Turning Trash Into Treasure: South Bay Recycling Company Partners With School to Collect Plastic Waste

The Sun (FL) (04/10/14) Beltz, Melissa

CNOX is a Miami-based plastics recycling firm that collects discarded plastic materials from area cities and businesses and converts them into stackable plastic pallets that are sold to companies in the United States and abroad. CNOX grinds discarded plastic into small chip-like pieces that are sifted using magnets to remove any metal. The material is then stored in a silo prior to being melted down and molded into the final product. CNOX’s Avi Aisenberg says the majority of the machines used at CNOX’s South Bay facility were made in the 1970s, but his background in electronics and automation enables him to keep them in working order. He also designed the magnetic washing column used to extract metal from the plastic pieces during processing. CNOX recycles primarily large plastic scrap gathered from agricultural firms and coastal cities. The company also collects household containers and plastic water bottles, which can be processed together to make the final product. In addition, CNOX recently partnered with Belle Glade Elementary School to launch a pilot recycling program after one of CNOX’s employees sought to teach youngsters about the importance of recycling, reducing waste, and earning money for education.

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Old Tires, New Use

Mountain View Telegraph (04/10/14) Kaplan, Elise

Residents in New Mexico discard about 2 million tires annually, many of which end up in state landfills or are shipped out of state or recycled. A large-scale solution could be to burn scrap tires for fuel, which generates no odors or smoke when done in a controlled environment. The GCC Rio Grande cement plant in Pueblo, Colo., recently launched tire-based fuel operations after obtaining a permit from the Colorado Air Pollution Control Division in July 2012. GCC’s Doug Roark says the firm’s Tijeras, N.M., plant intends to do the same in the next couple of years. If operating at 100 percent, Roark expects the plant to burn 1.5 million tires annually. Estancia Valley Solid Waste Authority manager Joseph Ellis says the agency «has been working with GCC on an arrangement whereby the landfill would be a staging depot for tires from all over the state. Some of them have to be de-rimmed, cleaned, cut, and then delivered to GCC in Tijeras on a just-in-time basis for their use in the kilns.» The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which supports «the responsible use of tires in Portland cement kilns and other industrial facilities,» notes about 53 million tires are burned for fuel each year, 41 percent of which go to cement plants.

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Plastic Film Recycling Inching Forward in U.S.

Greener Package (04/09/14) Mohan, Anne Marie

The total amount of postconsumer film packaging collected for recycling in 2012 surpassed 1 billion pounds, reflecting a 1-percent increase over 2011, according to a new report based on surveys from 21 U.S. and Canadian processors and 39 exporters. A minimum of 1.02 billion pounds of postconsumer film was acquired for recycling in 2012, marking a 56-percent increase since 2005. «This report shows that even though film recycling had not grown as we had hoped last year, there is a lot of opportunity to make a difference with our programs,» says Shari Jackson with the American Chemistry Council’s Flexible Film Recycling Group. There currently are more than 18,000 store drop-off locations nationwide for collecting plastic bags, wraps, and film for recycling, but that infrastructure has the potential to be significantly expanded. Recycled polyethylene film can be used to make a variety of products, including durable plastic and composite lumber, crates, pipe, and new film packaging. FFRG, which represents resin producers, recyclers, film converters, and brand owners, is working to engage more businesses and consumers in the film recycling process.

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New Port of Albany Location to Increase Scrap Metal Company’s Production, Decrease Costs

Albany Business Review (04/09/14) Morey, Krystle S.

Upstate Shredding-Ben Weitsman’s new 12-acre metal shredding site in Albany, N.Y., is expected to decrease processing time and operating costs for the company. The facility is Upstate Shredding’s fourth Port of Albany acquisition. Materials currently need to be shipped to Owego, N.Y., to be shredded, which is 2.5 hours away, says Upstate Shredding’s Stephen Donnelly. «Freight costs are one of the most expensive when transporting metals back and forth,» he notes. However, the expansion will enable the firm to shred materials in Albany. The facility was previously owned by Hudson River Recycling/Sims. The property’s rail and port access will enable Upstate Shredding to have additional ways to accept scrap material. Donnelly says the shredder will be fully operational before the end of 2014.

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Tire Recycling Startup Proposes $28 Million Investment, 128 First-Phase Jobs for Mobile

AL.com (04/08/14) Dugan, Kelli

Nevada-based Alliance International Group wants to invest more than $28 million in Mobile, Ala., to construct an innovative recycling operation for discarded tires. The startup has petitioned and received a 10-year tax abatement from Mobile’s Industrial Development Board for the planned project, which would create 128 jobs in its first phase with average annual salaries of about $47,000. Before the company can close on 50 acres of land in Theodore, it must obtain the development board’s abatement approval, which requires Alliance International Group to meet regulatory requirements imposed by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. The company says it would use a «pollution-free proprietary process» known as pyrolysis to extract oil, carbon black, steel, and methane gas from discarded tires. The tires would be shipped already shredded into 2-inch chips via rail to the proposed Theodore facility. «The plan is to process [the equivalent of] 15,000 tires per day, and this will be a 24/7 operation,» notes Herman Tinsley, a project manager in the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce’s economic development department. Long-range plans include an option to purchase an adjoining 50 acres that could encompass as many as three expansions at the proposed Theodore site, bringing overall employment to about 350.

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Entrepreneurial Family Targets E-Waste

GSA Business (SC) (04/07/14) Boncimino, Ashley

Responsible, convenient, and local electronics recycling has become more of a focus for businesses in South Carolina now that the state has banned obsolete desktop computers, monitors, printers, and televisions from its landfills. Electronic Asset Recycling in Laurens hopes to meet the need, especially among small and medium-sized businesses. Mike Munafo, a 30-year veteran of the scrap metals industry, launched the recycling business with his sons Peyton and Cary. With a pickup truck and a warehouse in Laurens, the family-owned business collects, disassembles, sorts, and sells the electronic scrap. «Everybody’s got electronics that they’ve got to do something with,» Munafo says. However, many small to medium-sized businesses do not have enough scrap to make free pickup from national e-recycling companies worth it, or they do not want to pay a pickup fee. ECycle Secure offers electronics recycling for companies, counties, schools, and universities in the state. The business receives 40,000 pounds of material every day.

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Southeast Manufacturers Join to Spur Job Creation Through Recycling

Triple Pundit (04/07/14) Burger, Andrew

Manufacturers in the Southeast United States make use of more recycled materials than in any other region of the country, according to Southeast Recycling Development Council executive director Will Sagar. He notes recycling is a growth industry that continued to expand during the last recession because of the value it provides. A College of Charleston study found that employment in the recycling industry in South Carolina increased from 26,537 in 1995 to 37,440 in 2005. In addition, recycling had a total economic impact of $6.5 billion and contributed $69 million in state tax revenue, which SERDC predicts could grow by 12 percent over the next five years. «That recycling is beneficial for the environment is probably an uncontested proposition,” write College of Charleston professors Frank Hefner and Calvin Blackwell in a new study. «What is becoming increasingly more obvious is that recycling contributes to the economic health of a state’s economy.» Nationwide, the recycling industry generated $236 billion in revenues in 2007 and employed more than 1 million people, accounting for about 2 percent of U.S. gross domestic product.

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Reno Businesses Get Single-Stream Recycling

Reno Gazette-Journal (04/04/14) O’Driscoll, Bill

A new conveyor system inside a warehouse operated by Nevada Recycling & Salvage makes it easier to separate the recyclables from businesses in the Reno-Sparks area. Nevada Recycling & Salvage estimates the single-stream sorting system diverts 90 percent of the material it processes away from area landfills. «We are helping companies go to zero landfill,» says the company’s Rick Lake. He says tons of primarily corrugated and paper products are recycled daily, in addition to plastic and wood products. Last year Lake says the business processed 1 million tons of recyclable materials. About 24 people work at the warehouse, with some operating front-end loaders and others operating forklifts to haul bales. The scrap material eventually is sold in California’s recyclable commodities market. Green Solutions Recycling is partnering with Nevada Recycling & Salvage by providing bins to area businesses and paying them for their recyclable materials. Another company in the partnership is Rubbish Runners, which helps transport the materials to Nevada Recycling & Salvage.

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Encore Recycling Ready to Expand If Plastic Bag Ban Passes

Monterey County Herald (CA) (04/03/14) Molnar, Phillip

Salinas, Calif.-based Encore Recycling sees the possible passage of a statewide ban on plastic bags in August as an opportunity for expansion. The company converts thousands of pounds of agricultural plastic and ships the material to Southern California to become reusable plastic bags, and the approval of the ban in its current form could potentially make Encore’s products an alternative to paper bags. Under the legislation, reusable bags would have to consist of 20 percent postconsumer recycled plastic. «If you could make that bag to be strong and reusable—and you could make that bag out of locally collected recycled plastic—then what you have is a continuous loop that is functional and affordable for the consumer,» says Encore CEO Pete Grande. With a current work force of about 30 employees, Encore has spent more than $8 million setting up its 124,500-square-foot Salinas facility and is planning to spend an additional $15 million, according to Grande. The company also plans to triple its manpower by year’s end. Should the plastic bag prohibition pass, Grande says Encore might consider fabricating the bags in Monterey County and increasing its staff rather than shipping recycled products to Southern California.

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Streamlight Recycles 10,000 Pounds of Batteries

Lower Providence Alternative Press (PA) (04/02/14) Treacy, Melissa S.

Eagleville, Pa.-based Streamlight, a leading provider of flashlights, recycled 3,500 pounds of rechargeable batteries in 2013’s fourth quarter. The company says it prevented more than 10,000 pounds of batteries from being discarded in landfills last year. «The company and its distributors are partners with Call2Recycle, the only free rechargeable battery recycling program in North America,» Streamlight says. «The program helps businesses care for the environment through its rechargeable battery collection program.» Company leaders say they are pleased to have the assistance in going green. «In 2013, Streamlight and its participating dealers continued to join thousands of U.S. businesses in serving as battery collection sites in a collective effort to maintain a healthy and safe environment for our communities,» says Streamlight CEO Ray Sharrah. Call2Recycle says since 1996 it has helped recycle more than 85 million pounds of batteries. «Various federal and state regulations govern the proper disposal of rechargeable batteries and cell phones, naming Call2Recycle in official legislation as the collection method for eco-safe rechargeable battery and cell phone reclamation and recycling,» Streamlight notes.

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Electronic Recycling Growth Forecasted

Environmental Leader (04/01/14)

Electronic recycling will increase at an annual rate of nearly 24 percent through the rest of the decade, according to a new report. The worldwide recycling market was valued at $9.84 billion in 2012. The market’s growth is attributed to strict recycling regulations, initiatives to appropriately manage electronic scrap, and technological investments. However, a lack of recycling awareness and regulatory infrastructure has resulted in low recycling rates. E-scrap accounts for less than 4 percent of the global landfill mass but contains more than 75 percent of potentially environmentally hazardous material. Europe dominated the e-scrap recycling market in 2012, followed by North America. The European recycling rate is slightly higher than North America’s rate due to efficient approaches to recycling guided by two directives—the Restriction of Hazardous Substances directive and the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive.

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Former Owners Buy Back Midland Recycling

Lincoln Journal Star (NE) (04/01/14) Olberding, Matt

Previous owners of Midland Recycling have repurchased the company, which is based in Lincoln, Neb. Brian Heng and Mick Barry, two of the founders of the firm, say they partnered with other investors to buy the company from Palmer Refuse. Terms of the transaction were not revealed. Heng, Barry, and the other investors formed a company earlier in 2014 called Greenwaste, which purchased the Midland Recycling processing business and facility. Barry will serve as president while investor Kelley McReynolds will serve as vice president and general manager of the Lincoln plant. Barry says Palmer Refuse will continue to provide hauling services to Midland. Since its founding in 1996, Midland Recycling has expanded to encompass 17 locations and more than 600 employees in multiple states. Barry says the initial focus of the new owners will be growing its commercial accounts, negotiating higher sale prices for locally recycled commodities, and improving efficiencies. He also notes that no layoffs are expected, and the staff likely will be expanded. Barry anticipates attracting more customers locally as well as nationwide and internationally, while the company also plans to grow through acquisitions.

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West Monroe Recycler to Provide Material for Springhill Project

Monroe News Star (LA) (04/01/14) Hilburn, Greg

Astro Industries will serve as the strategic recycling partner for IntegriCo Composites’ new plant in Springhill, La. IntegriCo will manufacture plastic transportation infrastructure components, including railroad ties, rail crossings, and industrial mats, using material from West Monroe-based Astro. The plastics recycling company, formerly known as Bayou Plastics, expects to add 12 to 14 jobs at its West Monroe plant and establish a satellite operation to serve IntegriCo’s new facility. The West Monroe plant employs about 30 workers. Astro has been in business for more than 16 years and has expanded its offerings to include plastic compounding for domestic and foreign markets. Astro president Jim Green says the company has an ownership stake in IntegriCo, which is moving its corporate headquarters from Temple, Texas, to Webster Parish. «We’re in 100-percent growth mode,» Green says.

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Old Growth, New Life

Ukiah Daily Journal (CA) (04/01/14) Rifkin, Karen

California-based North Cal Wood Products is a full-cycle deconstruction, recycling, and remanufacturing company. «We take down turn-of-the-century buildings, barns, and bridges; we deconstruct, remove the metal and hardware, and bring the wood back to the plant here,» says North Cal’s Tony Fernandez. The company remanufactures wood into siding, ceiling panels, furniture, and flooring for architectural millwork companies. «We take everything down to ground and recycle not only the wood but also the metal, the glass, the wiring, everything,» Fernandez notes. «We do the deconstruction with our people; we transport to our facility with our trucks; we remanufacture the material; we market into the industry and redeliver. We specialize in reclaimed Redwood and Douglas fir, species indigenous to the structures built in our region.» Fernandez says North Cal counts Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Motorola among its clients. The company has a 10-acre site, employs 200 people during busy times, and ships anywhere via its online lumber store. Next year the company plans to enter the biodynamic farming industry by converting the mill’s waste products into biochar fertilizer.

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Project Recycle: Metrodome’s Materials Will Live Another Day

Minneapolis Star Tribune (MN) (03/29/14) Moore, Janet

The process of disassembling the Minneapolis Metrodome and constructing a new stadium has been underway for the past five months. More than 80 percent of the 32-year-old structure will be recycled, including the concrete, Teflon fabric roof, the soil beneath and around it, the blue seats, the stadium’s field turf, and even a few urinals. Some of the concrete and soil will be used in road projects, while the steel will be remelted and crafted into rebar or sheets used for new construction or consumer products. The fabric roof will be used to make construction tarps. Minneapolis-based AMG Alliance, which is handling the recycling effort involving steel and other metals, has hauled hundreds of truckloads of material from the site over the past two months. AMG sorts the steel and extracts metals at its site in St. Paul. Nearly 5,000 tons of steel and other metals will be recycled from the site, according to AMG’s Shane Alsdurf. «We’re pretty much winding down at this point,» he says.

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ISRI News

JASON Learning, Recycling Companies and Schools Set Standard for Education Partnership

ISRI and JASON Learning have established a partnership between schools in Baltimore and Kalamazoo, Mich., and local recycling companies to create a replicable model for collaborations to teach the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects related to recycling in grades K-12.

“ISRI is proud to be partnering with JASON and local schools on this one-of-a-kind initiative to help teach the science of recycling in classrooms and get kids interested in careers in science,” said Robin Wiener, president of ISRI. “The two pilot programs led by ISRI members United Iron & Metal, and Schupan & Sons will give children the opportunity to see how recycling works up close, teach them the skills needed for careers in the field, and help them develop an interest in STEM subjects. It is through this education process that the recycling industry will gain its next generation of leaders.”

At Lakeland Elementary/Middle School in Baltimore, United Iron & Metal (which is owned by Atlantic Recycling Group) is demonstrating how a local business can reach out to the community by providing JASON STEM curricula to every student in the school. The demonstration partnership pioneers the opportunity for local ISRI members to take this model and co-brand STEM learning.

A second model is being set up by Schupan & Sons, working with an educational resources center in Kalamazoo to effect public education at school districts throughout the county. This provides training for teachers and a full curriculum roll-out that brings STEM learning into the schools while partnered with JASON, and gives recyclers the opportunity to give back to the community.

“JASON Learning is grateful for ISRI’s commitment to education, which will help to seed the next generation of STEM professionals in their community,” noted JASON Chief Executive Vice President and Operating Officer Dr. Eleanor Smalley. “JASON Learning is committed to connecting kids with real-world science and with the scientists who are doing the work. Our partnership with ISRI demonstrates to students the practical uses of STEM subjects and how they can be part of an exciting future career.”

ISRI and JASON developed unique lessons that teach the “science of scrap,” and introduce students to a growing industry that needs trained chemists and chemical engineers, mechanical engineers, metallurgists and other degreed professionals. The lessons include standards-based, K-12 curricular experiences; interactive Web-based experiences to enhance student engagement; classroom posters featuring key educational messages; a leveraged national distribution network; strategies for school visits to ISRI facilities; age-appropriate lesson plans based on life cycle for each commodity; and more.

ISRI has made a $10,000 investment to develop the Baltimore model linking local recyclers with their schools and communities. JASON matched ISRI’s dollars with an in-kind contribution.