Scrap News

Georgia Company to Use Former Weirton, WV Football Stadium to Expand Battery Recycling Business

WTRF.com (WV) (11/07/14) Harris, Linda

Georgia-based Metal Conversion Technologies has chosen the abandoned Jimmy Carey football stadium in downtown Weirton, W.Va., as the site of its new battery recycling center. Groundbreaking is scheduled for Nov. 10. “This facility will address the growing need to recycle electric vehicle batteries, as well as other lithium-ion batteries,” including cell phone and laptop batteries, according to MCT owner John Patterson. He says the company initially will employ about 12 people, but he hopes to expand the facility to recycle other metal, which will require more staff. In its eight years, family-owned and -operated MCT has recycled more than 9,500 tons of batteries. The components are processed using MCT’s patented induction melt technology, producing the company’s remelt alloy, a commodity in the U.S. stainless steel market. The Business Development Corp. of the Northern Panhandle previously had acquired the stadium property, with a provision that it be used to develop jobs and economic growth.

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New Plant Will Double Southern Nevada’s Recycling Capacity

Las Vegas Sun (11/06/14) Marcus, Steve

The recent groundbreaking of a second recycling plant in southern Nevada promises to solve some of the capacity problems that have discouraged area recycling. The first recycling facility, operated by Republic Services, lacked the capacity for all of the recyclables left on residential routes, forcing them to be disposed of in the company landfill. The new $34 million facility in North Las Vegas will operate alongside the existing recycling plant, and the combined facilities will make the Southern Nevada Recycling Complex the largest residential recycling operation in the United States. The new building will have a 2.5-acre footprint under one roof and will be made primarily with recycled materials. The facility also will accept a wider range of plastics, using new technology to help sort them into 11 basic materials. The plant will employ 180 full-time workers and also will use an automated network of devices, including optical sorters, magnets, vibrators, screens, and glass crushers. Material will take just three minutes to travel from the opening chute to the final baling stage, where it will be shipped to domestic and international markets. The new facility also will serve as an attraction for tourists and students by offering a multimedia learning center that explains the recycling process.

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Chandler Company Turns Worn-Out Blue Jeans Into Insulation, More

Cronkite News Service (11/05/14)

Chandler, Ariz.-based Bonded Logic and Phoenix Fibers collect discarded denim clothing and recycle it into bedding, wall insulation, and soundproofing products. They get bulk donations of denim from Goodwill and the Salvation Army. Bonded Logic uses about 150 pairs of jeans to make 500-pound bales, producing more than 2 million pounds of cotton-based product annually. The recycled cotton is used to make products such as UltraTouch insulation, which is 80-percent denim. The insulation has a comparable life span and R-rating to fiberglass insulation, but it is more than twice as expensive. Bonded Logic’s Sean Desmond says UltraTouch offers more soundproofing; is eco-friendly, safer, healthier; and is easier to install. He notes Bonded Logic’s insulation has prompted fiberglass insulation companies to begin offering more eco-friendly options, such as recycled fiberglass and recycled paper insulation. «People are just used to fiberglass; that’s what they know,» says Arizona State University sustainability scientist Mick Dalrymple. “The bottom line is cotton insulation will grow in market share versus fiberglass because of its superior acoustic benefits and lack of scratchiness. But the price differential and momentum will keep that growth lower than it would be otherwise.”

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Timberland, Omni Recycle Tires into Footwear

Environmental Leader (11/05/14)

Timberland is collaborating with tire manufacturer Omni United to make tires that can be recycled into shoe outsoles. Because the tire and footwear industries are the largest users of virgin rubber, the companies have established the first tire return/chain of custody process, ensuring the tires go directly toward creating Timberland shoes at the end of their useful life. Omni United is using Liberty Tire Recycling to collect its Timberland tires, which first will be ground into crumb rubber and then made into sheet rubber before being shipped to Timberland for outsole manufacturing. Timberland tires will become available in 2015 and 2016 for SUVs, trucks, and cars in a range of sizes. Warranties will range from 50,000 to 80,000 miles. Until enough Timberland tires are ready for recycling, Timberland and Omni United are looking for an alternative source of recycled rubber for a special line of Timberline boots.

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The New Alchemy? Company Makes Jet Fuel and Plastic Soda Bottles Out of Farm Wastes

E&E Daily (11/04/14) Huizen, Jennifer

Wisconsin-based Virent Energy Systems has developed a way to produce a 100-percent renewable plastic product. Virent plans to build a full-scale factory of the patented process for creating 100-percent renewable plastic packaging based on its technology for transforming sugars into products such as biogasoline and jet fuel. «Not only were our products found to be comparable to gasoline, but in some cases actually better given its extremely high octane levels,» says Virent CEO Lee Edwards. Existing machinery and pipelines can use the fuel without the need for adjustments, and nearly any type of vegetative feedstock can be used to make it. «What we yield in our process is just as wide-ranging as what comes out of a barrel of oil,» Edwards says. «It wasn’t long before the company itself and others began to recognize the potential we had for other applications.» Using its biogasoline technology, Virent succeeded in creating a viable and completely renewable PET replacement option called BioFormPX. Last week the PlantPET Technology Collaborative, a group of industry players including Coca-Cola Co., Ford Motor Co., Heinz Co., Nike, and Procter & Gamble Co., signed an «expression of interest» with Virent, offering its members an option of preferred access when commercial-scale production begins. The groups’ goal is to use 100-percent renewable packing for their products by 2020.

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Recleim, Pepsi Announce Partnership

North Augusta Star (SC) (11/04/14)

Recleim will provide recycling services for Pepsi Bottling Ventures’ retired cold drink vending machines, fountain units, glass door merchandisers, and other parts and components. With its exclusively licensed recycling technology, Recleim can recover 95 percent of the equipment by weight. Recleim will process PBV’s retired equipment at its flagship recycling facility in Graniteville, N.C., and provide a certificate of destruction guaranteeing the recycling process meets or exceeds federal, state, and local requirements. “Companies want to feel confident that when they recycle equipment and parts, it will be done right,” says Recleim president Doug Huffer. “Since not every recycler has the same capabilities, it’s crucial to work with one that can reduce the release of harmful substances—such as chlorofluorocarbons—into the environment. We provide that level of assurance, which is why companies like Pepsi Bottling Ventures turn to us for their recycling needs.” The company processes more than 60 million pounds of equipment annually, including household appliances, HVAC units, and other devices.

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The Business of Junk Is Growing Led by Old TVs

Daily Record (NJ) (11/03/14) Wilkowe, Ellen S.

The number of roadside signs and results of Google searches pleading for scrap indicates the number of companies and cleanout crews that recycle household products has significantly increased in New Jersey. The boon in these companies indicates people and governments are more concerned about climate change and the social and environmental crisis, says Joel Harmon, Fairleigh Dickinson University professor and executive director of the Institute for Sustainable Enterprise. He says stricter municipal regulations regarding waste disposal and sustainability claims are giving green companies a competitive edge. “People are aware of how much we waste but may not be willing to sacrifice the newest phone or couch, but like to know that they are reusable or recyclable,” Harmon says. Companies such as College H.U.N.K.S. (Honest Uniformed Nice Knowledgeable Students) Moving, which operates in 40 locations and 24 states, have grown in response to the many new regulations of disposal processes and a societal move toward decluttering. About 70 percent of the 15,000 tons of materials the company hauls each year comes from residential properties. Other companies that work to recycle, reuse, or restore residential furnishings and electronics in New Jersey include Junk-A-Haulics, Green Visions, Habitat for Humanity ReStore, 1-800-Got Junk, and Rockaway Recycling.

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From Fields to Fashion: Selma Ag Recycler Turns Trash Into Purses

Fresno Bee (CA) (11/01/14) Clough, Bethany

Selma, Calif.-based AJ Industrial recycles millions of pounds of discarded lay-flat irrigation hose into items such as purses, flip flops, and belts under its Landfill Dzine brand, which is sold online, in boutiques, and at retail trade shows. Prices on the finished products range from $395 for a two-in-one handbag to $20 for a pair of flip flops with straps made from the irrigation hose and footbeds made from recycled PVC. AJ Industrial is primarily an agricultural waste broker, but it also finds uses for other discarded materials such as vine covers, which are ground into pellets and made into trash bags. «Sustainable fashion is now big business,» says Pamela Hutton, a fashion merchandising instructor at Fresno City College. «Designers are looking for new ways of creating merchandise, and this is an actual recycler that has created the fashion, which is very fun, and fun that it’s local.» Other enterprises that make use of recycled materials include singer Pharrel Williams, who has launched Raw for the Oceans, a clothing line made from discarded plastic extracted from the ocean. Meanwhile, Levi’s sells jeans made from recycled bottles, and Dirtball sells clothing made from 100-percent recycled materials.

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New Railcar Refurbishing Company Will Create 150 Jobs

Hutchinson News (KS) (10/30/14) Green, John

Illinois-based Mervis Railcar has announced the construction of a $35 million railcar refurbishing facility in Hutchinson, Kan., that will have 150 employees within three years of opening. The plant will be run by Mervis Industries, a fourth-generation family-owned multistate plastics and metal recycler that employs more than 400 people. The plant’s main concentration will be tank cars used to ship petroleum or other hazardous products, while grain hopper cars also will be refurbished, according to Mervis president Adam Mervis. Future plant operations manager Larry Culligan says welders will comprise at least 40 to 45 percent of the facility’s jobs, while other employees will rebuild tank-valve systems, clean out and paint cars, and apply exterior decals. Mervis selected Hutchinson as the site of the facility thanks to its access to a pair of Class 1 railroads and workforce training programs at Hutchinson Community College and Hutchinson High’s Career and Technical Center. The proposed plant will include four buildings with a combined 224,300 square feet and about 20,000 feet of railroad track for transporting the cars, staging, and storage. Mervis says there will be 32 bays in the mechanical building for working on individual tank cars.

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Tacoma Business Wins AWB Green Manufacturing Award

Tacoma News Tribune (WA) (10/29/14) Gillie, John

Emerald Services, a Tacoma, Wash.-based recycling company, has won a green manufacturing award from the state’s chamber of commerce. Emerald Services was awarded the Association of Washington Business’ Green Manufacturing Award for 2014 for recycling about 20 million gallons of material a year and redirecting potentially dangerous materials that might have found their way to landfills to more useful purposes. The company operates in eight states and processes a wide range of recyclable liquids such as industrial lubricants and antifreeze. The company’s facility in Tacoma handles about 50,000 gallons of liquids a day. The liquids are reprocessed into other materials such as marine fuel and asphalt. Other companies recognized for their green manufacturing methods include Cadet Manufacturing, which makes high-efficiency heaters; Ozone International, which creates ozone generation equipment; and Manhasset Specialty Co., which makes high-end music stands and recently modified its preparation process so it produces no waste.

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Hanford ‘Work for Materials’ Deal Saves Money

Tri-City Herald (WA) (10/28/14) Cary, Annette

The U.S. Department of Energy is allowing Salem, Ore.-based Transformer Technologies to keep the copper, steel, and oil it recovers from three electric substations along the Columbia River. DOE notes it saved about $400,000 of taxpayer money by not using its contractor, Washington Closure Hanford, for the job. It also is benefiting the environment because Transformer Technologies will recycle the materials that Washington Closure would have sent to Hanford’s landfill. Transformer Technologies, which specializes in dismantling and recycling obsolete electrical equipment, has access to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-authorized facilities to recycle the substations, which contain more than 400,000 pounds of materials.

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Green Recycling Hopes to Bring Jobs to County

Jacksonville Daily News (NC) (10/28/14) Thomas, Christopher

The grand opening of Jacksonville, N.C.-based Green Recycling Solutions, a construction and demolition recycling center and landfill hybrid, this November will give local builders a better option for disposing of construction debris. The company is permitted to recycle debris such as concrete, plastic, drywall, metal, and brick from construction and demolition sites. Green Recycling Solutions will serve Jones, Onslow, Craven, Carteret, Lenoir, and Duplin counties. Because of the company’s low rates, it will cost less to recycle construction debris than to discard the material at local landfills. The company’s goal is to recycle 80 percent of the materials it receives in the first year. James Harper, former mayor of Maysville, N.C., has guided the project from the beginning and helped it obtain $1.1 million in federal grants. Harper says the new recycling center will create jobs and improve the environment in one of the state’s most impoverished counties.

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Metal Recycler Expanding to Keep up Wth Demand in Upstate New York

Albany Business Review (10/27/14) Morey, Krystle S.

Upstate Shredding is growing quickly to meet demand. The company processes more than 15,000 tons of scrap metal a month in its Albany locations and will be able to process three times that amount with the new $15 million metal processor and shredder it is installing at the Port of Albany. The company also has acquired six scrapyards in upstate New York this year and currently is in negotiations to purchase three competitors in the Albany area. «We were anticipating 100 customers a day,» says owner Adam Weitsman. «We get more than 400 customers a day.» Upstate Shredding plans to hire 35 more employees at the Port of Albany site and is expecting further growth over the next five years, with plans to expand into New Jersey. The company also has locations in western New York and Pennsylvania.

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TCI Attracts Clients With New Headquarters

Albany Business Review (10/20/14) Morey, Krystle S.

TCI transports and prepares for recycling the oil-filled transformers and other electrical equipment that top telephone poles. New York has one of the densest concentrations of transformers in the country, prompting TCI to invest $7 million in constructing its headquarters in Port of Coeymans. The new headquarters, with safeguards protecting the environment from potentially harmful spills and low emission operations, already is attracting municipalities and utilities as new customers, according to TCI president Brian Hemlock. TCI also has sister locations in New Jersey, Alabama, and Ohio. The New York location added 26 new jobs to the area and significantly reduced transportation costs by bringing the services closer to customers. The company plans to hire five more employees by the end of the year.

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ISRI News

JASON Learning, ISRI Announce Automobile Recycling Awareness Contest

JASON Learning and ISRI are inviting young filmmakers, artists, automobile enthusiasts, and recycling advocates to participate in a contest that asks young people to build awareness around the different commodities that can be recycled from cars at the end of their lifespan.

The automobile plays an important role in our everyday lives. Many different commodities are needed to make all the parts that go into a car, and almost all of them are recyclable. In the Automobile Recycling Awareness Contest, students in grades 5–12 are challenged to research one or more of the commodities that go into making a car and find out what happens to each commodity through the automobile recycling process and beyond.

Students currently residing in the United States may enter the contest as individuals or in small teams of up to four students. Entrants must create an original video or poster in the style of an infomercial or awareness campaign to illustrate the process and challenges that go along with recycling their chosen commodity or commodities into a reusable form. Top video and posters will be used to help educate the public on the many different commodities that make up automobiles, how those commodities can be recycled to develop other products, and the importance of designing automobiles for end-of-life recycling.

“Last year, more than 11.5 million cars in the U.S. were recycled into commodity grade materials including metals, glass, plastic, rubber, and textiles,” said Robin Wiener, president of ISRI. “By exploring automobile recycling in a fun and educational way, this contest gives young people the opportunity to learn about the life cycle and value of every commodity. At the same time, it will encourage many students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math in fields such as the recycling industry.”

“At JASON we pride ourselves on connecting students with the real professionals working in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to explore new frontiers and find new solutions to the problems threatening our environment,” said JASON Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Dr. Eleanor Smalley. “The Automobile Recycling Awareness Contest will teach students about the automobile recycling process from some of the industry’s biggest players, and give them the opportunity to think critically about the design and recycling of future automobiles.”

Entries must be submitted by January 15, 2015, and the winners will be selected by March 15, 2015. Prizes for the finalists include being featured on the JASON and ISRI websites, a year of JASON online access, a contest t-shirt, and, for two grand prize winners, a trip for the entrants and a parent or guardian to ISRI’s Annual Convention and Exposition in Vancouver, British Columbia, April 21–25, 2015.

For more information about the contest, including how to enter and submit your work, and JASON and ISRI in general, please visit: jason.org/contests.

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