Under the Wire

The Interstate Commerce Commission voted to exempt ferrous recyclables from its jurisdiction. The ruling came during April, and continues the ICC’s move to exempt commodities from its jurisdiction.

The Association of American Railroads and the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries had taken the lead in requesting the exemption, which includes iron and steel scrap, as well as steel shipping containers.

Current rail rates for iron and steel scrap are not only below ICC’s allowable profit margin, but have fallen significantly since 1981 when the price was $.08 per mile, to 1991 when the per-mile price stood at $.04.

While exempting ferrous scrap, the ICC rejected the two groups’ request to include blast furnace products in the exemption. The reason, the ICC cited, was the products haven’t been considered ferrous recyclables, falling instead into the non-ferrous category.

Plastics Recycling Research Center Opens

The American Plastics Council, Washington, plans to open a research center on recovery and recycling of durable plastic-containing goods. Working with MBA Polymers Inc., Berkeley, Calif., APC’s center will include a pilot line that will develop and demonstrate new technologies to identify plastics for recycling, as well as improving the quality and reduce the costs of the plastics recycling process. The center will complement wTe Corp.’s existing Boston-based recycling operation, Multi-Products Recycling Facility, which has already processed more than 100,000 pounds of post-consumer plastics from the automotive, computer, business equipment and major appliance industries.

Proler Nears Facility Completion