Equipment report

Upstate Shredding commissions Wendt Corp. to install wire chopping line

Wendt Corp., Buffalo, N.Y., has installed an MTB wire chopping line at Upstate Shredding’s Owego, N.Y., headquarters location. The high-volume chopping line, commissioned in August of 2013, represents the first equipment purchase of its kind for the company, Upstate reports.

In business since 1996, Upstate Shredding is a privately held scrap metal processor based on the East Coast with 15 locations throughout New York and Pennsylvania. The company has expanded in recent years, adding new locations. In 2013 Upstate says it processed approximately 1 million tons of ferrous and 200 million pounds of nonferrous metal.

Upstate Shredding says that as exporting materials outside of the U.S. tightened in recent years, the company saw the potential a chopping line could provide by not only helping to increase its profits but also by providing the ability to further process insulated copper wire from ASR (automobile shredder residue). “Due to problems in exporting to China, due to import restrictions, we needed to be able to process it here in the United States,” says Adam Weitsman, owner of Upstate Shredding – Ben Weitsman.

With the installation of the MTB chopping plant, Upstate Shredding says it has the ability to refine low-grade insulated copper wire from ASR into copper chops that are more than 99 percent pure.

Upstate Shredding says it plans to chop a 12-month backlog of materials and then will move onto processing copper and aluminum insulated wire from its own feeder yards as well as material from other shredder operators.

The wire chopping line features an MTB BDR 2400 prechopper, two BAT 1200 granulators, air density separators and proprietary separation equipment.

“This installation puts North America back in play,” says Tom Wendt, president of Wendt Corp. “This is an upgrade that allows for significantly increased domestic sale of copper, not just for export.”

Wendt Corp. is the exclusive North American distributor for MTB equipment and provides parts and service for the company as well.

MTB, based in France, has more than 30 years of experience manufacturing wire and cable chopping systems. The company is also France’s largest wire processor, processing more than 30,000 tons of copper and aluminum cables annually.

Avis Industrial Corp. acquires Harris

Avis Industrial Corp., a privately held company based in Upland, Ind., with nine subsidiaries throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico, has acquired The Harris Waste Management Group Inc., based in Georgia.

Harris, a manufacturer of ferrous and nonferrous processing equipment, has been providing equipment to the recycling industry for more than 100 years. Its manufacturing facilities are in Baxley and Cordele, Ga., with additional engineering and sales offices in San Antonio and the United Kingdom. The company’s products include balers, shears and auto shredders.

Leland Boren, chairman, president and CEO of Avis Industrial, says, “The Harris name has a strong legacy in the recycling industry, and we want to build on that tradition by manufacturing quality products [and] offering exceptional customer service while at the same time focusing on innovation and new product development.”

Boren says he anticipates no immediate changes at Harris or to the company’s distributor network.

Baling equipment manufacturer American Baler, based in Bellevue, Ohio, has been a subsidiary of Avis since 1979. With the acquisition of Harris, Boren says, “this is an ideal time to find synergies and capitalize on the combined strength of both companies in the baler industry.”

Kenneth Galason, president of Harris, adds, “We are excited to be joining the Avis Industrial Corp. group of companies. The leadership at Avis has vast experience in manufacturing, which we believe will only add to the success of Harris going forward.”

Avis Industrial Corp. is the parent company of nine wholly owned subsidiaries: AI International, Louisville, Ky.; American Baler Co.; Crankshaft Machine Co., Jackson, Mich.; CUMSA Corp., Matamoros, Mexico; Edgerton Forge Inc., Edgerton, Ohio; James Steel & Tube Co., Madison Heights, Mich.; Pacific Forge Inc., Fontana, Calif.; Peninsular Cylinder Co. Inc., Roseville, Mich.; and Sellick Equipment, Harrow, Ontario.

Marathon to sell and service BOA balers in US

BOA Recycling Equipment, headquartered in the Netherlands and part of Stibbe Management Group, has announced a partnership with Marathon Equipment Co., Vernon, Ala., part of Environmental Solutions Group (ESG), Chatanooga, Tenn. Under this partnership, BOA will offer the U.S. market a complete range of its high-capacity baling equipment as well as localized spares and service support through Marathon.

Produced in the Netherlands, BOA balers for recycling and waste processing applications incorporate state-of-the-art technology and are designed to offer low cost of ownership, the company says. The company has been manufacturing equipment for the recycling industry for more than 50 years.

The BOA Impress line of horizontal balers operates with 100 to 250 tons of press force. The company says its Impress balers feature a system of double prepress flaps in addition to offering high bale density and low maintenance requirements. According to BOA, the machines are built for demanding environments and have been used in European recycling applications for more than 40 years.

With the support of Marathon and ESG in providing local service and spares, BOA says it is bringing its high-performance and cost-effective baler solutions to the U.S. market.