Under the Wire

IMCO CLOSES PLANT, OPENS SALES & MARKETING BRANCH

An aluminum recycling plant in Pittsburg, Kan., that is owned and operated by Pittsburg Aluminum Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of IMCO Recycling Inc., Irving, Texas, has been shut down due to “outdated operations and plant inefficiencies,” says a company spokesperson. “This is a situation where the capital investment needed to bring the Pittsburg facility up to required operating standards cannot be justified, particularly when the aluminum scrap it processes can be handled at lower cost and to the satisfaction of our customers in other plants we own.”

The Pittsburg plant had a rated annual capacity of 40 million pounds. The plant was acquired by IMCO in October of this year from Alumar Associates Inc., Chicago.

IMCO has also formed a new sales and marketing organization to support the rapid expansion of its processing capacity and sales volume. In 1995, the company acquired four aluminum recycling plants and expanded an existing facility. It has also formed two joint ventures, one that will own two facilities in Germany and another that will build a new aluminum recycling plant in the United States. When completed in 1996, these actions will together raise IMCO’s total processing capacity to nearly 1.8 billion pounds – 80 percent above the 1994 level.

Thomas Rodgers, senior vice president of sales and marketing for IMCO, will head the new organization. Robert Hubbard will become general manager, sales and marketing, eastern region, and Donald Johnson will be the western region manager.

SUPERFUND REFORM BILLS INTRODUCED IN CONGRESS

Two new Superfund proposals were introduced in Congress recently that aim to reform the law and its burdensome liability system. The House bill, HR 2500, was introduced by Reps. Tom Bliley Jr. (R-Va.), Michael Oxley (R-Ohio), Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.) and Bud Shuster (R-Pa.). The bill is called the “Reform of Superfund Act of 1995,” or ROSA.

The Senate bill, S 1285, introduced by Robert Smith (R-N.H.), is known as the “Accelerated Cleanup and Environmental Restorations Act of 1995.”

The House bill contains a recycling provision supported by the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Washington, that includes liability exemptions for both slags and drosses. The Senate bill does not include that provision as of yet, but Sen. Smith has indicated to ISRI his willingness to accept it in his sponsored bill.

The House bill has already passed the House’s commerce sub-committee, and is in front of the full committee. However,  Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.), has already indicated that he has “serious concerns” over the Senate bill as it is written, according to Clare Hessler of ISRI.  Hessler says the bills are a long way from becoming actual bills, and will go through numerous committees and revisions.

KENNY NOMINATED FOR DESIGN AWARD

Garry Kenny, founder and president of Magnetic Separation Systems, Nashville, Tenn.,  has been selected as one of 10 nominees for Design News magazine’s annual “Engineer of the Year” award. Kenny was nominated by the magazine’s readers for his development of recycling equipment technology, particularly his company’s BottleSort System that uses sensors and infrared light to automatically identify and sort as many as eight types of plastics. The Design News Engineer of the Year will be feted at a black-tie dinner and ceremony in Chicago in March 1996.

STONE CONTAINER BUYS PAPERBOARD MILL

Stone Container Corp., Chicago, has entered into a joint venture agreement with Box USA Corp. to purchase a paperboard mill located in Port St. Joe, Fla., from St. Joe Paper Co. for $185 million, plus applicable working capital. The mill has the capacity to produce about 500,000 tons per year of mottled white and kraft linerboard.

Under the joint agreement, Stone Container would make an equity investment that would provide it with a 50 percent equity interest in the joint venture company. It is anticipated that the purchase by the joint venture would close late in the first quarter of 1996.