Newsworthy

CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY

Wal-Mart announces recycling commitments

Wal-Mart, Bentonville, Arkansas, has joined with CEOs from more than a dozen companies to sign commitments designed to “accelerate innovation in recycling and sustainable agriculture.”

The commitments were announced during Wal-Mart’s inaugural Sustainable Product Expo, a three-day event Wal-Mart says was designed “to expand the availability of products that sustain people and the environment.”

The participating companies represent more than $100 billion in sales at Wal-Mart and include Campbell Soup Co., Cargill, Dairy Farmers of America, General Mills, Monsanto, Kellogg Co., PepsiCo, Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson, Keurig Green Mountain Inc., Procter & Gamble, SC Johnson and Unilever.

The companies will launch the Closed Loop Fund, which aims to invest $100 million in recycling infrastructure projects and spur private and public funding.

“Wal-Mart and our suppliers recognize that collaboration is the key to bringing sustainable solutions to all of our customers,” says Doug McMillon, president and CEO of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. “Today’s commitments are about creating real systems change from one end of the supply chain to the other—meaning how products are grown and made, how they’re transported and sold and how we touch the lives of people along the way.”

 

METALS

Gamtex Industries celebrates 100 years

Few businesses in Fort Worth, Texas, can claim they have been in operation for 100 years, and even fewer have remained in the hands of the same family. However, metal recycling company Gamtex Industries can claim both of these distinctions.

The company that Jacob Gachman began in 1914 as a small shop along the Texas cattle trail in downtown Fort Worth remains in operation today as a multimillion dollar business.

Gamtex Industries, now run by Jacob’s grandson Arnold Gachman, is one of the largest metal recycling businesses in Texas. Only 18 businesses in all of Tarrant County are older than Gamtex, and only a handful of those are family owned, according to the company. The Texas Historical Commission recently added Gamtex to an elite group of Texas businesses numbering only 129 that are at least 50 years old.

In the 1920s, Jacob, together with P.E. Ellis, his business partner, operated the St. Louis Junk Co. Jacob would travel by train around Texas collecting scrap metal, carrying it in sacks to Fort Worth. He eventually bought out Ellis and continued the business as Gachman Metals.

By age 27, Arnold was named general manager of Gachman Metals and became president five years later. In 1986, he bought Gachman Metals and turned it into what is now known as Gamtex Industries.

“We’re excited to celebrate 100 years of doing business in this community and proud to be among a select few family-owned businesses that have operated here for that long,” says Arnold Gachman, chairman of Gamtex. “We are just as proud of the way we have done business over the course of a century, truly dedicated to being a community partner.”

To reflect that continued commitment to the community, Gamtex commemorated its 100-year anniversary by commissioning and donating art sculptures to be placed in Fort Worth’s Rockwood Park.

“Gamtex, and especially its CEO Arnie Gachman, has not only contributed to the economic vitality of Fort Worth for a century but also has taken a leadership role in giving back to the community,” says Bill Thornton, president of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce.

Arnold says dedicated family members interested in building on Gamtex’s legacy and a core group of loyal, committed employees have been at the center of the company’s success. Iric Gachman, Arnold’s son, has risen through the ranks at Gamtex to become president and CEO, ensuring continued leadership by the Gachman family.

“As proud as I was to carry on my grandfather’s vision in running our family’s recycling business,” Arnold says, “I’m just as proud knowing my son will lead Gamtex into the next century.”

Throughout the years, the company has grown organically and through the acquisition of other metals companies. Arnold also has received multiple achievement awards for his community involvement as well as his role as a scrap recycling industry leader.

Gamtex was recently named as one of Fort Worth Business Press’ Top 100 Private Companies, which recognizes the largest companies based in Tarrant County.

Arnold serves the community as the chairman of trustees of Baylor All Saints and Baylor Hospitals. He also is a member of the board of Sammons Transplant Institute at Baylor University Medical Center, the Fort Worth Club and the TCU board of visitors for AddRan College. Arnold also serves as vice president of Beth El Congregation and is immediate past chair of the University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC) Foundation and a member of the UNTHSC advisory board. Arnold received the Person of Vision Award from UNTHSC in 2012. He also serves on the Fort Worth Health Benefits Advisory Board.

Gamtex is a member of Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), where Arnold was the third national president in 1992 and still serves as a past president and director. He was given a lifetime achievement award in 2013 from ISRI for his leadership and commitment to community at the local, state and national levels.

 

LEGISLATION & REGULATIONS

ISRI decries trade barriers on environmental goods

Joe Pickard, chief economist for the Washington-based Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), has testified before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) at a hearing to examine the economic impacts of barriers to the free trade of environmental goods.

In his April 14, 2014, testimony, Pickard called for the ITC to include all scrap commodities and equipment in its classification of environmental goods given the critical role the recycling industry plays in global trade and the environment. He also testified that eliminating tariff barriers would benefit the recycling industry, the U.S. balance of trade and the environment.

“The export of environmental goods such as scrap commodities and recycling equipment are not only good for the health of the planet but also have positive impacts on our balance of trade,” Pickard testified. “The United States has already leveled the playing field for the importation of recycled commodities, including recovered paper and fiber, metals and plastic scrap, as well recycling equipment such as shredders, balers, shears, cranes, material handlers, conveyors, magnetic separators and spectro analyzers. At the same time, U.S. exporters face significant trade barriers including import tariffs that restrict the free flow of these goods.”

In 2013, the United States exported 42.8 million metric tons of commodity-grade scrap to 160 destinations worldwide, ISRI says. The activities generated $24 billion in export sales and significantly helped the U.S. trade balance. In addition, exports of recycling equipment from the United States totaled $435 million in 2011 as export sales accounted for 15 percent of total scrap equipment revenues, according to the association.

Tariff duties were applied to nearly $700 million worth of U.S. ferrous scrap exports and $300 million worth of recovered paper exports last year, while U.S. exporters also face a range of import tariffs on the trade of nonferrous scrap metals and plastic scrap exports, ISRI says. In contrast, harmonized tariff data show no general duties are imposed by the United States on the import of recovered paper and fiber, ferrous and nonferrous scrap or plastic scrap. Similarly, a significant discrepancy exists between the tariff barriers faced by U.S. exporters of recycling equipment and the treatment of equipment imports into the United States, the association adds.

“Eliminating tariffs overseas would clearly provide a significant boost to U.S. exporters of recycled goods and recycling equipment and would have positive implications for the U.S. balance of trade,” Pickard said. “ISRI fully supports the ITC’s timely and much needed investigation and would welcome the inclusion of the full range of scrap and recycling equipment in this and future examinations.”

 

METALS

Metal theft claims decline in 2013

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), headquartered in Des Plaines, Illinois, has released a report noting a decline in metals theft incidents. The report looks at metals theft insurance claims from Jan. 1, 2011, through Dec. 31, 2013.

The NICB is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing, detecting and defeating insurance fraud and vehicle theft.

In 2011, the NICB says 14,676 metal theft claims were processed. The number dropped to 13,603 in 2012 and decreased again in 2013 to 10,807—a decline of more than 26 percent from 2011. During the period, 41,138 insurance claims for the theft of copper, bronze, brass or aluminum were handled—39,976 of them (97 percent) for copper alone.

The report notes that the state with the most metal theft claims continues to be Ohio, which had 4,144 claims filed in 2013. Ohio was followed by Texas, with 2,827 claims; California, with 2,489 claims; Pennsylvania, with 2,345 claims; and Georgia, with 2,067 claims.

 

PAPER

Paper recycling rate dips in 2013

The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA), Washington, has reported that the recycling rate for paper and paperboard dipped slightly to 63.5 percent in 2013 from the previous year’s rate of 65.1 percent. Slightly more than 50 million tons of paper and paperboard were recovered for recycling by domestic mills or exported to end consumers in 2013, AF&PA says.

The association says domestic recovered fiber consumption increased by 230,000 tons for the year. However, recovered fiber exports declined by 6.3 percent. Reflecting the importance of the offshore market to the paper recycling industry, 19.9 million tons of recovered fiber, about 40 percent of the total U.S. recovered fiber stream, were exported in 2013, making it a sizable consumer of U.S. recovered fiber.

Containerboard markets consumed 16.06 million tons (32 percent) of recovered paper, while boxboard markets consumed 6.22 million tons, or 12 percent. Tissue markets consumed 4.42 million tons, or 9 percent; newsprint consumed 1.06 million tons, or 2 percent; and other end markets consumed 2.47 million tons, or 5 percent.

Domestic mills’ use of old corrugated containers (OCC) increased by 3.9 percent in 2013 to 19.8 million tons. However, this gain did not offset the 8.9 percent drop in OCC exports, which totaled 9.12 million tons for the year. As a result, the OCC recovery rate slipped from an all-time high of 91 percent in 2012 to 88.5 percent in 2013.

The recovery rate for old newspapers (ONP) and mechanical papers fell from 70 percent in 2012 to 67.6 percent in 2013, reflecting recovery declines, the AF&PA says. Lower domestic newsprint production and weakness in global recovered paper markets also contributed to the decline.

Usage also declined for printing and writing paper, while recovery declined from 54.1 percent in 2012 to 53.1 percent in 2013. The AF&PA says a softer export market contributed to the decline.

 

MUNICIPAL

SERDC, CVP launch Recycling Partnership

During the Wal-Mart Sustainability Expo, held April 30, 2014, the Southeast Recycling Development Council (SERDC) and the Curbside Value Partnership (CVP) launched The Recycling Partnership, a public-private recycling initiative that has been designed to boost recycling efforts throughout the Southeast.

The partnership is a result of SERDC 120, a group of companies, trade associations and public entities collaborating in an intensive, 120-day process to explore the best paths for increased recovery of quality recyclables in the Southeast, according to the organizations. Through SERDC 120, these companies and associations began the early stages of pooling funds to increase recycling efforts in cities that have been identified as viable partners.

“We are excited with the initial verbal and fiscal support of this fast-paced and focused public-private partnership,” says Keefe Harrison, CVP executive director.

The CVP will handle the administrative functions for the Recycling Partnership.

Will Sagar, SERDC executive director, says, “Our combined efforts proved to not only reach SERDC’s ambitious goals but go beyond what the industry could have expected. This is an exciting time for recycling and packaging recovery. While the goal was ambitious, the work was organized, moved quickly and engaged many of the leading packaging and recycling experts in the United States. The Recycling Partnership will work to boost recycling rates in the southeastern U.S. through outreach and infrastructure improvements.”

Members of the Recycling Partnership include the Alcoa Foundation, Coca-Cola and the Carton Council.

Cody Marshall, SERDC 120 project manager and an employee of Resource Recycling Systems, Ann Arbor, Michigan, says, “If the private sector is able to work with the selected cities and offer a portion of the funding they requested, it will most likely unlock the other funds needed from the local level and leverage possible state grants to purchase important infrastructure that will inevitably increase supply.”

Sagar adds, “It has been exciting to engage with the leading recycling and packaging experts in the Unites States, and SERDC looks forward to The Recycling Partnership’s continued progress. This project has momentum.”

 

INTERNATIONAL

Recyclers join forces to help those in need

Recently, Executives Without Borders, Boston, worked with a broad coalition of businesses and nonprofits to create a unique program in Haiti. The goal of the program, Ramase Lajan, the Créole term for “picking up money,” is to help build critical skills, provide needed income and increase recycling in the country.

In Haiti, discarded plastic containers can fill the streets and clog streams and canals throughout the island nation. The overwhelming volume of plastic containers is often so great that it causes the streams and canals to overflow, sending bacteria- and cholera-infected water into homes and communities.

The Ramase Lajan program creates buyback centers for these plastic bottles across Haiti, helping to provide Haitians with competitive paying jobs and clean streets and streams as well as reducing the spread of disease from water.

Through the program sponsors purchase a buyback center and donate it to an organization to operate, enabling Haitians to collect plastic and sell it to a Ramase Lajan center at what the group calls “a fair market price.” The centers sort the plastic, which is sent to ISRI (Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries) and BIR (Bureau of International Recycling) member Haiti Recycling, Port-au-Prince, for processing.

The goal of the program is to have sponsors for four new centers in 2014 at the cost of $25,000 each. Haiti Recycling, U.S. Shredder of Alabama and the Recycling Today Media Group of Ohio are organizing the effort. The collection centers will operate as franchise locations of Haiti Recycling but will be individually owned and operated by Haitian entrepreneurs.

Readers interested in supporting the effort can contact Bill Tigner of U.S. Shredder at bill.tigner@usshredder.com or Jim Keefe of the Recycling Today Media Group at jkeefe@gie.net.

 

PLASTICS

Poly Recovery installs plastics washing system

Poly Recovery has unveiled what it calls a first-of-its-kind plastic wash plant installation at its headquarters plant in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The company says the equipment will help transform dirty and mixed plastic scrap into recycled resin for local manufacturing. Poly Recovery says it expects to recycle 15 million pounds of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) annually.

Prior to the installation of the new wash system, Poly Recovery focused primarily on processing industrial plastics.

“Not only does the wash facility open doors to more types of plastic waste streams we can divert from landfills, it will create more sustainable jobs in New England, reduce the carbon footprint of truck traffic leaving the region as well as provide local American manufacturers with the cleanest and most cost-effective recycled resin possible,” says John Pelech, founder and CEO of Poly Recovery.

ELECTRONICS

Sunnking certifies to R2/RIOS:2013 standard

Sunnking Inc., an electronics recycling and data destruction company with locations in Brockport and Buffalo, New York, reports that it has successfully been certified to the updated R2/RIOS:2013 Standard, making it one of the first electronics recyclers in New York to be certified to the revised standard.

R2/RIOS is a combination of the Responsible Recycling (R2) Practices Standard and the Recycling Industry Operating Standard (RIOS) and establishes responsible recycling practices for the recycling of electronics globally.

RIOS is an integrated quality, environmental, health and safety system based on ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 that focuses on aspects relevant to the scrap recycling industry. The six components of RIOS cover general requirements, policy, planning, implementation, checking and corrective action and management.

The R2:2013 Standard was developed by the R2 Solutions Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) as the next generation of the R2 Standard, which was first released in 2008 by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. R2:2013 became effective became effective July 1, 2013.

 

METALS

Severstal considers selling North American steel mills

Multiple sources have reported that Severstal is looking to sell its two steel mills in the United States, which could net the company $1.5 billion. The mills are in Dearborn, Michigan, and Columbus, Mississippi.

In response to the reports, Severstal Group has released a statement acknowledging that it is “considering a range of strategic options in relation to Severstal North America.” However, the statement notes that “no decision has yet been taken as to which, if any, such option might be pursued.”

Severstal North America, which owns the two steel mills, is a subsidiary of the Russian firm Severstal Group. The Severstal Dearborn facility was formerly known as Rouge Steel. Severstal purchased the Michigan mill 10 years ago for $285 million. The company acquired the Columbus operation six years ago.

The Wall Street Journal reports that parties interested in acquiring the assets include Brazil’s CSN and U.S. Steel.

 

MUNICIPAL

Canadian city inks contract to process recyclables collected in Detroit

The city council for Guelph, Ontario, has approved a contract to process the recyclables collected by Rizzo Environmental Services in the Detroit area. The Ontario-based company Recyclable Material Marketing (ReMM) also is a part of the program and will be involved in brokering the recyclables to end markets.

The contract, which was slated to begin June 1, 2014, is expected to deliver an additional 28,000 metric tons of recyclables to the material recovery facility (MRF), which is owned and operated by the city of Guelph.

The MRF will need to add a second shift as a result of the contract, which will result in the facility reaching 95 percent of its processing capacity. The revenue generated by the program is expected to be $300,000 per year.

A separate contract signed by the city will result in the backhauling of residuals from the MRF to Detroit, where they will be used at a waste-to-energy facility. The residuals are expected to total 22,500 metric tons per year. The city says it has determined that the backhauling cost is less than the cost to landfill the material.

 

EVENTS

Recycling Today Media Group announces Chicago conference topics

The Recycling Today Media Group, publisher of Recycling Today magazine, has announced the topics that will serve as the focus of the programming at the 2014 Paper & Plastics Recycling Conference in Chicago.

The event will be Oct. 8-10, 2014, at the Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile hotel. The addition of the word “plastics” in the title of the conference reflects the growing prominence of plastic scrap collection, processing and trading in the business models of many recycling companies that also continue to focus on paper, according to the Recycling Today Media Group.

“We have been fortunate to receive tremendous support from the paper recycling supply chain since we launched the conference in 2000, including in recent years from the PSI (Paper Stock Industries) Chapter of ISRI (the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries),” says Jim Keefe, group publisher of the Recycling Today Media Group. “Many of those same attendees, however, have been consistently urging us to add programming that will tackle the important topics they face on the plastic scrap side of their businesses.”

The 2014 event will offer sessions and workshops focusing on commodity markets for recovered paper and plastics as well as collection and processing issues that are present and emerging in the paper and plastic recycling sectors. Session topics include:

• the future of the recycling and packaging industries;
• the outlook for plastics;
• coping with changing requirements for material recovery facilities (MRFs);
• keeping a lid on transportation costs;
• export trends for paper and plastics;
• a paper mill buyers’ panel;
• dealing with claims and rejections;
• properly financing export shipments;
• renewable energy and the road to zero waste; and
• handling plastic scrap from electronics.

Additional information about the conference can be found at www.RecyclingTodayEvents.com.

 

METALS

Navy to scrap aircraft carrier

The U.S. Navy has awarded a contract to Esco Marine, based in Brownsville, Texas, to tow, dismantle and recycle the decommissioned aircraft carrier the USS Saratoga. The contract was signed May 8, 2014. Under the contract, Esco has agreed to pay 1 cent for the aircraft carrier. The price reflects the net price proposed by Esco Marine, which considered the estimated proceeds from the sale of the scrap metal to be generated from dismantling.

The Navy says it is not a sales contract but rather a procurement contract and the cost represents the lowest price the Navy could possibly have paid the contractor for the towing and dismantling of the Saratoga. The Navy continues to own the ship during the dismantling process. The contractor takes ownership of the scrap metal as it is produced and sells it to offset its costs of operations.

The sale of the Saratoga is the second of three contracts for conventional aircraft carrier dismantling. All Star Metals of Brownsville was awarded the first contract Oct. 22, 2013, which included the towing and dismantling of former USS Forrestal.

A third contract award is pending to International Shipbreaking Ltd. of Brownsville that includes the towing and dismantling of former USS Constellation once that company receives its facility security clearance.

After the initial award of one carrier to each successful offerer, the Navy can scrap additional conventionally powered aircraft carriers over a five-year period under delivery orders competed between the three contractors.

Esco Marine will develop its final plan for towing of Saratoga from its current berth in Newport, Rhode Island, to Esco’s facility in Brownsville for approval by the Navy. The ship is expected to depart Newport this summer.

The USS Saratoga was decommissioned Sept. 30, 1994, after more than 38 years of service. For 12 years, until April 2010, the ship was available for donation to a state or nonprofit organization for public display as a museum or memorial. But no viable applications were received, and the vessel was redesignated for disposal.

 

FERROUS

WMR acquires Sims’ Utah operations

Western Metals Recycling (WMR), wholly owned by the David J. Joseph Co. (DJJ), Cincinnati, has purchased the assets and business of Sims Metal Management’s (SMM) Utah recycling facilities. The operations include a shredding plant in Salt Lake City and a feeder yard in Orem, Utah.

DJJ is a subsidiary of steel manufacturer Nucor Corp., Charlotte, North Carolina.

DJJ says the addition of the new locations is consistent with WMR’s growth strategy and demonstrates its commitment to expanding its existing regional recycling platforms.

WMR buys obsolete ferrous and nonferrous scrap metal items, such as appliances, gutters, sheet metal, automobiles, aluminum cans and other aluminum, copper and brass products.

DJJ, founded in 1885, is one of the largest scrap brokers/processors in the United States and also provides transportation services.

 

MUNICIPAL/LEGISLATION & REGULATIONS

Connecticut governor seeks to boost state’s recycling rate

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy has called for the state legislature to act on a proposal, Senate Bill 27 – An Act Concerning Connecticut’s Recycling and Materials Management Strategy, which seeks to sharply increase the recycling rate in the state and create economic benefits for residents.

Additionally, Malloy says the proposal is also looking to adopt a more cost-effective, environmentally sound materials management approach.

“Forty years ago, Connecticut became a national leader in waste management by ending the landfilling of trash and opening our six waste-to-energy (WTE) facilities,” Malloy says. “These plants have served us well, but it is now time to move our system squarely into the 21st century by adopting legislation that will allow us to strengthen our focus on recycling and recapture more of the valuable materials from our waste stream.”

Among the proposed changes are:

• setting a 60 percent target for reducing solid waste disposal by increasing source reduction, recycling and reuse;
• reshaping the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority (CRRA)—a quasi-public entity that owns and operates a WTE plant in Hartford—into a leaner organization focused on promoting innovation in materials management;
• establishing “RecycleCT”—a statewide education initiative to promote recycling; and
• creating a process to explore the repurposing of the CRRA facility—Connecticut’s largest, oldest and least efficient WTE plant—to recover more materials of value from trash and to provide better and cheaper service for member communities.

Senate Bill 27 was reported out of Connecticut’s General Assembly’s Environment Committee and Government Administration and Elections Committee and now is waiting to be assigned in the Senate.

Malloy says the recycling proposal builds on the success of two producer responsibility programs operating in the state that have established industry-financed systems for collecting and recycling obsolete electronics and used paint as well as an approach to diverting food waste and other organic materials from the waste stream through the use of anaerobic digesters.