem. The best place to stop a metal theft crime is to stop it before it occurs. Loss of infrastructure metals not only causes a significant financial burden to our communities, it can create serious safety problems for the public at large."

Mr Carr said that “ISRI maintains a Theft Alert System that allows the association to notify scrap yards when material theft is reported to the association. This tool, available free to any law enforcement agency, is vitally important to help recyclers identify stolen material.”

Mr George Adams president of SA Recycling said that "It is nearly impossible to tell the difference between stolen material and legitimate material that comes to a scrap yard unless you know to be on the lookout. Despite the recent rash of theft, stolen material makes up a very small percentage of the material that comes to scrap yards each day. ISRI developed its theft alert system to help police and recyclers identify both the material and the thief."

Mr Adams said that “In the past two years, thieves have targeted a variety of nonferrous material primarily copper, bronze and aluminum. ISRI's theft alert system has received reports of stolen materials as diverse as cemetery urns, copper wiring from rural irrigation systems, and bleachers from ball fields. Recently, the system has begun to receive reports of other target materials. In addition to ferrous metal materials, the system has received reports about the theft of newsprint, cardboard and plastic milk crates.”

He added that “In addition to its theft alert system, ISRI provides a variety of other tools aimed at reducing material theft. The industry created recommended practices for reducing the risk of accepting stolen materials almost two years ago long before the crime became a prominent problem. Those practices include establishing cooperative relationships with police and victims, training police on identifying possible stolen material, working with victims groups to help reduce the risk of theft, improving record keeping and taking identification of sellers to help police track thieves and the materials they steal. The association has also become a member of the National Crime Prevention Council.”

Mr Adams said that "The scrap recycling industry recognizes that it is a stakeholder in reducing material theft. We are working hard to be a part of a solution to a community wide problem."