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                                                                    EXHIBIT 99.1

                                                                    NEWS RELEASE

April 23, 1998, Hamilton, ON - Philip Services Corp. (NYSE/TSE/ME: PHV)
announced today that, together with its auditors Deloitte & Touche, it has
determined that its financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31,
1997, previously filed in its Annual Report on Form 10-K, did not properly
reflect the results of transactions in the Company's copper operations and as a
result understated the Company's liabilities by an amount estimated to be
approximately US$30 million. The Company has also determined that adjustments to
certain balance sheet accounts of approximately US$5 million are also required.
These transactions resulted in an overstatement of earnings. The US$30 million
liability was discovered when the Company recently paid and satisfied the
obligation associated with this transaction. The Company and Deloitte & Touche
are continuing their examination of these matters and the Company intends to
file an amended Form 10-K upon the satisfactory completion of the review.

Philip Services is an integrated metals and industrial services company with
operations throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Philip provides
steel, copper, and aluminium processing and recovery services, together with
diversified industrial outsourcing services, to all major industry sectors.




Contact:  Teresa Gregoroff                  Media:  Lynda Kuhn
          VP Investor Relations                     VP Corporate Communications 
          (905) 540-6788                            (905) 540-6790
          (905) 540-6789


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