Newsworthy

INTERNATIONAL, METALS

Metal Recycling Association of India negotiates delay on scrap loading regulation

The Mumbai-based Metal Recycling Association of India (MRAI) has negotiated a delay in the implementation of a regulation in India that requires overseas scrap shippers to record videos of their container loading processes.

According to an Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) email to its members, the regulation, which originally went into effect April 1, 2015, has been delayed until May 1, 2015.

“The MRAI, who had just left an 11-hour meeting with India’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), [says] the DGFT has postponed the effective date for the new rules until May 1, 2015,” ISRI wrote to its members in an April 9 email.

“ISRI, along with others, sent letters to the highest levels of Indian government, including Prime Minister Modi, urging them to reconsider some of the requirements that were added to the new PSI (preshipment inspection) rules,” says ISRI. “It is our understanding the meeting was very productive and another meeting has been scheduled for April 30th, at which point it is hoped that most of the onerous requirements in the new rule will be eliminated. We also understand that the operative date for whether a shipment is controlled by the existing or new PSI rules will be the bill of lading date.”

MRAI Secretary General Amar Singh, in an April 7, 2015, memo to member companies, says the association met with officials from the DGFT on that day to explain “the difficulties faced by exporters, importers and PSICs (Pre-Shipment Inspection Certificate inspectors) of implementing the new procedures.” Singh says the MRAI “conveyed [to the DGFT] that it is not practical to submit video recordings, etc.”

Forms of scrap covered by the new procedure include iron, steel, copper, brass, nickel, aluminum, zinc, tin and magnesium.

ISRI, in an earlier memo to its members, says the regulation is “likely to cause substantial challenges for shipments already on their way to India, as well as for future shipments.”

METALS

Alcoa to acquire RTI International Metals

Alcoa, with headquarters in Pittsburgh and New York City, has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire RTI International Metals Inc., Pittsburgh, a global supplier of titanium and specialty metal products and services for the commercial aerospace, defense, energy and medical device markets. Alcoa says it will purchase RTI in a stock-for-stock transaction with a value of $1.5 billion.

Alcoa says the purchase of RTI strengthens its aerospace portfolio by expanding its range of titanium offerings and advanced technologies and materials.

“Alcoa is accelerating its value-add growth engine by acquiring titanium leader RTI,” says Klaus Kleinfeld, Alcoa chairman and CEO. “We are combining two innovators in materials science and process technology, shifting Alcoa’s transformation into a higher gear. RTI expands our aerospace portfolio market reach and positions us to capture future growth to deliver compelling value for customers, shareholders and employees.”

RTI shareholders will receive 2.8315 Alcoa shares for each RTI share, representing a value of $41 per RTI share based on Alcoa’s closing price March 6, 2015. The transaction has an enterprise value of $1.5 billion, including $330 million of RTI cash on hand and up to $517 million in RTI’s convertible notes, according to Alcoa.

Alcoa says the RTI acquisition will offer it financial benefits with net synergies of about $100 million in 2019, primarily driven by procurement and productivity improvements, leveraging Alcoa’s global shared services and driving profitable growth. The company says it expects RTI to contribute $1.2 billion in revenues in 2019, up from $794 million generated in 2014, with 65 percent of revenue supported by contracts over the next five years. Alcoa says it expects RTI to reach profitability of 25 percent EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) margin in 2019, up from 14.5 percent in 2014.

Alcoa says its purchase of RTI is expected to enable it to capitalize on strong growth in the commercial aerospace sector. The company projects a compounded annual global aerospace market growth rate of 5 percent to 6 percent through 2019 and sees a current nine-year production order book for commercial jets at 2014 delivery rates.

RTI grows Alcoa’s pro forma 2014 annual aerospace revenue by 13 percent, up from $5 billion to $5.6 billion, according to Alcoa. RTI is expected to increase Alcoa’s 2014 pro forma aerospace revenue to 37 percent of value-add sales, up from 35 percent, the company adds. Alcoa’s aerospace business is the largest contributor to its value-add businesses.

Eighty percent of RTI’s revenue in 2014 was from the aerospace and defense industries, with the balance mainly split between other markets, complementing Alcoa’s growth markets, the company says.

The transaction, which has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies, remains subject to customary conditions and receipt of regulatory approvals and RTI shareholder approval. Alcoa and RTI say they expect to obtain all required regulatory clearances and approvals to close the transaction in three to six months from the March 9 announcement.

PLASTICS

SPI touts international plastics recycling efforts

SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association, Washington, has outlined ways it supports “sustainability programs that promote recycling and recovery of plastics materials while conserving resources in manufacturing through established best practices and educational campaigns.”

During a press event at NPE2015: The International Plastics Showcase, held in Orlando, Florida, in late March, William R. Carteaux, SPI president and CEO, said, “Appropriate recovery and reuse of plastics materials translates into worldwide business opportunities, underscored by a heathy environment that protects our future generations.”

SPI hosts NPE every three years.

The trade association announced at NPE2015 that it will host an annual recycling conference, the Re|Focus Recycling Summit & Expo, in the years between NPE exhibitions. The inaugural SPI recycling summit will be April 25-27, 2016, in Orlando and will include an exhibit hall.

Working in partnership with its Recycling Committee, SPI said the trade association and other stakeholders will develop sessions focused on the challenges in plastics manufacturing and design, addressing the supply chain, manufacturing, regulatory and labeling issues and corporate sustainability trends.

“Re|Focus is truly an industry-supported conference that’s already generated a broad range of interest across the supply chain, encompassing recyclers, brand owners, processors and equipment manufacturers,” Carteaux said at a separate press conference during NPE2015.

Regarding its international efforts, SPI said it is working to harmonize plastics machinery safety standards with support from the VDMA, a German engineering federation. The two groups have commissioned a risk assessment study of injection molding machines designed to evaluate the need for a mechanical device or jam bar, a requirement not included in some national standards, the trade association says.

METALS

Horsehead to expand INMETCO recycling plant

Horsehead Holding Corp., based in Pittsburgh, says its International Metals Reclamation Co. (INMETCO) subsidiary plans to expand its recycling facility in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania. Horsehead says it will invest up to $10 million on the INMETCO expansion project.

Horsehead, which produces specialty zinc and zinc-based products, says the investment will allow INMETCO to better meet the increased demand for its recycling services by providing about 15 percent more capacity to process additional specialty steel scrap and batteries.

According to www.inmetco.com, the company accepts a wide range of nickel-, chromium-, iron-, molybdenum- and cadmium-bearing materials.

PAPER

PSI Specifications Summit attracts nearly 150 attendees

The Paper Stock Industries (PSI) Chapter of the Washington-based Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) hosted a Specifications Summit Feb. 25-26, 2015, in Dallas that attracted nearly 150 people from more than 70 organizations. The Summit was held after Resource Recycling’s annual Plastics Recycling Conference, which ran from Feb. 24-25.

During the summit, industry stakeholders had the opportunity to express their opinions on the paper grade specifications as listed in the “2014 ISRI Scrap Specifications Circular.”

Feb. 26 began with opening statements from Sandy Rosen of Roseville, Michigan-based GLR Advanced Recycling and president of PSI; ISRI President Robin Weiner; and Myles Cohen of Conyers, Georgia-based Pratt Industries and vice president of PSI.

Following the opening remarks, attendees were divided into groups for breakout sessions. The groups included MRF (material recovery facility) operators, recovered paper packers, exporters, paper mills, brokers, trade organizations and equipment manufacturers.

The first breakout session focused on OCC (old corrugated containers) grades as described in the circular. The key items discussed included the need for an industry protocol for moisture testing and a desire for an updated list of prohibitives, outthrows and contaminants. Some participants also proposed adding new grades of OCC, such as “short fiber OCC” or “grocery OCC.”

The second breakout session focused on specifications for old newspapers (ONP) and mixed paper grades. Several groups proposed that ONP and mixed paper should be combined into a single grade.

Following the breakout sessions, facilitators and summit attendees gathered, with the facilitators consolidating and presenting the information discussed in their sessions.

PSI says specifications committees began being formed in April 2015.

MUNICIPAL

Report examines changing recycling stream

A report sponsored by the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC’s) Plastics Division and released in March provides insights into recent and anticipated changes in municipal solid waste streams and what they could mean for the recycling industry.

“Making Sense of the Mix: Analysis and Implications for the Changing Curbside Recycling Stream” focuses mainly on plastics and is designed to promote greater understanding among government, material recovery facility (MRF) operators and waste management firms that are working to generate value from postconsumer materials.

Over the last decade, recyclers have had to adjust to a range of changes, from the sharp decline in newsprint to the adoption of larger carts and single-stream collection. The report provides a look at factors that have shaped today’s waste stream and trends that are likely to influence the waste stream in the years ahead. These include growing consumer demand for recycled content in products and packaging; the potential removal of organics, such as food waste, from municipal solid waste; and growing interest in mixed waste processing facilities.

“Plastics makers recognize the critical role recyclers play in the value chain and in sustainable living,” says Steve Russell, vice president of plastics for the ACC, Washington.

Oregon-based Green Spectrum Consulting LLC and Resource Recycling Inc., Portland, Oregon, authored the report.

FERROUS

US Steel invests in Fairfield Works

United States Steel Corp. (U.S. Steel), headquartered in Pittsburgh, has announced two capital investments valued at $277.5 million that it will undertake at its Fairfield Works site in Birmingham, Alabama.

In addition to constructing what U.S. Steel says is a technologically advanced electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking facility, the company will build a tubular products coupling facility at the Fairfield Works site. The coupling facility will manufacture couplings with premium, semipremium and American Petroleum Institute (API) connections for customers in the oil and gas industries.

The addition of the EAF is part of U.S. Steel’s larger transformation, which it calls The Carnegie Way. This change involves initiatives designed to improve its customer intimacy, operating flexibility, cost structure and raw materials position, U.S. Steel says.

The company says its new tubular coupling facility is an integral part of its plan to develop and manufacture oil country tubular goods (OCTG) products with premium connections.

U.S. Steel says it has received the necessary authorization and economic incentives from Jefferson County, Alabama, to invest $230 million to construct the EAF in place of the facility’s existing blast furnace and an additional $47.5 million to build the coupling facility.

Construction of the EAF will begin in the second quarter of 2015. The company says it expects the project to be completed in the third quarter of 2016. U.S. Steel says construction of the coupling facility will begin in the second quarter of 2015 and should be completed in the first quarter of 2016.

U.S. Steel will continue to operate the Fairfield Works steelmaking and finishing operations during construction.

In other news, U.S. Steel announced the temporary idling of its Granite City Works operations in Granite City, Illinois. As the primary flat-roll supplier of U.S. Steel’s Lone Star Tubular Operations, the shutdown is described as part of the company’s ongoing adjustment of steelmaking operations throughout North America to match customer demands.

As part of the temporary closure, 2,080 employees at its Granite City Works were issued notices under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. These notices are separate from those related to the permanent shutdown of Granite City Works’ coke making facility.

MUNICIPAL, PAPER

AF&PA releases paper recycling survey

The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA), Washington, has released the results of its 2014 Community Access Survey, which shows 96 percent of Americans have access to curbside and/or a drop-off community paper and paperboard recycling program. The figure for 2014 is up from an access rate of 87 percent of U.S. citizens in 2010.

The AF&PA survey also finds that access to collection programs increased for each of the 12 grades of paper and paperboard included in the survey, while access for nine of the 12 grades is now at or greater than 90 percent. The 12 grades tracked are newspaper, magazines, catalogs, telephone directories, office paper, mail, paper bags, old corrugated containers (OCC), unbleached and recycled paperboard, bleached paperboard, liquid packaging cartons and other paper and paperboard.

Since 1994, AF&PA has performed a series of national surveys to measure the extent and track the growth of access to community-level paper and paperboard recycling.

“Access to paper recycling in the U.S. continues to increase, which helps to recover valuable resources, extend the useful life of fiber and make new products,” says AF&PA President and CEO Donna Harman.

PAPER

Fox River Fiber receives capital infusion

H.I.G. Capital LLC, a Miami-based private equity investment firm, has announced that one of its affiliate firms has completed the recapitalization of Fox River Fiber LLC, a deinked pulp manufacturer located in De Pere, Wisconsin.

Following the recapitalization, Fox River will be combined with Rolland Enterprises Inc., Saint-Jérôme, Quebec, a manufacturer of recycled fine papers and security papers, which an H.I.G. affiliate acquired in 2014.

“Fox River Fiber is an industry leader with a long track record of producing superior quality deinked recycled pulp with the highest level of environmental sustainability and efficiency,” says Ricky Stokes, managing director of H.I.G. Capital.

Fox River produces the deinked pulp from postconsumer recovered fiber. Its deinked pulp is then sold to paper mills, where it is converted into printing and writing paper, tissue and towels and Food and Drug Administration-grade recycled paper applications.

Greg Archambault, CEO of Fox River, says, “This transaction sets Fox River up for significant growth over the next few years, benefiting employees, suppliers and customers. We are excited about finding ways for Fox River and Rolland to work together to expand our footprint and provide a better experience for our customers.”

Rolland Enterprises LLC maintains three facilities, including a deinking facility in Breakeyville, Quebec, and a paper mill and converting center in Saint-Jérôme.

H.I.G. Capital also owns recycled-content containerboard producer Caraustar Industries Inc., which completed its acquisition of The Newark Group, another recycled-content containerboard producer, in February 2015.

METALS

Exide Technologies to close Vernon, California, plant

Exide Technologies, based in Milton, Georgia, has announced it will move to permanently close its lead-acid battery smelting and recycling facility in Vernon, California, immediately. The closure is according to the terms of a nonprosecution agreement reached with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California (USAO) that resolves the USAO’s criminal investigation into the company.

In conjunction with the closure, Exide says it also has entered into an amendment to the 2014 stipulation and order with the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) that provides a framework for the closure and cleanup of the company’s Vernon site. Exide says it reached this amendment after, among other developments, hearing from the DTSC that it would likely deny its Part B hazardous waste facility permit application.

In bankruptcy court March 27, Exide won approval to implement a restructuring that cuts $600 million from its $1 billion debt and puts it under the ownership of senior lenders financing its stay under Chapter 11 protection, according to the Wall Street Journal. Judge Kevin Carey of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware, also approved the closure of the company’s Vernon plant.

By obtaining plan confirmation and emerging from Chapter 11, Exide says it expects to be able to meet its closure and cleanup obligations, continue to honor its environmental obligations at its other facilities and preserve nearly 10,000 jobs.

Exide also operates lead-acid battery smelting and recycling plants in Muncie, Indiana, and in Canon Hollow, Missouri; a plastics recycling plant in Reading, Pennsylvania; and lead-acid battery smelting and recycling plants in Spain and Portugal.

Exide also has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and by the state of Indiana alleging Clean Air Act violations at its lead smelter in Muncie.

Under that settlement, Exide has agreed to spend more than $3.9 million to install state-of-the-art pollution control equipment at the facility and to pay a civil penalty of $820,000, a news release issued by the EPA states.

The settlement resolves claims that the facility’s failure to comply with national emission standards resulted in the release of excess lead in an area that does not meet the federal health-based air quality standard for lead, the EPA adds.

PLASTICS

Texas-based plastics recycler seeks equity partner

A Maryland-based equity group is helping a Texas-based plastics recycling company seek equity funding.

Three Twenty-One Capital Partners, Glenwood, Maryland, says it has been “exclusively retained by a plastic recycling operation” in Texas “to secure an equity partner or buyer for the recapitalization and future growth of the company.”

The company seeking investors processes postconsumer and postindustrial thermoplastic scrap. “The recycled resins are used in high percentages with virgin resin, reducing customers’ material cost and environmental impact,” Three Twenty-One Capital Partners says.

The plant the recycling company operates has two pelletizing lines and one wash line to sort, shred, wash, grind and pelletize several types of plastic scrap, including:

• ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene);
• PP (polypropylene);
• PBT (polybutylene terephthalate);
• HMW-HDPE (high-molecular-weight high-density polyethylene);
• HIPS (high-impact polystyrene);
• PET (polyethylene terephthalate)
• nylon;
• GPPS (general purpose polystyrene);
• PC (polycarbonate);
• LDPE (low-density polyethylene);
• HDPE (high-density polyethylene); and
• TPO (thermoplastic poly-olefin).
   

According to Three Twenty-One Capital, the plastics recycling company was founded in 2013 and “has relied mainly on friends and family investments, in the form of subordinated debt, as the business scaled operations.”

In 2014 the company’s revenue grew 237 percent to $4.32 million. It finished 2014 with a handful of profitable months, “but the lack of adequate working capital continues to constrain profitability and growth,” the equity firm says.

The company plans to use funds from the recapitalization “to make better and more opportunistic purchases of postconsumer and postindustrial plastics.”

The company’s 65,000-square-foot facility, which is leased with a “favorable purchase option,” can generate $8.5 million in revenue, which grows to $12 million with the addition of the new wash line, according to Three Twenty-One Capital.

Those seeking more information about the Texas plastics recycling operation can email Three Twenty-One Capital at CA@321capital.com.

PLASTICS, INTERNATIONAL

Avangard, KW Plastics partner in Mexico

The plastics recycling firm KW Plastics, headquartered in Troy, Alabama, has engaged Avangard Innovative (AI), based in Houston, in an exclusive agreement to manage the market development and purchasing of HDPE (high-density polyethylene) injection grade material and bulky rigids from Mexico.

Operating in Mexico since the 1990s in PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and HDPE collection and processing, AI, one of the largest recyclers in North America, provides recycling services and management of all commodity streams for retailers. Avangard says its knowledge of working in Mexico and its expertise in managing the quality, logistics, customs and overall supply chain will help KW bring in more HDPE injection-grade material to meet rapidly growing consumer demand.

“KW Plastics is very excited to be working with Avangard Innovative. KW and AI have a long-lasting relationship that began in the mid-1990s as the two companies successfully developed the market for HDPE and mixed color bottles in Mexico,” says Scott Saunders, KW Plastics Recycling Division general manager. “KW has recently completed the installation of a new wash line designed to process bulky rigid HDPE containers with the capacity to consume 12 million pounds per month of material. We believe Mexico can supply a substantial portion of the material needed for our new line.”

KW started developing markets for the recycled resin from the HDPE bulky rigid stream. The product is so well-received today that the company says demand has outgrown the current supply available in the United States. In an effort to increase its inbound feedstock, KW looked to Mexico as a source. Knowing the extent of its capabilities, KW determined AI would be the answer to its hurdles in Mexico and to fulfilling management needs.

Rick Perez, AI CEO, says, “This will have a positive impact in our communities we operate in; not only economically and environmentally but also socially by increasing collection, improving quality, educating recycling facilities and making quality recycled resin available in grades that were once not available to converters.”

Both companies are members of the Washington-based Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers’ (APR) Rigids Committee, formed in 2011, which was created to focus on the recovery of polypropylene (PP) packaging commonly found in the home, including bottles and yogurt containers as well as caps and lids. As a result of the committee’s efforts, a new opportunity was uncovered in the recycling stream. HDPE injection-grade bulky rigid containers, typically collected at the front end of a material recovery facility (MRF) processing single-stream materials, promised rapid growth, the companies say.

Companies interested in selling HDPE injection-grade and bulky rigid bales should contact AI at 281-582-0700 or send an email to Octavio Victal at HDPE@avaicg.com.

PLASTICS, INTERNATIONAL

Canada Fibers commissions plastics recycling plant

Canada Fibers Ltd., Toronto, has commissioned a 160,000-square-foot plastics recycling plant in North Toronto, Ontario, called Urban Polymers. The new venture will focus on creating a pure, homogeneous plastic material from postconsumer and postindustrial plastic scrap using equipment and additive formulations sourced globally, the company says.

Canada Fibers, which was profiled in the October 2012 issue of Recycling Today (www.RecyclingToday.com/rt1012-canada-fibers-success.aspx), says that during its initial phases of development, Urban Polymers will focus on producing polyethylene terephthalate (PET) flake and compounded polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) in pellet form.

Urban Polymers will configure its operations to provide purity and consistency for plastic processing customers, Canada Fibers says. Further, the company says it plans to distinguish itself through advanced custom compounding of PP and PE materials. The facility will be able to process 25 million pounds per year of PET and 11 million pounds per year of PP or PE.

“We simply aim to provide plastics processors with a sustainable complement to prime materials,” says Mark Badger, who is leading Urban Polymers.

MUNICIPAL

Waste Management must divest assets prior to Deffenbaugh acquisition

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) says it will require Waste Management Inc. (WM), Houston, and Deffenbaugh Disposal Inc. (DDI), Kansas City, Kansas, to divest commercial container route services in the Topeka, Kansas, area and in two areas in northwestern Arkansas to proceed with WM’s purchase of DDI. Without these divestitures, the DOJ says the deal could lead to higher customer rates in those areas.

According to the DOJ, its Antitrust Division filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to block the proposed acquisition. At the same time, the department filed a proposed settlement that, if approved by the court, would resolve the competitive concerns outlined in the lawsuit.

“This deal threatened to weaken competition in small container commercial waste service in three cities and surrounding areas,” according to Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer of the DOJ Antitrust Division.

“Competition between Waste Management and Deffenbaugh historically has resulted in lower prices and better service,” Baer adds. “By requiring the divestiture of Deffenbaugh’s small container commercial waste service routes in these cities, today’s proposed settlement will ensure that businesses in Kansas and Arkansas will benefit from continuing competition among waste haulers.”

ELECTRONICS

Sims Recycling Solutions US operations achieve R2:2013 certification

West Chicago, Illinois-based Sims Recycling Solutions, a leading provider of global IT asset disposal (ITAD) services, says it recently upgraded its Responsible Recycling Practices (R2) certification from R2:2008 to the latest R2:2013 Standard at its U.S. locations. Sims currently maintains R2 certification at its operations in the United States, India and Australia. This certification, among others, helps demonstrate the company’s consistency in services and standards across the globe, Sims says.

The R2 Standard was introduced in 2008 and updated in 2013 to improve safety, data security, exportation and equipment tracking requirements. Sustainable Electronics Recycling International (SERI) is the nonprofit organization that administers the standard.

“As a global company in a developing industry, we understand the significance of staying on top of the latest standards and security developments,” says Sean Magann, vice president of Sims Recycling Solutions. “It is always encouraging to see a certifying organization working hard to increase the industry’s level of standards.”

As part of this upgrade, tools and resources were made available to R2-certified facilities along with an implementation guide. Guidance also was provided for identification of acceptable downstream vendors, tracking of focus materials and avoidance and corrections of common nonconformances, Sims says.

Sims Recycling Solutions provides disposition services for all types of retired electronic equipment to local, national and global customers in every business sector, including data centers, health care, financial service and technical organizations.

As part of New York- and Sydney-based Sims Metal Management Ltd., the world’s leading publicly listed metals recycler, Sims Recycling Solutions says it has the global reach, expertise and infrastructure necessary to ensure its customers that all electronic devices are processed in a secure and environmentally responsible manner.

PAPER

FutureMark Manistique closes

FutureMark Manistique, a Manistique, Michigan-based paper mill that made 100-percent-recycled-content uncoated printing and writing paper, has shut down. The company, which has the property for sale, says the facility’s closure is the result of “large cash needs to fully reposition the mill.”

When the closure was announced in mid-March, Matthew Nightingale, CEO of FutureMark Manistique, said, “This is an extremely difficult decision for us given the exceptional efforts put forth at the Manistique mill since it emerged from bankruptcy in 2012 to reposition the mill’s grade mix and invest strategic capital to improve the operational and financial performance of the mill. Despite this progress, the significant financial support from its ownership and lender group, and the dedication and hard work of all the Manistique employees, the mill was unable to return to profitability and consistently achieve positive financial results.”

He added that prior to the closure the company had been “pursuing every option to keep the mill running, including a capital raise or an outright sale to a new owner.”

Despite a number of possibilities, Nightingale said, “it became apparent that none would go forward in the time frame needed to keep the plant operating. We will continue these efforts even after closing the mill.”

FutureMark closed its Alsip, Illinois, mill in late August 2014.

The Manistique mill employed 147 workers, and the March announcement affected all positions.

MUNICIPAL

WCA Waste announces acquisitions

Houston-based WCA Waste Corp. has announced the completion of several acquisitions as well as the divestiture of its waste-by-rail business in Ohio and Massachusetts.

The company says that during the past 12 months it has completed nine tuck-in acquisitions. The purchases include the collection operations of Royal Disposal and Caney Creek Disposal, Houston; Manchester Transfer, a construction and demolition transfer station in east Kansas City, Missouri; three collection companies that are now part of WCA’s Missouri operations; C&S Sanitation, Little Rock, Arkansas; and collection and recycling routes from Buzzard Waste and Abitibi, respectively, in the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, market.

Bill Caesar, WCA CEO, says the Royal Disposal acquisition added 28 residential collection routes, more than 50,000 new customers and about 75,000 tons per year to WCA’s Houston footprint.

“The Royal routes and customer relationships are an ideal strategic fit for WCA,” Caesar says. “We were able to seamlessly integrate the Royal routes into our existing operations and ensure our new customers received the quality service that WCA is committed to providing.”

Regarding the acquisition of Manchester Transfer, now known as WCA – Kansas City Transfer, Regional Vice President Kevin O’Brien comments, “Although we have serviced the Kansas City market for a number of years through our Central Missouri Landfill, we are excited to be able to offer a more convenient disposal alternative for our Kansas City customers and further expand our services in the Kansas City market.”

In addition to these acquisitions, WCA says it is continuing to convert its collection fleet to automated, compressed natural gas (CNG) trucks.

“These strategic acquisitions and initiatives, coupled with the divestiture of WCA’s rail-based waste operations, represent a strategic repositioning of invested capital, strengthen the company’s position in our core markets, deliver accretive value, reduce total leverage and offer improved operating margins,” says Caesar. “We will continue to seek ... opportunities that offer an attractive return on investment.”