Opportunities underfoot

Lisa McKenna

It’s impossible to predict where the next recycling opportunity might take you. Particularly in these difficult times for the industry, when scrap metal pricing, supply and demand are down almost across the board, it can be difficult to find a positive development to report about. That doesn’t mean they don’t exist. New directions and overlooked opportunities remain to be unearthed just about every day.

As one example, a few weeks ago some colleagues and I had the chance to descend some 500 metres below the city to visit a salt mine that sprawls beneath one of the U.S. Great Lakes.

Such an operation isn’t your average recycling prospect, however this one did have a project to bring to our attention.

We had been given this rare opportunity thanks to the geniality of a co-worker, who had happened to sit with a manager of the salt mining operation at a recent business luncheon.

Their conversation progressed to talk of the unique recycling project taking place at the mine. We were invited for a tour and my colleague offered to write about their story.

I think it’s compelling to discover a recycling opportunity, which the company involved had not considered pressing, that is so different from the everyday routines of the scrap recycling industry.

But for the recyclers involved, I will surmise, this is a worthwhile project, encountered at a time when the industry is seeking new material sources.

Recycling is comparatively easy for industries, consumers, schools and businesses that need look no further than the green bins and metal skips just outside their doors. But when the workplace is located half a kilometre underground—or under-lake as the case may be—recycling takes on a different significance for all parties. Fortunately, overcoming these sorts of daunting recycling challenges is a hallmark of the industry.

On the July day of our tour, we watched as the miners loaded milled salt into elevators to be carried up at regular intervals. Our guides drove us into the reaches of the complex, past hollowed-out passages, rows of four-wheelers, miles of conveyors and collections of earth movers. They told us how the vehicles will not likely see the light of day again. (Another opportunity?)

However there is some recycling occurring too. I won’t reveal the details of the project except to say it involves unusable electrical cable that has accumulated over the years. The story will be shared in a future issue of sister publication Recycling Today magazine, so please stay tuned for that.

While this recycling opportunity is one I might not have considered, it is one that makes sense, whether here in the U.S. or elsewhere. There is something to be said for being in the right place at the right time.