Newsworthy

METALS

Goldman Sachs sells warehouse division

The global financial firm Goldman Sachs Group Inc., headquartered in New York City, has completed the sale of its Metro International Trade Services business to a subsidiary of Reuben Bros., a private equity and real estate investment and development firm. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Metro International is a global warehouse operator specializing in nonferrous metals storage for the London Metal Exchange (LME). In addition to its headquarters in Detroit, the company has offices in Long Beach, California; New Orleans; and Trieste, Italy.

Metro International’s sale comes after numerous lawsuits brought by representatives of the aluminum industry claiming the financial firm’s aluminum warehousing strategy gave it unfair control over supply and pricing for the metal and alleging the company hoarded aluminum.

According to a Financial Times article, Metro International has nearly 30 warehouses in the U.S. that contain LME-certified aluminum stock.

Reuben Bros., with offices in London, New York and Switzerland, has previous experience in the United Kingdom metals warehousing market and before that was involved in Russia’s aluminum industry.

 

LEGISLATION & REGULATIONS

EPA finalizes recycling safeguards for hazardous secondary materials

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says it has finalized new safeguards that promote responsible recycling of hazardous secondary materials and demonstrate a step forward in promoting recycling innovation.

The EPA’s Definition of Solid Waste (DSW) final rule modifies its 2008 DSW rule to protect human health and the environment from the mismanagement of hazardous secondary material while promoting sustainability through the encouragement of safe and environmentally responsible recycling of the materials.

The EPA says it conducted an environmental justice analysis of the DSW rule, examining the location of recycling facilities and their proximity to and potential effect on adjacent residents. The methodology and scope were developed through public engagement and an expert peer review process, the EPA says. The analysis identified regulatory gaps in the 2008 rule that could negatively affect communities adjacent to third-party recyclers, including disproportionately impacting minority and low-income populations.

The EPA says the new rule includes several provisions that result in resource conservation and economic benefits by encouraging certain types of in-process recycling and remanufacturing:

• The rule addresses significant regulatory gaps in the 2008 rule by requiring off-site recycling at a facility with a RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) permit or verified recycler variance, which will allow EPA and the states to verify that it has the equipment and trained personnel to safely manage the material, adequate financial assurance, is prepared to respond in case of an emergency and can demonstrate actual recycling. The new verified recycler exclusion includes a public participation requirement for recyclers seeking variances so that communities are notified prior to the start of recycling operations.
• The rule affirms the legitimacy of the pre-2008 DSW exclusions, such as the scrap metal exclusion, and does not change the regulatory status of material legitimately recycled under these long-standing exclusions.
• It includes a revised definition of legitimate recycling that reaffirms the legitimacy of in-process recycling and of commodity-grade recycled products, such as metals.
• The rule retains the exclusion for recycling under the control of the generator, including recycling on site, within the same company and through certain types of toll manufacturing agreements, recognizing those generators that follow good business practices by taking responsibility for their recycling and maintaining control of their hazardous secondary materials.
• The final rule includes a targeted remanufacturing exclusion for certain higher-value hazardous spent solvents that are being remanufactured into commercial-grade products. This allows manufacturers to reduce the use of virgin solvents, resulting in economic and environmental benefits, including energy conservation and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
   

Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for EPA Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, says, “This important rule gives communities a voice in the decisions that impact them, promotes safe and responsible recycling of hazardous secondary materials and conserves vital resources while protecting those most at risk from the dangers of hazardous secondary materials mismanagement. This innovative rule demonstrates that protecting communities and leveraging economic advantages for sustainable recycling and materials manufacturing can go hand in hand.”

More information can be found at www.epa.gov/waste/hazard/dsw/rulemaking.htm.

 

METALS, INTERNATIONAL

BIR applauds OECD proposals on steel

The Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), a Brussels-based recycling association, has welcomed the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD’s) proposals of multilateral action to counter the impact of export restrictions on steelmaking. The proposal was introduced at an OECD workshop recently held in Cape Town, South Africa, which highlighted the negative impact that export restrictions have on the industries countries are looking to protect and the efficiency gains possible from their removal upstream and downstream of steelmakers.

The BIR said export restrictions introduced to protect a country’s primary and secondary raw materials supply could jeopardize the viability of the mining and the scrap supply sectors. Access to cheap domestic scrap created by export restrictions could lead to uncompetitive plants remaining in operation and serve as a deterrent to investment for the future. Furthermore, the BIR noted, such restrictions mean governments must arbitrate between industry sectors across the same value chain.

According to the BIR, making export restrictions more transparent is the first step toward their removal because only then can alternative policies be determined. The best way forward is the simultaneous multilateral removal of export restrictions, the organization said. The time was ripe to seize the opportunity created by the oversupply of steelmaking raw materials in the next few years.

Compared with other sectors, the BIR said, the global steel industry is most affected by trade-restrictive measures and the risk of trade friction in the sector has increased lately. The industry is particularly susceptible to protectionist measures owing to its history of subsidies and excess capacity, the BIR added.

During the Cape Town meeting, a BIR representative explained that the most common reasons given for introducing export restrictions are to strengthen the competitive position of national processing industries and to enhance government revenue. Regarding the latter, better alternative policies existed that did not deter investment, the representative said.

Steel accounts for more than 40 percent of countervailing duty initiations for nearly a quarter of antidumping cases and for more than 15 percent of safeguard actions, according to the OECD, which said avoiding further escalation of trade actions was necessary.

Ross Bartley, BIR environmental and technical director, who attended the workshop, said, “While the trend towards more export restrictions is currently the case, this OECD workshop has now made the case for multilateral action to reduce such restrictions in order to benefit the steel industry worldwide.”

He continued, “The slower alternative is for countries to remove export restrictions through bilateral trade agreements. The difficulty is that almost all steelmakers and their governments would need to be convinced of the benefits to take multilateral action and to take that multilateral action in order to get those increased benefits to more steelmakers more quickly.”

The meeting was organized by governments participating in the OECD Steel Committee and South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry. The workshop brought together nearly 100 government and steel industry value chain representatives with the aim of assessing emerging market trends and policy developments affecting trade in steelmaking raw materials, achieving a better understanding of the impact trade-restrictive raw material policies have on the global steel industry and exploring policy approaches that would improve the long-term efficiency and functioning of steel markets.

It also was noted at the event that local export restrictions often were being justified on the basis of historical experiences of the industrialization of Europe and North America but that such experiences did not match current business practices. The overriding conclusion was that worldwide export restrictions had been more effective as an investment deterrent than as an industrialization incentive.

BIR said OECD modeling demonstrates that the simultaneous abolition of export restrictions on major steel raw materials would increase trade, reduce production costs and expand global supply of steel raw materials. A dual benefit would be realized if the steelmakers in the countries facing relief from restrictions also were exporters.

 

LEGISLATION & REGULATIONS

AF&PA releases statement on EPA’s reconsidered Boiler MACT Rule

Donna Harman, president and CEO of the Washington-based American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA), has issued a statement in response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) release of its reconsidered Boiler Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) rule.

“We’re encouraged that EPA has finally put forth this important proposal clarifying several areas of uncertainty that remain with Boiler MACT implementation and the associated capital investments,” Harmon writes. “While we have not yet studied the proposal details, we are pleased that it intends to address the challenges of appropriate standards during startup, shutdown and malfunction and several outstanding technical issues.”

She continues, “We generally support the core aspects of the final rules; however, unexpected delays have perpetuated an atmosphere of uncertainty, and companies are understandably hesitant to invest millions of dollars that could become stranded if the rules change in the home stretch. With this in mind, it’s only fair that EPA [delay] the January 2016 compliance deadline until these reconsidered rules are finalized so that companies can make investment decisions that will help them meet the final standards.”

The reconsideration, which the EPA released Dec. 1, 2014, affects air toxic standards that limit air pollutant emissions from major industrial, commercial and institutional boilers and process heaters; area industrial, commercial and institutional boilers; and commercial and industrial solid waste incinerators (CISWI).

The EPA is looking for public comment on or before March 9, 2015, on the issues the agency has agreed to reconsider.

The proposed changes to the rule applying to major boilers and process heaters can be viewed at www.epa.gov/airquality/combustion/docs/20141201majorboilerfr.pdf, while those to the rule affecting area boilers and process heaters can be viewed at www.epa.gov/airquality/combustion/docs/20141201areaboilerfr.pdf.

 

PAPER

Quincy Recycle acquires plant assets from Imperial Paper Stock

Quincy Recycle, a full-service commercial recycling firm headquartered in Quincy, Illinois, has acquired the plant and plant assets of Imperial Paper Stock Co., Bridgeton, Missouri. (Quincy Recycle was profiled in the August 2011 issue of Recycling Today, www.RecyclingToday.com/rt0811-quincy-recycle-customer-driven-programs.aspx.)

Quincy Recycle, with locations in Quincy and Alsip, Illinois; New Haven, Indiana; and Bridgeton, Missouri, says the acquisition will broaden its service area in the Midwest.

“Quincy Recycle is committed to adding value and solving problems for industrial generators of waste in the St. Louis metro area,” says President Bryan Stokes.

“Chad Hoener, general manager of our Bridgeton facility, has a proven track record of success in helping our clients meet their sustainability goals, while providing outstanding leadership to our associates,” Stokes adds.

The purchase will provide manufacturers and other customers within a 150-mile radius with multicommodity recycling and sustainability solutions.

In related news, Quincy also has acquired a building in West Bend, Wisconsin, that was formerly occupied by Nationwide Recycling and says it should be operating by the end of the first quarter of 2015.

METALS

Cohen division acquires Wise Recycling location

The Baker Iron and Metal division of Cohen Recycling, Middletown, Ohio, has acquired Wise Recycling of Lexington, Kentucky. The purchase from Wise Recycling, Muscle Shoals, Alabama, is designed to increase Baker’s market share in Kentucky, Cohen Recycling says.

According to the company, the former Wise Recycling plant in Lexington has been closed. Baker Iron and Metal has retained the plant’s employees and will work from the two existing Baker locations within Lexington.

“We are very excited about the opportunity to earn the business of Wise’s customer base and promise to provide a rewarding experience to everyone that recycles with us,” says Ken Cohen, president of Cohen Recycling.

LEGISLATION & REGULATIONS

APBA seeks to halt California single-use plastic bag ban

The American Progressive Bag Alliance (APBA), Washington, says it has obtained more than 800,000 signatures from California voters that will allow opponents of SB 270 to introduce a referendum on the 2016 ballot, a process that requires 500,000 signatures from California voters.

In a statement, Lee Califf, APBA executive director, says, “We are confident the Secretary of State’s office will verify the required 504,760 signatures to qualify the referendum for the November 2016 ballot.”

He continues, “We are pleased to have reached this important milestone in the effort to repeal a terrible piece of job-killing legislation and look forward to giving California voters a chance to make their voice heard at the ballot box in 2016,” he adds.

Also joining in the call to repeal the legislation is the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA), Washington, which supports the U.S. forest products and paper industry.

While the main focus of the bill has been the ban on single-use plastic bags, the AF&PA points out that SB 270 also imposes a 10-cent-minimum tax on paper bags and requires what the AF&PA says are “onerous postconsumer recycled content criteria on paper bags.”

In a statement, AF&PA Vice President Cathy Foley says, “We oppose fees and bans on paper packaging and were disappointed that Gov. Brown signed SB 270 into law. Paper bags are made from a renewable resource, are 100 percent recyclable and have a high recovery rate compared to bags made from competing materials. Taxing them implies that they are part of the environmental problem.

“Paper bags are a sustainable packaging option for consumers, and we support Californians’ right to make the final decision on SB 270,” she continues.

Brown signed SB 270, authored by Sen. Alex Padilla, into law Sept. 30, 2014, saying, “This bill is a step in the right direction—it reduces the torrent of plastic polluting our beaches, parks and even the vast ocean itself. We’re the first to ban these bags, and we won’t be the last.”

The legislation prohibits grocery stores and pharmacies from distributing single-use plastic bags after July 2015 and enacts the same ban for convenience stores and liquor stores the following year. It also will provide up to $2 million in competitive loans—administered by CalRecycle—to businesses transitioning to the manufacture of reusable bags.

CONFERENCES & EVENTS

NRC announces Sustainable Materials Management Summit

The National Recycling Coalition (NRC), Washington, has announced its Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Summit May 12-13, 2015, at the University of Maryland in College Park. The one-and-a-half day summit is intended to launch a national dialogue about sustainable management of discarded materials in the United States and is co-hosted by the Syracuse Center for Sustainable Community Solutions, the NRC says.

“The summit aims to enrich the value and role of sustainable materials management initiatives in communities across the United States,” says NRC board President Mark Lichtenstein. “Our ultimate goal will be to assist in the acceleration of SMM as a method of choice for managing discarded materials through action-oriented strategies intended to promote SMM throughout North America.”

The NRC says the summit will assemble 200 leaders on issues around how natural resources are extracted, used and managed. NRC says it will develop a national plan based on a facilitated dialogue among a various stakeholders.

A broad advisory committee that represents the reuse, recycling and composting sectors is helping to organize the event, the NRC says.

The NRC is a nonprofit group focused on promoting and enhancing recycling in the U.S.

 

PAPER

Cascades to sell boxboard operations

The forest products company Cascades Inc., Kingsey Falls, Quebec, has reached an agreement to sell its North American boxboard manufacturing and converting assets to Graphic Packaging Holding Co., Marietta, Georgia, for $44.9 million.

The Cascades assets to be sold are:

• a mill in East Angus, Quebec, that manufactures recycled coated boxboard for the production of folding cartons;
• a three-ply coated boxboard mill in Jonquière, Quebec, that can use either recycled fiber or virgin pulp;
• a plant in Winnipeg, Manitoba, that manufactures folding cartons;
• a plant in Mississauga, Ontario, that manufactures high-quality graphic packaging; and
• a plant in Cobourg, Ontario, that makes flexographic boxboard containers.
   

“Today, Cascades is announcing an important decision that once again signals its commitment to refocusing its activities in the strategic sectors in which it excels,” says Mario Plourde, Cascades president and CEO. “This transaction follows in the wake of a number of other actions taken during the course of [2014], with a view to reducing our debt load and focusing our investments in certain core packaging sectors, as well as in the tissue paper and recovery sectors. It is important to take note that today’s announcement does not affect our European boxboard operations.”

David Scheible, Graphic Packaging chairman, president and CEO, says, “The acquisition of Cascades’ Norampac paperboard assets enhances our position in North American folding cartons and enables us to extend our customer reach in Canada.

“The transaction is a continuation of our acquisition strategy to grow integrated folding carton converting volumes in key geographies and end markets. These assets will broaden our customer base and allow us to offer our current customers a wider range of products,” he adds.

The acquisition is subject to standard closing conditions and regulatory review and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2015, Cascades says.

LEGISLATION & REGULATIONS

NW&RA applauds move to extend tax benefits

The National Waste & Recycling Association (NW&RA), Washington, says it welcomes the decision by Congress and President Barack Obama to extend a number of expiring tax incentives for the 2014 calendar year.

Obama signed H.R. 7551, also known as the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014, into law in mid-December after passage by Congress. This legislation allowed for a one-year extension of a large package of tax credits that would have otherwise expired at the end of 2013. Those who benefit from these extensions will now be able to apply these credits toward their 2014 tax year filings. Of these extensions, several directly support companies operating in the waste and recycling industry, the NW&RA says.

“Many of our members will benefit from these tax extensions as they prepare to file their 2014 returns,” says Sharon H. Kneiss, president and CEO of NW&RA. “We are particularly pleased with the renewable energy and work opportunity credits that not only reward our industry’s forward-thinking efforts but they also promote the good work of the private waste and recycling sector that American families depend on.”

One major result of H.R. 7551 was a restructuring and extension of the Section 45 production tax credit, which offers credits for the development of renewable energy facilities, including landfill gas facilities. With the extension, any facility under construction prior to Jan. 1, 2015, is now eligible for the credit.

Excise tax credits for alternative fuels and for property dedicated to refueling alternative-fuel vehicles also were extended.

“The renewable and alternative energy extensions afforded by H.R. 7551 empower our industry to continue pushing innovation and improvement in the way we do business,” Kneiss adds.

Also extended was the Work Opportunity Tax Credit for hiring individuals from a number of groups—including veterans, the long-term unemployed and workers on government assistance—and the extension of a “bonus depreciation” allowance on certain business property.

H.R. 7551, originally sponsored by Rep. Dave Camp, went through a series of iterations, amendments and debates before passing by comfortable margins in both the House and Senate, the NW&RA reports.

The NW&RA is a trade association that represents the private sector waste and recycling services industry.

 

METALS

CMC invests in Virginia rebar plant

Metals recycling and steelmaking company Commercial Metals Co. (CMC) says it will invest $12 million to relocate and expand its steel rebar manufacturing operations in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe says, “My top priority as governor is to create a new Virginia economy, and Commercial Metals Co.’s investment in the Fredericksburg region is another step forward in this goal. Virginia is proud to retain a valued employer and corporate partner like CMC, and King George County’s manufacturing site with rail service meets the company’s current growth needs and provides capacity for future expansion.”

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with King George County and the Fredericksburg Regional Alliance on the project. CMC is eligible for rail access funding from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation. Funding and services to support the company’s employee training activities will be provided through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program.

According to the Journal Press of Fredericksburg, approximately 4,200 feet of railroad track will be added near the facility. The rail project will extend the existing CSX rail line serving a portion of the industrial park, estimated at $800,000. The county agreed to provide up to $150,000 toward the rail line improvements.

 

PAPER

Catalyst Paper closes machine at British Columbia mill

The forest products company Catalyst Paper, based in Richmond, British Columbia, has announced its decision to indefinitely curtail its No. 9 paper machine, one of three machines at the company’s Powell River, British Columbia, paper mill operation.

Catalyst Paper says its decision is solely market related. The company is facing a lack of orders and a declining market for the specialty paper manufactured on paper machine No. 9, which the company temporarily curtailed Oct. 27, 2014.

In addition to specialty paper, the Powell River mill produces newsprint and uncoated mechanical specialty papers that are used in catalogues, magazines, newsletters, inserts, flyers and high-volume weekend newspaper magazines, the company says.

Joe Nemeth, Catalyst president and CEO, says, “This is a difficult but necessary decision that supports Catalyst’s commitment to align mill operations and production with market demand.”

He continues, “We are committed to making the Powell River operation successful for the long term and will be working with our employees, leadership and the unions on a plan to make improvements to secure our sustainability.”

Catalyst operates five mills across North America and has annual production capacity of 2.1 million tons.