The Loading Dock

Pratt & Whitney may be a global company with deep pockets, but it nonetheless must have been alarmed by a 2006 theft that occurred at its Pratt & Whitney Power Systems Inc. facility in Manchester, Conn.

Two Connecticut residents were arrested and charged with the theft of 30 turbine engine rings with a combined value estimated at $2.6 million, according to a news item in the Journal Inquirer of Manchester, Conn.

According to the news report, the rings each weighed about 2,500 pounds, perhaps leading to the belief that the odds of them being stolen were minimal.

But with metals prices skyrocketing—and each ring worth approximately $90,000—the enterprising thieves showed up with a flat bed truck several times, according to police, and took a few rings on each trip.

According to police, scrap dealers approached with the material asked for proof of ownership, but the thieves produced forged documentation.

The stolen turbine rings were eventually dispersed to other dealers both inside and beyond Connecticut, but police have been able to locate them, and, as of December, the items "have been placed on hold so they won’t be sold again," according to the Journal Inquirer.

Pratt & Whitney Power Systems is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp., based in Hartford, Conn.

Just as with metals, the world’s secondary commodity markets are providing a very good reason for business owners and managers to treat their scrap paper with a little respect.

Led by a surge in papermaking production in China, the world’s scrap paper markets have shown a prolonged steadiness in demand for the secondary material. In fact, scrap paper is, by volume, the leading material being shipped from Pacific Coast ports in the United States over to China.

"The growth in global recovered paper consumption is predominantly led by China. Reason No. 1: China’s continuing strong economic growth," write Esko Uutela and Bill Moore, co-authors of a report on global recovered paper markets.

"Of some 24 million tons annually of currently known global investment in additional papermaking capacity using recycled fiber for the period 2005-2009, nearly two-thirds (or close to 16 million tons) is planned for China," the duo note.

The boom in China is good news for paper recyclers and businesses that generate scrap paper. "Led by the very strong expansion in China, world recovered paper demand is expected to grow by an average of 4.4 percent or more annually until 2012," write Uutela and Moore.

The entire report, entitled "Outlook for Recovered Paper Markets—Increasing Competition for Recovered Paper," can be ordered online at www.globalrecyclefiber.com.

Liquidity Services Inc., Washington, has enacted its Scrap Venture program to serve the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS), Battle Creek, Mich., an agency that brings scrap materials to market on behalf of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD).

Following a competitive offering process, LSI was awarded an exclusive contract to manage the receipt, marketing and sale of virtually all surplus scrap property generated by DOD installations throughout the United States, according to an LSI press release.

The contract has a base term of seven years and three one-year-renewal options. The SV contract provides LSI with exclusive access to nearly all DOD surplus scrap property, including steel, iron, aluminum, brass, copper, titanium, high-temperature alloys, electronics, glass, rubber, plastics, wood, cardboard and recovered paper grades.

Under the terms of the contract, LSI has entered into a net proceeds sharing arrangement with the DRMS in which it will purchase scrap property for .01 cents per pound and share with DRMS 80 percent of the net proceeds resulting from LSI’s sales activities after deducting its direct costs for managing the program.

Says LSI chairman and CEO Bill Angrick, "Teaming with LSI will enable the DOD to implement commercial best practices and cutting-edge technology to improve its business processes and reduce costs."