The only way I can think of that this might possibly make economic sense is if they've figured out how to get the waste in the form of large cut-out chunks of m

The only way I can think of that this might possibly make economic sense is if they've figured out how to get the waste in the form of large cut-out chunks of metal, rather than chips that oxidize substantially, and can recycle it on site (presumably fairly straightforward, since all the scrap is known to be of the desired alloy composition already).