Newsworthy

METALS

American Specialty Alloys to build aluminum mill in Louisiana

American Specialty Alloys (ASA), Columbus, Mississippi, has announced plans to develop and build a $2.4 billion scrap-consuming aluminum mill complex in Pineville, Louisiana, at a site that was formerly a paper mill owned and operated by International Paper (IP). The new facility will produce aluminum for the automotive and aerospace industries.

According to Louisiana Economic Development (LED), Baton Rouge, Louisiana, ASA expects to break ground on the facility later this year, with the complex completed by 2020.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal says, “When the IP mill closed several years ago, we pledged that we would work on securing a project that would bring good jobs back to that location. We are excited that ASA has announced plans to invest in central Louisiana and take advantage of Louisiana’s strong business climate and world-class workforce. We’ll continue working with the company as it prepares to break ground on this facility and help connect our people with great jobs.”

The facility will include a melting and casting mill; hot- and cold-rolling mills for sheet and plate; and annealing, slit and cut-to-length production lines. Mill specifications call for production of 1.3 billion pounds of aluminum per year at full capacity. Its products will be used primarily by automakers as car and truck side panels, doors, hoods and unibody frames.

The facility will rely on aluminum scrap for the majority of its raw material intake, ASA says.

“American Specialty Alloys set out in 2014 to identify a site for its future operations,” says ASA founder, Chairman and CEO Roger Boggs. “We spent considerable time and resources looking at potential candidates across the southern states, a strategic area for our operations, suppliers and customers.”

ASA says it also evaluated sites in Texas, Alabama and Mississippi.

“We studied many factors essential to the project success, including property characteristics, community engagement, workforce readiness and the quality and support of local service providers,” Boggs says. “In Louisiana, we found a high level of coordination and cooperation among state agencies and with local site-service providers. We found the site—actually the home—for ASA’s first ultraclean, advanced, automated, fully integrated flex mill and megasite campus,” he adds.

Louisiana offered ASA an incentive package that included a performance-based grant of $34 million, payable in installments upon the company meeting capacity and payroll targets.

ASA has selected Danieli Group, headquartered in Italy, to provide technology services and mill equipment, while Mississippi-based Yates Construction LLC will build the mill facilities.

 

METALS

Judge dismisses Nucor’s lawsuit against Big River Steel

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Charlotte, North Carolina-based Nucor Steel against Big River Steel (BRS), headquartered in Osceola, Arkansas.

Nucor’s lawsuit sought to halt construction of the BRS steel mill in Arkansas’ Mississippi County over what Nucor, which operates two steel plants in that county, claimed were violations of the federal Clean Air Act.

In its suit, Nucor claimed that after the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality issued the final permit to BRS, Nucor requested a commission review and adjudicatory hearing by the state’s Pollution Control and Ecology Commission.

Pursuant to that request, an administrative hearing officer conducted a four-day evidentiary hearing and issued a 71-page opinion recommending that the commission affirm the issuance of BRS’ permit. The commission adopted that recommendation and affirmed issuance of the permit.

Nucor appealed that decision and also petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to object to the permit.

BRS says it moved to dismiss the complaint because:

• The Clean Air Act does not authorize citizen suits such as Nucor’s, which is a collateral attack on an air permit.
• Nucor lacks Article III standing.
• Nucor’s claims fall outside the zone of interests protected by the Clean Air Act.
• Nucor’s claims are barred by claim and issue preclusion.
• The court should abstain in favor of proceedings before the Arkansas Court of Appeals because the Clean Air Act does not authorize citizen suits such as Nucor’s, which collaterally attacks a facially valid state-issued permit.

In dismissing the charge, U.S. District Judge J. Leon Holmes writes, “The citizen suit provision of the Clean Air Act does not authorize suits such as this one, so this court lacks jurisdiction over Nucor’s complaint. Nucor’s complaint is therefore dismissed without prejudice.”

Following the ruling, BRS, through Baker & Hostetler, a Cleveland-based law firm representing the company, released a statement that reads, “Big River Steel is pleased by the decision of the federal district court to dismiss Nucor Steel-Arkansas’ and Nucor Yamato Steel Co.’s legal challenge to the Big River Steel project that is currently under construction in Arkansas.”

 

TRANSPORTATION, INTERNATIONAL

Parties reach tentative agreement in West Coast ports labor dispute

Cargo handling activities at the 29 Pacific Coast ports in the United States resumed Sunday, Feb. 22, following an agreement between the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) reached with the assistance of the U.S. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez and Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service Deputy Director Scot Beckenbaugh. The five-year contract is tentative and must be voted upon by union members, with ILWU spokesman Craig Merrilees noting the ratification process may take several months as the contract details are voted on by a membership caucus and then by members of individual locals.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee was one of many government officials who expressed relief that a deal was close to being signed, saying, “This is great news for businesses and port workers all along the West Coast. I want to thank the ILWU and the PMA for finding an agreement in principle tonight to settle the dispute that was damaging Washington’s economy. I also want to thank President Obama and Labor Secretary Perez for stepping in and helping get the parties to reach an agreement. I expect we will soon see Washington’s ports once again playing their essential role in our economy.”

Numerous trade groups that have had members negatively affected by the contract negotiations welcomed the tentative agreement.

Robin Wiener, president of the District of Columbia-based Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), released a statement welcoming the progress between the ILWU and PMA. She writes, “Recyclers are pleased that an agreement appears to be in place, ending a dispute that caused significant harm to our industry and others in the manufacturing sector. We thank Congress and the administration for their involvement to get this tentative agreement. Despite the agreement, it will still take several months for operations to return to normal and for recyclers to recover from the damage that was done.”

Weiner continues, “Already facing a drop in prices, recyclers witnessed a decline in exports, which left many forced to cut their workforce and set aside investments needed to grow their business. There may still be long-term consequences we face, such as lost overseas markets. Both sides are encouraged to ratify the agreement quickly and work to restore full operations and begin to clear the backlogs at the ports as soon as possible.”

Peter Friedmann, executive director of the Agriculture Transportation Coalition, District of Columbia, also expressed optimism that a deal was close at hand. “We are extremely pleased with the news that the West Coast port labor dispute is on the verge of ending. We know that even upon ratification, clearing up the congestion will take months. And ultimately, if U.S. agriculture is to recover, we will need to see West Coast ports become more efficient, more productive than they were before the contract expired and the disruption initiated.”

A statement released by District of Columbia-based National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) President and CEO Jay Timmons states, “We are pleased President Obama dispatched Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez to help impress upon the parties the need to resolve the deadlock. We appreciate the engagement of Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and mayors up and down the West Coast to communicate the importance of open and functioning ports to the economy. In addition, we thank all manufacturers from coast to coast for lending their voices to this urgent crisis and our partners at the National Retail Federation for joining with us to raise public awareness and galvanize the public’s support for a swift resolution.”

He adds, “While this agreement is welcome news, there will be significant backlogs to clear, and everyone has a part to help restore confidence that the West Coast and the United States are open for business.”

 

METALS

ArcelorMittal Montreal restructures scrap segment

ArcelorMittal Montreal, headquartered in Contrecoeur, Quebec, has announced that by the second half of 2015 it will restart the auto shredder at its Contrecoeur-Feruni scrap recycling and processing facility at its bar steel operations. Idled in December 2012, the company says the shredder will serve as one of its main scrap processing and sorting operations. Additionally, ArcelorMittal Montreal says it will hire and train 10 employees for its Contrecoeur-Feruni yard .

The company also has announced that it has sold off its Ottawa, Ontario, recycling and processing center and the land and building for its La Prairie, Quebec, recycling and processing center to American Iron & Metal Co., based in Montreal.

The Ottawa sale was effective March 2, 2015, whereas operations in La Prairie are expected to permanently cease July 17, 2015, the company says.

ArcelorMittal Montreal employs about 1,700 people in Contrecoeur, Longueuil and Montreal, Quebec, and in Hamilton, Ontario. It operates a scrap metal conversion and recycling center, one iron-ore reduction plant, two steel plants, three rolling mills and two wire drawing mills. The group has an annual production capacity of more than 2 million tons of steel per year.

ArcelorMittal Montreal is part of ArcelorMittal, a leading integrated steel and mining company, with locations in more than 60 countries.

 

METALS

Signature Group Holdings introduces Real Alloy

Aleris, a Cleveland-based manufacturer of aluminum rolled products, has announced it has completed the sale of its recycling and specification alloys businesses, which operated as Global Recycling and Specification Alloys (GRSA). An affiliate of Signature Group Holdings bought the business for $500 million in cash and $25 million in Signature’s preferred stock.

Signature says the acquired assets will be renamed Real Alloy. The company says Real Alloy is the largest independent consumer of aluminum scrap in the world.

The sale, which was announced Oct. 17, 2014, includes 18 production facilities in North America and six in Europe that offer a range of metal recycling services and specification alloy products.

“The sale of the recycling and specification alloys businesses will allow us to place a stronger focus on aluminum rolled products, ensuring that we are poised to capture the benefit of strong projected growth in a variety of industries, including automotive, aerospace and U.S. building and construction,” says Steve Demetriou, Aleris chairman and CEO. “The recycling and specification alloy businesses are strong and profitable, and we wish Signature and all of our former employees great success in the future.”

Craig Bouchard, Signature CEO, says, “We are delighted to complete this transaction. It is everything we were looking for: a leader in a high-growth industry with a blue-chip customer base and an experienced management team.”

Bouchard adds, “This team built the No. 1 company in its industry, and I welcome the 1,600 employees in 24 plants in North America and Europe to the Signature family.”

Terry Hogan, who serves as senior vice president of GRSA’s North American division, has been appointed president of Real Alloy, while Russell Barr, vice president of GRSA’s European operations, has been named executive vice president of Real Alloy Europe.

 

PAPER

Caraustar completes deal for Newark Group

Austell, Georgia-based Caraustar Industries Inc., a portfolio company of the investment group H.I.G. Capital, has completed the acquisition of The Newark Group Inc.

Caraustar produces 100-percent-recycled paperboard and converted paperboard products in four principal segments: tubes and cores, folding cartons, gypsum facing paper and specialty products.

The Newark Group, based in Cranford, New Jersey, manufactures recycled paperboard, linerboard, industrial tubes, cores and other converted products, including book covers and packaging. The company operates more than 20 manufacturing facilities in North America.

“We are excited to add The Newark Group to our company,” Caraustar President and CEO Michael Patton states. “The combination of these two companies offers a compelling platform for future growth and will make us more competitive in the end use customer segments we serve.”

 

ELECTRONICS

Hugo Neu Recycling announces move

Alan Ratner, president of electronics recycling firm Hugo Neu Recycling (HNR), headquartered in Mount Vernon, New York, has confirmed that the company will relocate one of two divisions currently operating in Mount Vernon to Kearny, New Jersey. He says the move will happen toward the end of April 2015.

“The new New Jersey location will be larger and enable us to attain many new efficiencies,” Ratner says.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority approved a 10-year, $4.5 million Grow New Jersey award to HNR to relocate to Kearny and says the project will yield an estimated net benefit of $9.6 million for the state over 20 years and create 63 new full-time jobs.

“All of the current workforce at the division in New York to be closed will be offered positions in New Jersey,” Ratner says.

According to an article posted to www.westfaironline.com, a Westfair Communications website, the plant will be in the Kearny Point Industrial Park, a property owned by Hugo Neu Recycling’s parent company, Hugo Neu Corp., New York City.

HNR provides end-of-life electronics recycling services for commercial, government and nonprofit institutions.

 

ELECTRONICS

E-Stewards introduces unannounced verification inspections

The Basel Action Network (BAN), Seattle, has introduced its Performance Verification (PV) initiative, which it says is designed “to increase rigor and confidence among stakeholders in its e-Stewards® certification program.” The PV will involve random unannounced on-site facility inspections to verify ongoing day-to-day performance is meeting the e-Stewards Standard, BAN says. The inspections will be in addition to the normal, prescribed yearly scheduled third-party audits performed by accredited certification bodies.

The new pilot program, which BAN says was approved unanimously by the multistakeholder e-Stewards Leadership Council, starts in May. E-Stewards volunteers will lead the program’s development. The call for volunteers was issued the week of March 2 along with a notice of changes to the standard to accommodate the program. The program will be funded by a $250-per-site levy on current e-Stewards recyclers’ auditable sites. BAN says the cost is expected to be more than compensated as increased confidence in the program attracts new enterprise customers.

“The response to this idea from our e-Stewards Certified Recyclers and their customers has been overwhelmingly positive,” says Greg Swan, certification director and e-Stewards interim director. “It’s clear that major enterprise and government customers demand greater accountability from our recyclers in light of the numerous horror stories of private data releases and widespread dumping of toxic e-waste overseas, as well as in local landfills and warehouses.”

Precedence for heightened and unannounced oversight activities exists with many standards already, BAN says, including the Phoenix-based National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) certification for information destruction.

“We seek to provide an opportunity for e-Stewards recyclers to demonstrate they operate every day in accordance with their own management systems and the e-Stewards Standard,” Swan says, adding that it also provides customers with more confidence.

During the inspections, if evidence is discovered that shows day-to-day operations are not in accordance with the standard, appropriate action will be taken to safeguard the brand and to ensure the nonconformance is dealt with in a way that is to commensurate with the gravity of the circumstances discovered, BAN says.

 

PLASTICS

ACC report notes sharp increase in plastic film recycling in 2013

The American Chemistry Council (ACC), Washington, has released its “2013 National Postconsumer Plastic Bag & Film Recycling Report,” which shows recycling of postconsumer plastic film increased by 116 million pounds in 2013 from the prior year. The report notes that a total of 1.14 billion pounds of postconsumer plastic film packaging were recycled in 2013.

According to the report, the 2013 figure is the highest volume of plastic film collected annually since the survey began in 2005. The category includes product wraps, bags and commercial stretch film made primarily from polyethylene (PE).

Report author Moore Recycling Associates Inc., a Sonoma, California-based consulting firm, attributes the growth to a combination of increased collection and more comprehensive reporting.

The increases detailed in the report show that greater collection is taking place among small and midsized businesses and that consumers are bringing more used flexible plastic wraps to at-store collection programs to be recycled.

“We are pleased to see such strong growth in the recycling of polyethylene wraps,” says Steve Russell, ACC vice president of plastics. “These increases highlight the critical role that grocers, retailers and other businesses play in collecting this valuable material.”

To strengthen the efforts to increase film recycling, in recent months, several major brands and retailers have started placing the Sustainable Packaging Coalition’s (SPC’s) store drop-off label on their film packages to remind consumers to bring their used PE wrap to participating grocery and retail stores to be recycled.

In addition, the SPC, along with the Flexible Film Recycling Group and the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers have launched the Wrap Action Recycling Program (WRAP), which is focused on making it easier for state and municipal governments, brands and retailers to increase awareness of opportunities to recycle used PE wrap at local retailers.

The “2013 National Postconsumer Plastic Bag & Film Recycling Report” can be accessed at www.moorerecycling.com/2013_Film_Report2-19.pdf.

 

PLASTICS

ISRI updates plastics specifications

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), Washington, has announced that it has added specifications for nine new plastics grades to its “Scrap Specifications Circular.” The information was added after receiving approval from ISRI’s plastics division and the association’s board of directors.

“The nine new plastics specs were designed to give definition and clarity in the plastics film market,” says Robin Wiener, ISRI president. “As the market for recycled plastics film evolved, ISRI members recognized the need for our specification to reflect their needs and were the driving force behind their adoption.”

The new plastics specifications are:

• premium film, which consists of 100 percent clean, clear, dry, postindustrial LLDPE (low-linear-density polyethylene) or LDPE (low-density polyethylene) film;
• A+ grade film, consisting of 99 percent clean, clear, dry, postcommercial and/or postindustrial LLDPE pallet film;
• A grade film, which consists of 95 percent clean, dry, clear, natural LDPE or LLDPE film from postcommercial or postindustrial sources with minimal HDPE (high-density polyethylene);
• B grade film, which consists of 80 percent clear and up to 20 percent colored clean, postcommercial or postindustrial LDPE and/or LLDPE films with minimal HDPE or strapping allowed;
• C grade film, which consists of 50 percent clear and 50 percent colored dry LDPE or postcommercial or postindustrial LLDPE films, with HDPE or PP (polypropylene) films allowed;
• MRF (material recovery facility) film, which is collected and sorted at a MRF and typically generated from curbside collections, including HDPE grocery/retail bags, LDPE or LLDPE films;
• grocery film, which consists of any mix of clean, dry, grocery, retail, packaging film or dry cleaner bags collected from store return programs;
• agricultural greenhouse film, consisting of PE-based films not used on the ground for agriculture or farming; and
• agricultural ground cover film, consisting of film collected after in-field use.
   

 

MUNICIPAL, PLASTICS

Pilot program targets ‘hard-to-recycle’ plastics

A number of companies partnered with a California city on a three-month pilot project to determine the feasibility of collecting difficult-to-recycle plastic products.

The program, called the Energy Bag Pilot Program, brought together Dow Chemical, the Flexible Packaging Association, Republic Services, Agilyx, Reynolds Consumer Products and the city of Citrus Heights, California, on a project to divert packaging products such as juice pouches, candy wrappers and plastic dinnerware to a plastics-to-fuel facility, where they could be converted into synthetic crude oil.

During the pilot program, which ran from June to August 2014, about 26,000 households in Citrus Heights were provided with purple bags, which the partners called “energy bags.” Residents were asked to collect plastic items not currently eligible for the city’s recycling program. The bags were collected during the community’s regular biweekly recycling collection, sorted at the recycling facility and shipped to Agilyx’s plastics-to-energy plant in Oregon, where they were converted into a fuel product.

Agilyx ultimately was pleased with the quality of the material it received through the program, according to a Dow representative. Even the outthrows that were included in the bags were materials that were not damaging to Agilyx’s system, the Dow representative notes.

Agilyx’s thermal pyrolysis technology, which Dow says is complementary to current mechanical recycling programs, allowed the company to convert the collected plastics into high-value synthetic crude oil, which could be further refined into gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, fuel oil, lubricants and plastic.

Greg Jozwiak of Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics says, “Through the power of this collaboration, we gained significant knowledge regarding an alternative method that complements plastics recycling and shows that nonrecycled plastic waste can be diverted from landfills, extracted for its embedded energy and put to good use.

The final report on the Energy Bag Pilot Program is available at www.dow.com/packaging/pdfs/500-18201.pdf.

 

PLASTICS

Phoenix Technologies broadens rPET pellet applications

Phoenix Technologies International, a producer of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) pellets, has introduced a recycled plastic resin pellet called LNO c melt-formed that it says can be shipped safely in bulk applications.

By making the new rPET pellet available for transporting without losing any of the product’s desired color and low-acetaldehyde attributes found in the original compacted formulation, Phoenix says it is able to widen its potential end markets in the food, beverage and other applications.

Phoenix, based in Bowling Green, Ohio, says the new pellet has been approved by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for a number of applications.

The company’s original LNO c is formed by compacting a finely ground powder. It was designed to provide optimum performance for “through the wall” bottle and container making operations, Phoenix says.

The new LNO c melt-formed pellet has been engineered to handle the rigors of bulk transport for larger, remote users whose production requires truckload or tanker deliveries, according to Phoenix.

“We view this as a hybrid product. Users will now get the handling benefits of a melt-form pellet but still retain the great color and low acetaldehyde characteristics of the original compacted resin,” says Lori Carson, Phoenix Technologies director of commercial operations. “This means that larger volume users who have been evaluating the possibility of using rPET to produce containers now will have a new option.”

Phoenix says the LNO c line offers color and IV (intrinsic viscosity) properties that are greater than traditional rPET food-contact-grade resins. For applications such as water bottles, LNO c resin offers low levels of acetaldehyde, sometimes even below that of virgin resins, the company adds.

Phoenix’s proprietary rPET technology is used at up to 100 percent content to produce a variety of packaging containers and bottles for food, beverages, pharmaceuticals, shampoos, soaps and detergents, the company says. Its resins also are used in nonpackaging applications, such as strapping and carpeting.

 

MUNICIPAL, CONSUMER PACKAGING

P&G joins How2Recycle Label program

Procter & Gamble (P&G) has joined GreenBlue’s Sustainable Packaging Coalition’s (SPC) How2Recycle Label program. P&G, headquartered in Cincinnati, will initially carry the label on its Dawn dishwashing liquid packaging.

P&G joins more than 30 How2Recycle members dedicated to helping consumers recycle their products the correct way with clear and simple on-package instructions, according to the SPC.

Dawn packages will carry the Widely Recycled Label, indicating most U.S. consumers can recycle the PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottle. The label will include a special message, “Empty and Replace Cap,” to ensure consumers recycle the plastic cap with their empty bottle.

 

MUNICIPAL

Progressive Waste Solutions sells assets in New York state

The waste and recycling firm Winters Bros. Waste Systems, headquartered in Westbury, New York, has acquired Canada-based Progressive Waste Solutions’ operations on Long Island, New York. Under terms of the agreement, Winters Bros. has acquired all hauling operations, seven recycling facilities and eight transfer stations in Long Island’s Nassau and Suffolk counties that were previously owned by Progressive Waste.

With the acquired assets, Winters Bros. says it will be able to serve an additional 20,000 customers and multiple municipalities in the two counties.

“The purchase of operations on Long Island creates a strong regional platform for our continued growth,” says Joe Winters, Winter Bros. chairman and CEO. “More importantly, we will be able to help municipalities and customers solve their solid waste problems and increase the recycling infrastructure, which is badly needed to advance recycling across Long Island.”

Winters Bros. operates a network of solid waste operations including multiple hauling companies, 11 recycling centers and 12 transfer stations located in New York and Connecticut.

 

MUNICIPAL

KAB, Ad Council partner with Unilever to promote recycling bathroom products

Keep America Beautiful (KAB), Stamford, Connecticut, and the New York City-based Ad Council, along with the consumer products company Unilever, co-headquartered in Rotterdam and London, have launched a public service announcement (PSA) campaign focusing on the benefits of recycling packaging and containers used in the bathroom.

According to a survey released by the Ad Council, bathroom products such as shampoo bottles, toilet paper rolls and toothpaste boxes are significantly less likely to be recycled than kitchen products. To remedy this, the Ad Council, KAB and Unilever have joined to motivate more Americans to recycle products used in the bathroom.

Together, the groups have launched a new phase of the national “I Want to Be Recycled” communications campaign, featuring a series of broadcast and digital PSAs.

According to research commissioned by the Ad Council, only 10 percent of U.S. residents have a recycling bin in the bathroom compared with 45 percent who have recycling bins in the kitchen. The survey also found that 52 percent of respondents say they have a lack of knowledge about what items can be recycled in the bathroom and 47 percent say they do not think about recycling materials in the bathroom.

“As a society, we’ve come a long way in increasing recycling in the kitchen, but now it’s critical that we carry that progress into the bathroom,” says Jennifer Jehn, KAB president and CEO. “We’re very grateful to Unilever for adding their influential voice to this initiative and are excited to launch another phase of the ‘I Want To Be Recycled’ campaign with the Ad Council to help people give their garbage another life.”

The program was created by the San Francisco-based ad agency Pereira & O’Dell and funded by Unilever. This new phase of the campaign, which launched in 2013, illustrates how products like shampoo bottles can be recycled and transformed into new products. Unilever will extend the campaign this spring.

“As a company that touches more than 2 billion people every day with Unilever products—many of which are found in the bathroom—we have the ability to drive an enormous positive social impact when it comes to changing recycling habits,” says Gina Boswell, executive vice president of personal care, Unilever North America. “Recycling in the bathroom is a simple act that can make a huge difference in our environment and in our supply chain. We’re excited to team up with KAB and the Ad Council to help people reimagine recycling in the bathroom.”

New TV and digital PSAs will direct consumers to the website www.iwanttoberecycled.org, which includes an interactive game on recycling and comprehensive information on recycling throughout the home. The website offers information on which products to recycle, how to recycle products and what the products could potentially transform into when recycled properly. The site also includes infographics and information on how to find a recycling facility nearby.

“People are largely unaware that many products we use in the bathroom can become something new through recycling and instead are continuing to push them to the landfill,” says Lisa Sherman, Ad Council president and CEO. “After four decades of powerful collaboration with KAB, encouraging proper and consistent recycling habits continues to be a crucial message that we are proud to share to help improve the environment for future generations.”

In addition to Unilever, KAB partners in the “I Want To Be Recycled” campaign include the American Chemistry Council, Niagara Bottling, Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries and the city of Austin, Texas.

 

ELECTRONICS

Recleim opens recycling plant

Recleim LLC, headquartered in Atlanta, has officially opened its flagship recycling center in Graniteville, South Carolina. The company says the facility is the first in North America to feature an entirely closed-loop resource recovery process.

Founded in 2012, Recleim provides recycling and resource recovery for refrigerators, other appliances and related electronic scrap.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley says, “When a company decides to build its first plant here in South Carolina, it says a lot about the strength of our state’s business-friendly climate and skilled workforce.”

The $40.6 million facility, to be known as Hickman Mill, is expected to hire nearly 200 people by year end, Recleim says. Using exclusively licensed recycling technologies, Recleim says it will be able to demanufacture household appliances, HVAC systems, vending machines and related electronics into recyclable commodities. The company says its process will recover 95 percent of the components in the appliances it processes and will properly dispose of nonrecyclables.

“At Recleim, we want the community to know that we’re open for business,” says Douglas Huffer, president and general manager of Recleim. “Companies are increasingly aware of their environmental impact and are taking steps to ensure appliances are responsibly recycled at the end of their useful lives. We have the best technology to do that. We thank Gov. Haley for her leadership and making South Carolina a hospitable place for companies like Recleim to do business and create jobs.”

Recleim has announced several processing agreements with BSH Home Appliances Corp., Pepsi Bottling Ventures and the South Carolina Association of Heating and Air Conditioning Contractors.

 

PLASTICS

APR recognizes plastics innovators

The Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers (APR), Washington, has recognized three companies for new products that it says meet or exceed voluntary guidelines under its Critical Guidance Recognition Program. The group also recognized Berry Plastics with its Responsible Innovation Acknowledgment award.

To receive recognition, companies must demonstrate that their innovations are compatible with recycling processes and will not be a source of contamination that will negatively affect plastic scrap quality.

DAK America LLC, Charlotte, North Carolina, was honored for its Array EBM 5862 resin, which has been designed to have the melt strength and slow crystallization rate required to produce large handleware containers through extrusion blow molding.

The APR recognized Plastipak Packaging, Plymouth, Michigan, for its two-color direct object printing technology on a pigmented copolymer high-density polyethylene (HDPE) bottle, which eliminates the need for label substrates.

The group also recognized Sleever International, based in France, for its LDPET (low density polyethylene terephthalate) shrink sleeve labels. The company launched the product in 2014 after five years of research and development. Sleever says its LDPET product permits complete recycling of sleeved bottles while producing a completely pure recycled resin.

In addition to recognizing the three packaging companies for their efforts, the APR presented its inaugural APR Responsible Innovation Acknowledgment award to Berry Plastics, Evansville, Indiana, for its Versalite cellular polypropylene (PP) cups.

APR says its program directs innovators to conduct production scale evaluations, collect testimonials that address specific questions and to publicly describe the innovation to APR members.

“We are pleased and excited that consumer brand companies and their suppliers continue to recognize the importance of utilizing APR Guidance Documents when creating new innovations for plastic packaging,” says Steve Alexander, APR executive director. “These guidance documents are the industry-tested models to ensure new innovations do not contaminate or interfere with a container’s or package’s ability to be recycled. They are a critical component to our ultimate goal to increase supply and reduce contamination of material available for recycling.”

 

TIRES

Pyrolyx to partner with CH2E Group

Pyrolyx AG, a Munich-based firm involved in the recovery of carbon black from scrap tires, has announced a partnership with Colorado-based CH2E Group. CH2E Group owns what it calls the largest tire landfill in the United States with a volume of roughly 600,000 tons.

According to the letter of intent for a future partnership signed Feb. 18, 2015, Pyrolyx will build a production plant on CH2E’s site in Hudson, Colorado. CH2E will provide shredded scrap tires and the land required to build the plant.

Pyrolyx’s thermal depolymerization system is designed to convert used tires into diesel fuel, activated carbon and steel. The firm says its activated carbon is formulated to be used in carbon injection systems or where stringent flue emission controls are needed.

Commissioning is scheduled for 2016, after which Pyrolyx, together with CH2E, will have the right to build further production lines for the recovery of carbon black from end-of-life tires.

 

TIRES

Liberty Tire Recycling agrees to restructuring plan

Liberty Tire Recycling Holdco LLC, Pittsburgh, and its subsidiaries have reached an initial agreement with their financial sponsor, bondholders and banks for financial restructuring to reduce ongoing debt obligations. Upon completion of the restructuring, the company says it will emerge with a stronger balance sheet, more financial flexibility, a focused strategy and a solid customer base.

“Today marks the start of a new beginning for our company,” says Bill Fry, president and CEO of Liberty Tire Recycling Holdco. “We have the people, strategy and customers to execute on our plans, and now we have the right financial capacity.”

Fry continues, “We greatly appreciate the continued support of our valued partners, suppliers and customers who have been critical to our success throughout the last several months as we have worked on our financial restructuring.”

Ron Carlson, Liberty Tire CFO, says, “This restructuring will allow us to continue to make significant capital investments in our plants and equipment, capitalize on new market opportunities and continue to grow.”

The restructuring is subject to terms and conditions and likely will be completed before the fourth quarter of this year, Liberty says.