Nonmetallics Department

MBA Polymers Inc. of Richmond, Calif., and Guangzhou Iron and Steel Enterprises Holdings Ltd. (GISE) of Guangzhou, China, have formed a joint venture called GISE-MBA New Plastics Technology Co. Ltd. The company will build and operate a state-of-the-art plastics recycling facility in the Nansha Development area of Guangzhou that will produce 40,000 tons per year by the beginning of 2005.

The new company will process highly mixed plastics resulting from the legislated take-back and recycling of durable goods, such as appliances and electrical equipment. China is expected to implement extended-producer-responsibility legislation similar to the take-back programs in Japan, Taiwan, Korea and the European Union regulating the recycling of these products.

MBA, which owns 55 percent of the joint venture operation, has operated several generations of a large pilot plant at its Richmond headquarters for more than six years, producing and selling recycled plastics on a commercial scale. The new plant, however, will be the first large-scale commercial plant that uses MBA’s advanced technology.

MBA CEO and co-founder Mike Biddle says, "China is the second largest consumer of plastics in the world and imports more plastics than any country in the world. Its need for plastics is also growing faster than any country in the world. Rather than build expensive and energy-consuming chemical plants, our company provides a way for China to make the plastics it needs for its growth, but at significantly lower economic and environmental costs."

MBA is considered the world leader in the recycling of plastics from end-of-life durable products. In 2002, MBA won the Edison Award for Innovation and was identified as one of America’s most innovative companies by Inc. Magazine. (For more information on MBA Poylmers, please see "Finding a Home" in the November 2002 issue of Recycling Today.)

GISE, with sales of more than $1 billion in U.S. dollars annually, is the largest steel producer in southern China. In addition to operating steel mills, GISE was the first company in China to establish a metal shredding and recycling operation and is the largest importer of scrap steel in southern China.

The Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society, the Rubber Manufacturers Assoc. and the Rubber Pavements Assoc. are partnering with the National Asphalt Pavement Assoc., the National Center for Asphalt Technology and the Asphalt Institute to launch the first joint rubber and asphalt industries conference.

The event will be May 19-20 at the Amway Grand Hotel, Grand Rapids, Mich., and is designed to facilitate the expanded use of rubber-modified asphalt by encouraging discussion between several industries and government agencies.

For additional information or to register electronically, visit www.rubber.org.

The recycling rate for rigid plastic containers in Oregon dropped in 2002 to 26.2 percent, which is barely above a state mandated 25-percent annual recovery rate, according to a report issued by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).

The 26.2 percent rate for 2002 is nearly a 5 percent decrease from 2001’s 31.1 percent rate and is the lowest recorded since DEQ began calculating the rates in 1993.

Peter Spendelow, DEQ solid waste specialist, says the sharp decline can be attributed to three main factors. First, production of plastic containers that show relatively low recycling in Oregon, such as non-deposit water bottles, is increasing. Secondly, the recycling rate for plastic beverage containers that can be recycled under the Oregon Bottle Bill declined slightly. A third factor in the declining recovery rate involves commingling and processing of recyclable materials. As a result, an increasing number of the plastic bottles either remain in the paper going to paper mills or become sorting residue that is disposed of at the recycling facility, Spendelow says.

DEQ’s Rigid Plastic Container Recycling Rate Report is available on DEQ’s Web site at www.deq.state.or.us/wmc/solwaste/rpc2004.html  or by calling William Alsdorf, DEQ Land Quality Division, Portland, at (503) 229-5913.