US SENATE BILL OFFERS TAX CREDITS TO RECYCLERS
Sen. Jim Jeffords (I-Vt.) has introduced the Recycling Investment Saves Energy (RISE) Act of 2006. According to a press release from the senator’s office, the legislation offers tax incentives that would create jobs, conserve energy and expand America’s recycling capacity.
The bill, cosponsored by Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), co-chair of the Senate Recycling Caucus, aims to reverse declining recycling rates and resulting energy loss by providing incentives to increase collection and distribution of recyclables and recycling.
The RISE Act will help companies overcome financial barriers to recycling by providing tax incentives, which include a 15 percent tax credit or a 50 percent depreciation deduction for machinery purchases, helping to offset equipment costs, according to the press release. Additionally, the legislation would allow recycling facilities to be eligible for tax-exempt bond financing.
"This bill will help capture the significant energy savings available through greater recycling," Jeffords, the ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, says.
A coalition of more than 35 industry, governmental and environmental organizations support the RISE Act, including the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc, the National Recycling Coalition Inc., U.S. Conference of Mayors/Municipal Waste Management Association, National Solid Wastes Management Association, Glass Packaging Institute and the American Beverage Association, according to the senator’s office.
A link to the text of the bill is available at www.RecyclingToday.com and at http://jeffords.senate.gov/RISEACT.pdf.
PIERPASS INITIATES NEW PROCEDURES
PierPASS Inc. has put into effect new procedures for handling export containers under the OffPeak program at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach
PierPASS urged all exporters to use the modified system during a testing period that began July 31.
Beginning August 7, 2006, exporters delivering containers during the terminals’ peak hours are required to claim their booking numbers before the containers arrive at the marine terminals. Under the revised procedure, exporters must claim their booking numbers by visiting the PierPASS Web site at www.pierpass-tmf.org and entering the booking numbers into their accounts. Export containers subject to the Traffic Mitigation Fee (TMF) that arrive at terminals during peak hours (Monday through Friday from 3:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.) without having been claimed in this manner will be turned around and encouraged to use the OffPeak hours of operation.
TMF payments must be made electronically through the PierPASS Web site by registered OffPeak users; no OffPeak payments are accepted at the terminal gates. Cargo owners (shippers) are responsible for the fees, not the trucking companies or other carriers.
ALTER ADDS MINNESOTA YARD
Alter Trading Corp., St. Louis, has acquired the assets of Becker Iron & Metal Inc., a scrap processing company based in Marshall, Minn. The privately held firm has been processing scrap metal in southwestern Minnesota since 1968, according to an Alter news release.
"The owners, Gary and Marj Becker, have been special friends and loyal customers of ours for years," Robert Goldstein, CEO and president of Alter Trading Corp., says. "This acquisition is a perfect fit given the professionalism and integrity for which the Becker organization and its employees are known," he adds.
Alter Trading has six trading offices and 18 processing facilities in the Midwestern United States.
PROTRADE STEEL EXPANDS
ProTrade Steel Co. Ltd., based in Hudson, Ohio, has announced that it has contracted to purchase property in Birmingham, Ala., on which to install an auto shredding plant.
The facility will be located on a 20-acre plot of land and is expected to employ 25.
According to ProTrade, the shredder plant installation will be finished in the third quarter of 2006.
ProTrade Steel is a broker of ferrous metals with five regional brokerage offices in the United States. The company also operates an auto shredder in Ohio and three scrap processing facilities in West Virginia. ProTrade also operates electronics recycling facilities in Florida under the name American Electronics Recycling.
ISRI RELEASES 2006 SCRAP SPEC CIRCULAR
The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI) has released the 2006 edition of its Scrap Specifications Circular, which features a new design to make the document easier to use.
The Scrap Specifications Circular 2006 contains several changes approved in April by ISRI’s board of directors.
Revisions to the circular include updated specifications for nonferrous grades Honey and Zorba and the addition of new guidelines for Tally, Elmo and Shelmo. Nonferrous specifications have been sorted by metal rather than alphabetically, and the guidelines for Paper Stock Domestic Transactions contain new language.
The circular provides guidelines to help buyers and sellers in trading processed scrap materials. It covers grades and classifications of scrap, preparation and transportation of materials and rules and procedures for adding, amending or withdrawing specifications. It is currently available for download at www.isri.org/specs.
TUBE CITY OPENS BEIJING OFFICE
Glassport, Pa.-based Tube City IMS Corp., a provider of products and services to steel mills and foundries throughout the United States, Canada and Europe, has announced that its Tube City Division has opened an office in Beijing.
J. David Aronson, executive vice president of outsourced purchasing, Tube City division, Tube City IMS, says the launch of the office demonstrates the company’s long-term commitment to its customers and partners in the Chinese market.
"The new office will allow the company to respond quickly to opportunities in a dynamic marketplace where significant growth is expected in the next decade," Aronson says.
Steven Liu, a former project manager for a Beijing power company, works out of Tube City’s Beijing office.
Tube City IMS Corp. provides outsource steel services to integrated steel mills, mini-mills and foundries. The company has operations at 66 plants throughout the United States, Canada and Europe.
METALICO ACQUIRES OHIO RECYCLER
Cranford, N.J.-based Metalico Inc. has entered into an agreement to purchase substantially all of the operating assets (other than real property interests) of Niles Iron & Metal Company Inc., a scrap metal recycling company in Niles, Ohio.
Metalico is a scrap metal recycler and lead products fabricator with four scrap recycling operations located in western New York State.
The Clayman family has owned and operated Niles Iron & Metal since 1917. In 2005, the company sold roughly 226,500 tons of scrap, approximately 91 percent of which was ferrous material.
Under the terms of the asset purchase agreement, Metalico will enter into long-term leases for Niles Iron & Metal’s two operating sites in Niles (in Northeastern Ohio), and will retain the services of the company’s senior management.
The purchase price for the acquisition is nearly $44 million, subject to additional closing adjustments to the extent that working capital is less than or greater than $6.5 million. The sale is expected to be financed through a debt facility to be entered into at the closing of the transaction, according to a press release from Metalico.
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