Achieve More

Organizers of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI) 2012 Convention and Exposition urged the more than 6,000 attendees and 300 exhibitors of the event to “Be More.” During the annual convention, held April 15-19 at Las Vegas’s Mandalay Bay, ISRI association leaders say they planned to offer more information, foster greater profitability and encourage attendees to be more entertained.

With more than 40 general sessions, spotlights and workshops, attendees were able to see more, network more and learn more during the four-day event. Event organizers also added Toolbox Talks into the mix. During the vendor-hosted programming, attendees could meet with vendors on the trade show floor to discuss specific equipment and service concerns, such as extending credit to customers and dust suppression.

Opening Thoughts
At the Opening General Session, ISRI Convention Chair Bruce Blue and ISRI Chair John Sacco kicked off what was reportedly the most well-attended convention the organization has hosted.

“Very few shows bring in the number of purchase orders that an ISRI show brings,” said Blue, who is also owner of Freedom Metals, Louisville, Ky.
 

ISRI’s Spotlight on Aluminum Session featured, from left, Gary Curtis of Terrapin Recycling, Matt Kripke of Kripke Enterprises, Matt Bedingfield of Novelis and Mike Southwood of CRU. Incoming ISRI chair Jerry Simms of Atlas Metals (right) addresses attendees.

Sacco, ISRI chair and vice president of Sierra Recycling and Demolition Inc., Bakersfield, Calif., took the stage and shared with the crowd that all 50 states were represented at the conference, as were 51 different countries “spanning six continents.”

Sacco, preparing to turn over his role as chair, also shared the major lessons he learned during his two years in that role. He urged ISRI members to be more proactive in their operations as well as to be more aware, particularly with the many cases of flow control recently seen in cities and counties throughout the United States. Sacco also said recyclers need to be wary of apathy and refuse to turn a blind eye to regulatory proceedings.

Michael Maslansky’s keynote presentation included a panel of 20 consumers who shared their opinions on recycling.

Richard E. Abrams, chair and CEO of Consolidate Scrap Resources Inc., York, Pa., was honored with ISRI’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Abrams, a third-generation recycler, has spent more than half a century in the recycling industry. His grandfather Ben had founded B. Abrams & Sons, a scrap recycling business, in 1904. In 1999, B. Abrams merged with L. Lavetan & Sons of York, Pa., forming Consolidated Scrap Resources Inc. (CSR) of York, Pa.

Abrams became the first sole president of ISRI, which was formed by the 1987 merger of the National Association of Recycling Industries, based in New York, and the Institute of Scrap Iron and Steel in Washington, D.C.

During his term as president, Abrams, who was instrumental in the merger, confronted many challenges on behalf of the recycling industry, particularly with regard to amending Superfund legislation, and similar battles continue for recyclers today. “We have to remain a member-driven organization,” Abrams said. “Free and fair trade is an idea that’s best for all of us.”

Michael Maslansky, CEO of consulting firm Maslansky, Luntz & Partners, based in New York and Washington, D.C., delivered the keynote presentation during the Opening General Session.

Above, ISRI Chair John Sacco, Sierra Recycling and Demolition, presents Richard Abrams of Consolidated Scrap Resources (right) with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Convention chair Bruce Blue of Freedom Metals (bottom) welcomes the crowd. Most photos courtesy of ISRI.

Maslansky brought to the stage a 20-member consumer panel to discuss their opinions of the recycling industry and how well its various messages are resonating with consumers. Panelists were asked to rate specific recycling industry messages in real time for the audience. “This is research without a net,” Maslansky remarked. “We have no idea what’s going to happen here.”

Spotlight on Success
Among some of the best-attended sessions were the spotlight sessions that discussed commodities markets and general economic concerns. ISRI brought back its popular Spotlight on the Economy session for the second year in a row. In this session, Bloomberg journalist Adam Minter, based in Shanghai, moderated the panel featuring economist Jason Schenker, president of research and consulting firm Prestige Economics LLC, based in Austin, Texas, and Stefan Schilbe, chief economist of commercial bank HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt AG, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Minter kicked off the program with an overview of China’s economic situation. He said that notwithstanding local government debt that had ballooned and an underground banking crisis, China’s economy is one “that tends to muddle through.” Furthermore, Minter pointed to the political risks related to China’s changing political climate: the first leadership change in 10 years, along with a concern that labor prices were on the rise.

Schenker delivered his forecasts for the U.S. and global economies based on current global forces. Toward that end, Schenker said he expected modest global expansion but the foresaw the slowest increase in Chinese GDP seen in more than a decade.

Other spotlight sessions covered commodities such as nickel/stainless, electronics, paper, ferrous, plastics and copper. During the Spotlight on Plastics, moderator and speaker Phillip Karig of Mathelin Bay Associates LLC, St. Louis, led a discussion with Kathy Hall of PetroChem Wire, West Orange, N.J., and Chase Willet of CMAI, headquartered in Englewood, Colo., about the 2011 market. The panel also discussed how important trends might pan out during 2012 as well as how advancements in natural gas exploration may have an impact on the plastics recycling industry.

Attendees of the 2012 ISRI Annual Convention in Las Vegas in April spent time in the exhibit hall where industry suppliers showcased recycling equipment and services.

In the spirit of trying to “Be More,” ISRI also hosted programming on media training, which offered attendees the “do’s and don’ts of speaking with the media.”

ISRI also organized “Just for Fun” sessions where attendees’ family members or those who needed a break for the business programming could learn how to improve their gambling or how a “clean foods diet” could keep them looking young.

Superfund Case Study
During the presentation, Superfund Protection—A Case Study, conference attendees gathered to hear Scott Horne, general counsel/vice president of government relations for ISRI, as well as Donald B. Mitchell Jr. and Arent Fox, both of Arent Fox LLP, discuss how recyclers could protect themselves from Superfund liability.

The speakers explained that prior to SREA (the Superfund Recycling Equity Act), courts held recyclers responsible for cleanup costs at their customers’ facilities because of a “harmful” misinterpretation of SREA known as Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). Fox also outlined how recyclers could prove they were not liable by demonstrating the five factors designed to identify Bona Fide Recycling Transactions. The session also explained ISRI’s SREA Reasonable Care program, which allowed members to purchase reasonable care compliance program reports through April 30, 2012.
 

The authors are assistant editor of Recycling Today and managing editor of Recycling Today Global Edition.