SCRAP DEALER RELOCATING PART OF PLANT
The outdoor industrial portion of M. Lipsitz and Company, a Waco, Texas, scrap dealer, is relocating to a new location in the city, according to a report in the Waco Tribune (Waco, Texas).
While the company will continue to operate at its traditional site, it will shut down its shredder and upgrade to a larger machine at the new location.
The company will still process nonferrous metals like copper, aluminum and brass at the existing facility, but most of that work will take place inside the company’s 75,000 square feet of warehouse space downtown, company president Tom Salome tells the Tribune.
"We’re moving the outdoor stuff because that makes it better for the area than having the heavy industrial processing right there in the neighborhood," he says. "I think it will be appropriate for the area we’re moving into."
According to the report, Waco officials have praised the move, which they said will make the central operation more compatible with its neighboring residential and business districts. The Tribune reports that the company has received noise complaints in the past as a result of the shredder.
The company has taken steps to address these complaints by building fences and planting trees to screen the piles of metal and the shredder.
Lipsitz tells the Tribune the new shredder will be larger and have better environmental controls. The company will add to its workforce to operate the new plant, which it hopes to have operational by the end of 2005.
SIMS ANNOUNCES HUGO NEU ACQUISITION
The Sims Group, an Australia-based scrap metal recycling company, has announced an agreement to merge its metal recycling operation with Hugo Neu Corp. of New York City.
The merger follows quickly on the dissolution of a joint venture arrangement between Hugo Neu and Schnitzer Steel.
The combined company will go by the name Sims Newco. According to Sims, it will be the largest metal recycler in the world based on market capitalization.
Hugo Neu is one of the largest scrap exporters in the United States, handling around 20 percent of all ferrous scrap exported from U.S. deep-water ports. Hugo Neu operates a deep-water port in the Los Angeles area and one in the New York/New Jersey area. It has 15 scrap metal collection and processing facilities.
According to a press release from Sims, privately owned Hugo Neu had sales of nearly $1.35 billion last year.
Jeremy Sutcliffe, CEO of Sims Group, says, "The cornerstone of our corporate goal has been to continue expanding Sims Group’s core metal recycling business internationally, provided strict acquisition criteria are met. These include the requirement that any new business holds the No. 1 or No. 2 market position in relevant markets, provides domestic and export marketing flexibility and offers a platform for future growth, while also enhancing shareholder value."
Sutcliffe continues, "The merger with Hugo Neu satisfies all of these criteria and in particular consolidates Sims Group’s North American West and East Coast market positions and delivers a significant platform from which to grow. The New York City recycling contract is a particularly exciting opportunity." He adds, "I am confident shareholders will recognize this and vote in favor of the merger."
Sims Newco will have more than 120 physical operations globally, with a combined volume or more than 9 million metric tons of scrap metal.
The deal is expected to be complete by early this fall, pending SIms Group shareholder approval.
OHIO HOUSE PASSES SHREDDER BILL
Ohio’s House of Representatives has passed House Bill 100, authorizing waste management districts in Ohio to exempt auto shredder residue (ASR) from the waste generation fee. The bill, sponsored primarily by Rep. Mary Taylor (R-Uniontown), passed by a vote of 82-6 with 11 members not voting.
To receive the exemption, the ASR must not contain hazardous waste and must not comprise more than 35 percent of the total weight of the material being processed. The bill also stipulates that the recyclable material generated must be sold, used or reused within 90 days of when it has been processed.
A spokesman for Taylor’s office says the bill will likely go to the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee.
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