Scrap Industry News

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports more than 635,000 mercury switches representing 1,400 pounds of mercury have been removed during the first year of its voluntary national program to remove the devices from vehicles.

Last August, the EPA, the American Iron and Steel Institute, the Steel Manufacturers Association, the Automotive Recyclers Association, the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc., the End of Life Vehicles Corp., Environmental Defense, the Ecology Center and the Environmental Council of the States launched the mercury switch removal program. Working with existing state efforts, the National Vehicle Mercury Switch Removal Program estimates it has the potential to recover from 80 percent to 90 percent of available mercury switches.

EPA says it reached its goal to enlist the participation of all 50 state. The EPA will measure the program’s progress by determining the percentage of switches recovered each year compared to the number of available end-of-life autos.

EPA estimates 5,900 recyclers have agreed to recover switches before sending vehicles for further recycling.

Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI), Fort Wayne, Ind., and OmniSource Corp. have announced the execution of a definitive agreement whereby Steel Dynamics will acquire OmniSource, a privately held scrap recycling company based in Fort Wayne, Ind.

Both companies’ boards of directors have unanimously approved the agreement.

Under the terms of the deal, OmniSource will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Steel Dynamics and will focus on ferrous and nonferrous scrap processing, brokerage and industrial scrap management. SDI’s existing scrap operations in Virginia and Tennessee will be consolidated into OmniSource, as will its planned scrap processing facility in Indianapolis.

During an Oct. 2 conference call discussing details of the acquisition, representatives from both companies noted that they had discussed a partnership as long ago as 1998.

Keith Busse, chairman and CEO for Steel Dynamics, noted the partnership provides a unique vertical integration that will allow SDI easy access to scrap.

Danny Rifkin, OmniSource’s current president and CEO, will join the SDI management team as an executive vice president of SDI’s newly formed recycled metals platform. He also will lead the OmniSource subsidiary as president and COO and be named to SDI’s board of directors.

"This acquisition creates a significant new business platform for SDI and represents a quantum leap as it would regard strategic expansion into the steel scrap and recycled metals sector, which is an important element of our overall growth plan," Keith Busse, SDI’s chairman and CEO, commented. "Aside from the fact that scrap is a critical resource for our steelmaking operations and Omni has historically been one of our largest suppliers, this acquisition opens the door for further profitable growth in a sector of increasing relevance on a global scale. OmniSource is one of the premier, if not the premier organization in both the ferrous and nonferrous scrap industries and has demonstrated its ability to successfully grow its business," Busse said.

"When considered in conjunction with SDI’s recently announced mining and minerals projects in the state of Minnesota, Steel Dynamics will become the only domestic steelmaker to have a significant presence in both the virgin iron ore and ferrous recycling markets," Busse continued, "These initiatives are expected to play a significant role in SDI’s future steelmaking growth."

OmniSource’s Rifkin also commented on the deal. "This transaction presents a unique opportunity for all stakeholders and presents our employees with new growth opportunities," he said. "We have been associated with Steel Dynamics since its founding, and applaud the tremendous success that the company has achieved. I believe that the addition of OmniSource to the SDI family will prove to be very strategic over the long-term, and we look forward to continued growth and expansion in the scrap industry tied to the world-class service for which OmniSource has become known. I am personally excited to join the SDI management team and to play a significant role in the broader scope of an integrated metals company," Rifkin added.

The Irish firm NTR has established a new recycling division in North America called Greenstar North America.

In addition to the creation of the North American business unit, the company has acquired majority stakes in four U.S.-based recycling companies, including Mid America Recycling Co., Delta Management Group, Recycle Management Co. and Todd Heller Inc. The acquisitions give Greenstar North America a network of 15 processing facilities, which will process and market more than 1 million tons of recyclables per year.

Greenstar North America gains a visible position in Pittsburgh with its stake in Recycle Management Co.; a sizable stake in the glass, container and paper recycling markets in the Pennsylvania area with its position in Todd Heller Inc.; a presence in Illinois with its stake in Delta Management Group, which is headquartered in Normal, Ill., and has more than 4,500 managed retail and commercial locations throughout North America; and a sizable presence in the Midwest and Texas with its position in Mid America Recycling.

CEO Steve Ragiel leads Greenstar North America, headquartered in Houston. Other top managers at the company are CFO Dan Shoener, Senior Vice President Dennis Soriano, Vice President of Sales and Marketing Tim Herman and Vice President of Commodity Marketing Brian Gaughan.

The company’s focus is on processing various types of recyclables, commodity upgrading and trading of recyclables in North America.

In announcing the move, Greenstar says it does not plan to enter either the landfill or solid waste collection business, according to a news release.

"The economics of recycling are becoming increasingly attractive," NTR CEO Jim Barry says. "Resource depletion in addition to an ever-changing energy market has created business opportunities for recycled products. Through the application of new technologies, opportunities exist to divert significant quantities of product away from disposal into marketable recycled products, paving the way for long-term, sustainable growth."

Sonoco has renamed its global recovered paper operations Sonoco Recycling and has repositioned the business unit to combine the company's recycling capabilities with new environmentally sustainable services, such as waste management consulting.

"As one of the largest recyclers in the packaging industry, Sonoco has extensive materials recovery experience and we are constantly developing new, cost-effective sustainable packaging solutions and services for our customers," Jack Sanders, senior vice president of Sonoco, says. "The fact is, Sonoco's recycling capabilities have grown far beyond collecting paper to meet our internal raw material needs. Today, Sonoco Recycling has the resources and expertise needed to meet the changing needs of our customers as they are looking for more environmentally sustainable services."

Sonoco annually collects approximately 3.5 million tons of recyclables, including old corrugated containers (OCC) and other paper, plastic, metal, glass and other recyclables.

Sonoco Recycling (www.sonoco.com) operates in 46 locations in North America and Europe.

Australia-based Sims Group Ltd. has announced that the merger of its Southern Californian Metal Recycling assets with Adams Steel LLC was completed Sept. 1.

The newly created joint venture company, SA Recycling LLC, will operate within a territory covering Southern California, Arizona, Southern Nevada and Northern Mexico.

The merger combines Sims’ deep-water facility at the Port of Los Angeles with Adams Steel’s two inland shredding operations and its extensive network of inland feeder yards.