BIR Report

Shredder Committee Discusses Key Issues at BIR Spring Convention

During the Shredder Committee Meeting held during the Bureau of International Recycling’s (BIR) World Recycling Conference in Singapore in mid-May, the panel of speakers outlined recent progress toward increasing the recovery of nonferrous fractions from the shredder process as well as maximizing material value.

During the session, Olivier François of Belgium’s Galloo Group announced to attendees that his company’s AD REM joint venture with the Valtech Group owns the exclusive rights to a bi-directional barrel separator, which, in certain turnkey projects, has helped achieve end-of-life vehicle recovery rates of greater than 90 percent.

During his presentation, Uwe Habich of Steinert, Germany, focused on the products offered by his company, including the latest developments designed to “hunt down” various types of wire that can be found in automotive shredder residue (ASR). The company’s XSS-F X-ray fluorescence system is capable of achieving separation of copper motors at a capacity of up to 150 metric tons per hour, Habich said.

Jörg Schunicht of Titech, headquartered in Norway, addressed the issue of minimizing copper content in ferrous scrap that is delivered to steelmakers. He told attendees that the company’s latest X-ray fluorescence sorting development is achieving copper removal rates similar to those achieved via manual picking and has the potential to achieve even better results in the future.

The BIR World Recycling Conference was May 23-25 at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore.

BIR Releases Updated Steel Recycling Report

The Ferrous Division of the Brussels-based Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) released the 2006 to 2010 version of its “World Steel Recycling in Figures” booklet at its 2011 World Recycling Congress in Singapore.

The BIR bills the booklet as an “important compilation of statistics on the global ferrous scrap markets.”

BIR Statistics Advisor Rolf Willeke conducted key research and authored the report, which also includes a foreword from BIR Ferrous Division President Christian Rubach.

The figures for 2010 show that global scrap consumption by the steel industry amounted to 530 million metric tons, an increase of about 15 percent compared with 2009.

Among the surprises when comparing 2010 figures with those from 2009, Rubach told conference attendees, was that China imported 57 percent less ferrous scrap in 2010 and India’s imports dropped by nearly 25 percent.

Willeke predicted, though, that China’s scrutiny of industrial carbon emissions levels would prompt it to buy more ferrous scrap in 2011 and beyond, as the government encourages electric arc furnace steel production rather than integrated steel production.

Leading ferrous scrap exporters in 2010 were the United States (20.5 million metric tons), the European Union (18.9 million metric tons) and Japan (6.5 million metric tons).

Willeke also thanked Chinese agencies and associations for providing figures for the new “World Steel Recycling in Figures” report, the second edition the BIR has completed.

The second edition also includes information on the use of ferrous scrap grades by the iron and steel foundry industry.
The report can be accessed at http://www.bir.org/assets/Documents/publications/brochures/aFerrousReportFinal2006-2010.pdf.

The 2011 BIR World Recycling Convention was May 23-25 in Singapore.