Scrap News

Electronic Recycling Becomes Booming Business

Hamilton Journal News (OH) (10/13/14) Seitz, Amanda

An increasing number of consumers are recycling their obsolete electronics, with a 2011 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study estimating that more than 650,000 tons of electronics are recycled annually. «There’s a growing awareness of the environmental need to recycle and the value of some of the materials that can be reused [from electronics] instead of just throwing it in a landfill,” says EPA’s Dina Pierce. The growing amount of unwanted electronics is spurring the establishment of electronics recycling firms across the United States. For example, Middletown, Ohio-based Cohen Bros. and San Diego-based startup ecoATM are just two companies that want to collect obsolete electronic devices from Ohio consumers before they are thrown away. The two companies and others will exchange the electronics for cash, remove any data files they contain, and harvest their marketable materials. If there is no further use for the devices, the companies usually will recycle them at no cost to the owner. Cohen Bros.’s Adam Dumes says his company has recycled millions of pounds of obsolete TVs, computers, keyboards, and phones for individuals and businesses. Meanwhile, ecoATM says its kiosks have collected 102,000 devices in Ohio alone. “We consider Ohio to be a great state to operate in and enjoy that we’re providing our service to consumers there,” says ecoATM’s Amy Rice.

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U.S. PET Container Recycling Rate Hits 31 Percent

FoodBev.com (10/09/14) Weston, Shaun

The United States had a PET recycling rate of 31.2 percent in 2013, up from 30.8 percent in 2012, according to a report from the National Association for PET Container Resources and the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers. The report says U.S. communities collected more PET bottles than ever in 2013, representing a total of 1.798 billion pounds. The amount of PET used in the production of U.S. bottles in 2013 also was higher, at 5.764 billion pounds, despite sales declines in certain beverage market sectors. The bottles also included a record 475 million pounds of recycled PET content. «Limited recycled PET supply is still a barrier to growth, but PET reclaimers really boosted their operations in 2013, easily absorbing the increase in bottles collected and pulling back material that had been exported in previous years,» says Napcor chairman Tom Busard. Clean PET flake produced by domestic PET reclaimers from U.S. bottles totaled 974 million pounds, a 24-percent increase from 2012. The amount of recycled PET used across domestic end-user market segments also increased, from 1.312 billion pounds in 2012 to 1.513 billion pounds in 2013, with significant gains in PET bottle and fiber end uses.

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Landowner Wants to Put Waste Tires to Good Use

Fort Stockton Pioneer (TX) (10/09/14) Beal, Bob

Fort Stockton, Texas, attorney Albert Valadez plans to do something about the piles of illegally dumped tires within city limits. Valadez believes the discarded tires can be used for such things as paving material. He was partly inspired by a stretch of highway near Odessa that featured an experimental pavement of asphalt mixed with shredded tire material. Valadez says recycling discarded tires into alley paving material is an opportunity for a city-county partnership. Michael Corkrum, the city’s public works director, says his staff lacks the appropriate equipment to pulverize the tires into usable sizes. Corkrum says the city currently stockpiles tires at its landfill, and a company hauls them away in shipping containers. «We have plenty of tires now and a steady supply coming in,» he reports. Corkrum suggests the city’s future sales of water produced from the Capitan Reef Complex aquifer might make it easier to procure a scrap tire processing facility. Valadez notes illegal dumping increased following a state ban against discarding tires in landfills. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality also advocates scrap tire recycling and notes on its website that «roadway projects routinely use crumb rubber in asphalt-rubber hot mix, seal coats, [and] crack seals.”

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E-Waste Collection Business Sets Up Shop in Scotts Valley

Press-Banner (CA) (10/09/14) Shreve, Joe

An industrial site in Scotts Valley, Calif., is becoming more environmentally friendly as Ken Keegan’s e-scrap collection and recycling business grows. Keegan began operating All Goods Electronics E-Waste Recycling & Surplus on June 1 in a building previously owned by Aviza Technology. Keegan and two other employees collect and disassemble obsolete electronics, separating the components for recycling or resale. «Usually, it’s old televisions and broken monitors,» he says. «We save tons and tons of raw materials from being mined from the earth.» The facility accommodates large boxes of separated components, cords, and metals, all of which are sold to a recycling facility. Reusable items such as memory chips are separated and set aside to be sold on the secondary market. Hard drives are erased, he says, although owners can request they be destroyed as well as receive a certificate of destruction. Both businesses and consumers can drop off their obsolete electronics or have a staff member pick them up for free.

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Good-Bye E-Waste, Hello Green Cash

Justmeans.com (10/08/14) Pasolini, Antonio

Experts estimate each person creates 15 pounds of obsolete electronics annually, and Gartner reports that in 2013, more than 1.8 billion phones were sold globally. Bellevue, Wash.-based Outerwall, through its ecoATM division, has set up kiosks in retail spaces to collect unwanted mobile devices. Outerwall said at the recent Clinton Global Initiative’s tenth annual meeting that it expects to gather at least 2 million pounds of electronics over the next three years. Nationwide, there are approximately 1,100 ecoATM kiosks in shopping malls or retailers. The ecoATM kiosks identify, evaluate, price, and accept devices of any era or condition and use an international auction system to offer consumers competitive prices ranging from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars.

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Council Approves Funds for Recycling Company Expansion

North Platte Bulletin (NE) (10/08/14) Lauby, George

North Platte, Neb.-based ABC Recycling has seen business quadruple since its launch in mid-June, and now an $85,000 loan from the city will enable the recycler to continue its rapid expansion. The city council has approved a forgivable, no-interest loan, which converts to a grant if ABC is still operating in five years. ABC plans to use the funds to invest in used balers for plastic, corrugated, and metal; two used semi-trailers; a used forklift; and a portable unloading dock. The company recycles discarded electronics, metal, plastic, and other commercial business material in western Nebraska and South Dakota. ABC provides a one-stop service to companies and plans to work with 100 manufacturers and commercial businesses within 150 miles of North Platte. The company expects to hire five full-time workers in the coming year.

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Metal Theft Bill Signed in California

Electric Co-op Today (10/07/14) Kahn, Michael W.

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill into law Sept. 26 that calls for scrap metal dealers to subscribe to regional theft alerts via ScrapTheftAlert.com. The website, developed by ISRI, allows law enforcement officials to enter reports of stolen metals. An alert is sent to registered users within a 100-mile radius of the site of the theft. The system is available for free, including to non-ISRI members. The bill’s passage was applauded by the state’s electric cooperatives as a way to deter metal theft. The new law says, «Local law enforcement agencies are encouraged to report thefts of commodity metals, including, but not limited to, ferrous metal, copper, brass, aluminum, nickel, stainless steel, and alloys, that have occurred within their jurisdiction.» ScrapTheftAlert.com has 18,246 active users and has aided in the recovery of more than $1.5 million in stolen property, according to the website.

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Portage Council Approves Abatements to Provide Some 500 Jobs

Northwest Indiana Times (IN) (10/07/14) Russell, Joyce

International Recycling Group recently received a tax abatement for locating a plastics recycling facility within a 575,000-square-foot building in Portage, Ind. The company will process discarded plastic for both the packaging industry and for use in steel mill blast furnaces as an alternative fuel source. IRG’s Doug Schrader says the firm’s first phase will include a $70 million investment in the Portage facility and another $30 million in a Westchester Township steel mill, while the second phase is slated to begin in 2017 and will provide another $70 million in investments in Portage. He says the two investments are expected to generate about 440 union and industrial-wage jobs that would involve local hires rather than transfers from other facilities. JEM Industries also received a tax abatement for a recycling facility. The Portage City Council had approved designating the area an economic revitalization area prior to endorsing the abatement. JEM Industries will separate metal from foundry dust and slag, returning the metal to mills and the dust to concrete makers. JEM plans to hire 10 to 12 employees in its first year of operation and make a $2 million investment in the building.

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Metal Salvage Company Moves to Lawrence From Somerville

Eagle-Tribune (MA) (10/06/14) Tennant, Paul

Prospect Iron & Steel recently relocated to Lawrence, Mass., and now seeks to hire two more workers, says the company’s Bob Nash. Prospect previously had operated in Somerville for 87 years, but Nash says an eminent domain action by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority prompted the move. He notes a large amount of the scrap metal purchased by Prospect is exported to China. Consumers seeking to sell scrap metal can drive their vehicles onto the scale at the company’s yard, with electricians and other contractors making up many of the sellers. He is aware of the need to be on the alert for criminal elements and points out the company requires all sellers to show their driver’s license. Surveillance cameras photograph every person who brings metal to the yard. «We are new to the area but not new to the business and are excited to be servicing the Lawrence community and the surrounding areas to provide top pricing in the region for all types of ferrous and nonferrous metals,» Nash says.

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Ag Plastics Is Big Business in AP

Highlands Today (FL) (10/04/14) Catala, Paul

A new Florida Agricultural Plastics Recyclers plant in Avon Park, Fla., has been doing booming business since its opening, owner Joe Miceli says. The company reports it is on track to collect 25 million pounds of agricultural plastic such as field crop coverings, silage bags, and bale wrap from farms annually. The company processes the material into recycled plastic flakes that are sold to manufacturers who use them to make new agricultural plastic products. FLAG is preparing to expand its operations now that farmers in several Asian nations are expressing interest in selling the company their obsolete agricultural plastics. Miceli says the goal is to have the plant operate around-the-clock by March to meet the demand, which means he will have to purchase more equipment to collect discarded plastics from farms and hire more employees to process incoming plastic and operate the plant’s plastics cleaning lines. Only one of the lines currently is operational, although a second is expected to come online next month. Meanwhile, Miceli says orders for recycled plastic flakes keep coming in even as the effort to expand the plant continues. «There are several large industrial plastic producers with revenue in the billions giving us orders for the end product,» he says. «Currently we have two years of the product sold and purchase orders keep coming.»

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Thanks to Allentown’s Zzyxx Polymers, Plastics Recycling May Never Be the Same

Keystone Edge (PA) (10/02/14) Vider, Elise

Allentown, Pa.-based Zzyxx Polymers uses continuous mechanochemical compatibilization to process postconsumer plastic for high-value applications. Zzyxx recently received a $737,000 Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Science Foundation. The CMC process eliminates the need for sorting and meticulously cleaning postconsumer plastic by pulverizing and combining materials at the molecular level. The company notes the resulting material can be used to make a wide range of products. Zzyxx recently set up manufacturing equipment in the Allentown Economic Development Corp.’s Bridgeworks Enterprise Center, and with support from the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania, it is «weeks away from turning our machines on,» says co-founder Phil Brunner. The company is licensing its technology through Northwestern and Bucknell universities, and it expects to make $2 million and employ 10 people by its third year.

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Wood Recycler Rolls with the Changes: Peterson a Key Vendor for Indiana Company that Grinds Wood Debris into Mulch

TimberLine Magazine (10/01/14) Cox, Tim

Peterson Pacific provides the workhorse machines for Indiana’s Brewer Farms wood recycling business. Brewer Farms’ owner Tim Brewer started his mulch business in 1989, chipping the discarded wood for sawmills and selling it back to them for fuel. As sawmills dwindled in the state, Brewer began clearing forested land for farmers, commercial buildings, and developers. The sale of mulch made from the trees removed during land clearing generate nearly half of Brewer Farms’ income. Brewer uses Peterson Pacific grinding machines for much of its work because «they’re very dependable. They’re very reliable machines,» Brewer says. Peterson recently asked Brewer to host an event demonstrating 13 of Peterson’s machines to 300 customers from the United States and abroad. In addition to land clearing and mulching, Brewer also can produce black and brown mulch using a Colorbiotics system and colorants. In the future, Brewer plans to expand his company with the addition of satellite recycling yards.

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Program Tours Recycling Business

Journal Gazette & Times-Courier (IL) (09/29/14) Burgstahler, Karsten

Members of Eastern Illinois University’s Academy of Lifelong Learning program recently toured Tony Harris’ company, Harris Metals & Recycling. Since 1981, the family business has recycled beverage cans, crushing them into 34-pound cubes called biscuits. The company’s can processing machine can produce 3,000 pounds of biscuits an hour. The biscuits are then shipped to Tennessee and Indiana where they are made into new cans. Although the company used to produce 1 million pounds of biscuits a year, recently production has slowed to 700,000 to 800,000 pounds a year. The company also recycles other metal such as appliances, computers, wires, and even metal baseball bats. About 80 percent of Harris’ business comes from people delivering their discarded items. Harris says he appreciates people bringing their items in for recycling. «It’s doing a great thing for the environment, and you get a little money in your pocket too,» he says.

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Connecticut Charging up Battery Recycling Efforts

Associated Press (09/27/14) Singley, Paul

Connecticut could be the first state to adopt a comprehensive battery recycling bill for both single-use alkaline batteries and rechargeable batteries. “This increases recycling, it removes items from the waste stream, and it creates jobs around recovery of the material,” says state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection environmental analyst Tom Metzner. Battery manufacturers such as Energizer, Duracell, Panasonic, and the Rechargeable Battery Association are working with state environmental officials to draft the bill for introduction in the 2015 legislative session. They hope the bill may serve as a model for the rest of the country. Although some voluntary battery recycling programs exist, not every company participates and only 10 to 15 percent of recyclable batteries are recycled. Connecticut already has a car battery disposal program in place. The new program will apply to all other batteries. The program benefits battery manufacturers as well as the environment and the economy. “If you look at what it takes to make a battery, and all of the metals that have to be mined and processed and manufactured, there are many steps that you can avoid when you recycle something such as a battery,” says Product Stewardship Institute CEO Scott Cassel. Connecticut also is the first state to pass a mattress recycling law and the third state to enact a paint recycling law.

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Minneapolis Looks at Rules for Recycling Demolition, Construction Waste

Minneapolis Star Tribune (MN) (09/27/14) Roper, Eric

Landfill disposal of demolition and construction scrap is a byproduct of thriving development in Minneapolis and across the Twin Cities, and there are a handful of local companies committed to sifting through this material for recyclables. The scrap comes from both new building construction and demolition, but not all of it is recyclable. “At the end of the day, the reality is somebody has to find a way to make a dollar off it,” says Atomic Recycling’s Brian Pieti. Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges’ Zero Waste initiative has prompted the city to assess other cities’ rules to encourage or mandate recycling of construction and demolition debris. Hennepin County’s Paul Kroening thinks current landfill disposal rates are lower than pre-recession levels thanks to better recovery operations, and his county intends to examine the capacity of the recovery market this fall to ascertain feasible goals. “If we were to set a goal of 70-percent recovery of waste, is that reasonable, can the market support that?” Kroening asks. Meanwhile, Minneapolis has partnered with Better Futures Minnesota on a pilot project to carefully disassemble houses and recover materials rather than sending the debris to landfills or commingled loads to recycling facilities. Pieti estimates about half of a typical home’s weight is recyclable, mainly because of its concrete foundation. Better Futures CEO Thomas Adams says deconstruction may have higher upfront costs than demolition, but it is less expensive for companies because they can donate the materials to Better Futures as a tax write-off.

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