Personnel Notes

Upstate Shredding AddsLane to Staff

Adam Weitsman, president of Upstate Shredding LLC, Owego, N.Y., has announced that Kris Lane has joined his company as general manager of nonferrous operations.

Before joining Upstate, Lane was joint product manager for Schnitzer Steel Industries at the company’s Everett, Mass., port facility. There, he managed daily operations and technology upgrades for a plant that produced up to 4.5 million pounds of nonferrous metals per month, primarily for international export.

“Kris’ 12 years’ experience in the scrap metal business, with career emphasis in technologies increasing nonferrous yields, and his portside export experience is a rare combination,” says Weitsman. “With Kris’ leadership strengths, we’re confident we can turn our nonferrous export team into one of the strongest in the industry.”

Prior to working at Schnitzer, Lane was operations manager for NFR Northeast in Auburn, N.Y., and continued in that position when the company was acquired by the Reserve Management Group in 2003. While at NFR, Lane worked with engineers and technology partners to design and build a heavy media plant employing eddy current separation technologies.

Upstate Shredding, with locations in Owego, Binghamton, Ithaca and Syracuse, N.Y., bills itself as the largest privately owned metal processing and recycling operation on the East Coast. The company recently completed a $25 million investment into its main processing plant in Owego. Upgrades included adding nonferrous separation technology, including a polishing drum magnet system that removes electric motors containing copper armatures; four new ferrous metal separation systems using eddy currents; a dual-energy X-ray separator that identifies metal particles by atomic density; six new dry heavy-media plants to remove copper from aluminum; optical sorters that analyze metals by shape and color to trigger automatic separation; as well as a new $8 million system designed to separate copper wire from its plastic insulation.

“We have made significant investments to improve Upstate’s nonferrous metal recovery system, and with Kris on board we have the best management in place to align with our expansion strategy,” Weitsman says.

Hawn Joins Machinex Industries

Chris Hawn, who has more than 16 years of experience in recycling equipment sales, has been named sales manager for the United States market by Machinex Idustries Inc., Plessisville, Quebec, Canada. According to a Machinex news release, Hawn has contributed to market development for previous employers in the material recovery facility (MRF), municipal solid waste, construction and demolition debris, document destruction and waste-to-energy sectors.

Hawn began his career as a sales manager for Tex America, a North American manufacturer representative of European manufactured equipment for the plastics industry. In 1999, he joined Vecoplan, High Point, N.C., as a regional sales manager for the industrial division. He later became the national sales manager for the waste division and then the director of business development for waste systems.

He graduated from Appalachian State University, Boone, N.C., with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration.

Hawn can be reached by phone at (819) 362-3281 or by e-mail at chawn@mti.machinex.ca.

Greenstar Names Simmons CEO

Greenstar North America, based in Houston, has named Michael Simmons as its chief executive officer.

Simmons, who joined Greenstar in December 2009, brings 20 years of operational leadership experience to the company. Prior to coming to Greenstar North America, he was senior operating partner for Q Investments.

“We are pleased to welcome Michael to Greenstar North America,” says Jim Barry, CEO of NTR plc, Greenstar’s parent company based in Dublin. “With the need for enhanced sustainability efforts continuing to increase worldwide, Michael’s experience and leadership will be of tremendous value to our organization and in delivering on our business objectives. Greenstar is a core business for NTR, and we are strongly committed to the recycling industry over the long term.” 

Simmons replaces Mike Wynne, who had been serving as interim CEO during Greenstar’s search. Wynne will continue in his role as chairman and chief executive of NTR’s International Recycling Operations.

In Memoriam: Joseph Baker

Joseph Baker, former partner of Manitoba Corp., Lancaster, N.Y., has passed away at age 88. Baker, who was a partner in the company until he was 85, began with the company in 1955 and played a key role in Manitoba’s growth.

In a statement, Manitoba says, “For those in the industry who knew Joe (and many do), he was kind, caring and relentless in his pursuit to make new friends and land the next deal. Joe will be greatly missed as a partner, mentor and friend.”

Manitoba Corp. processes nonferrous scrap metals. The company operates chopping lines, shears, wire burning incinerators, briquettors, balers, a small arms ammunition popping oven as well as additional equipment to prepare and process metals.

In addition to its recycling plant in Lancaster, the company also operates a facility in St. Louis.

Angela Bailey Joins SGM Magnetics Corp.

SGM Magnetics Corp., Sarasota, Fla., has announced the addition of Angela Bailey to its North American staff.

“Thanks to our phenomenal growth and continued success, we can bring Angela in to work together with our highly qualified technical department to streamline and coordinate SGM’s parts and service department,” according to Robert Melenick, president of SGM Magnetics Corp.

Bailey brings 10 years of inventory management experience to SGM, having interacted with various recycling industry sectors and the waste-to-energy industry in previous customer care positions.

She will begin managing SGM’s parts and service business unit, including procurement, allocation, distribution, stock levels and selling spare part inventory and service, according to a news release from the company.

SGM says Bailey’s experience “will add to SGM’s commitment in parts supply and servicing through a comprehensive inventory of SGM spare parts as well as our sensor sorter lines and all shredder downstream equipment.”

SGM Magnetics Corp. is the U.S. sales and distribution agent for SGM S.p.A., a developer and manufacturer of magnetic equipment technology for the metal and scrap recycling industries that is based in northern Italy.