Opmaak 1 - Recycling International

Lind

eman

n

We are going mobile.

ww

w.m

etso

min

era

ls.com

Recycling excellence. Wherever you want.

Mobility with Metso Lindemann: profit by sturdy and long-life Lindemann machines.

Recycle easily wherever you want. With our new mobile machines you will be very flexible and your

work will be more efficient. It is our desire to better meet the requirements of our customers.

Interested? Then visit us at Ifat, hall C2, stand 413/512.

We will be pleased to meet you.

Metso Lindemann GmbH • Erkrather Straße 401 • D-40231 Düsseldorf • Tel.: +49 (0)211 2105-0 • Fax: +49 (0)211 2105-376 • E-Mail: [email protected]

MunichMay 5th-9th, 2008

IFAT2008

March 2

00

8, N

o. 2

March 2008, No. 2

E-waste regulations: calls for stronger enforcement E-waste regulations: calls for stronger enforcement

Bumper plastics crop harvested

for recycling

GMS aims forresponsible

vessel tradingwith India

RI_001 Cover2:Cover spread 28-02-2008 11:23 Pagina 1

Our drive is your performance.

Hägglunds Drives AB, SE-890 42 Mellansel, Sweden. Tel: +46 (0)660-870 00. E-mail, Business Area Manager: [email protected], www.hagglunds.com

With a drive system from Hägglunds you get compact, durable power - without foundations or gearboxes. Our wide range of heavy duty motors with variable speed and shock load protection provide reliable drives and total assurance. Even in the most demanding applications. We meet your demands.

Demanding applications?We’ve seen them all.


V I E W P O I N T

To all you couples out there, the following storywill probably sound familiar. Some weeks ago,

my wife Helga and I had an appointment in a citywhere we had been before. The car’s GPS was notworking but, prior to leaving the house, I hadalready located the street we wanted on a map.However, finding it proved to be more difficult thanexpected.

I was driving around without any plan, hopingthat by accident we would hit the right street. After15 minutes of silence, Helga suggested: ‘Why don’tyou pull over and ask somebody to point you in theright direction?’ Now that was a direct attack on mymale pride. ‘I don’t have to,’ I snapped back. ‘I knowwhere we are and we’ll bethere in a minute.’ Helgagave me a look that told meshe had little confidence inmy road-finding abilities, butshe managed to keep quiet.After another 10 minutes offruitless driving around, she repeated in a flat tone:‘Shouldn’t you ask someone for directions now? Thismay take us hours.’ ‘You’re right, dear,’ I sighed and pulled over, asked a pedestrian how toget to our destination which we then reached withinfive minutes.

But in my heart, I regretted having said: ‘You’reright, dear.’ What I would have like to have donewas to make Helga understand why we men behavethe way we do. I should have told her: ‘Because I’ma man, I will drive around for weeks if I have to, butI’m not going to ask somebody to point me in theright direction. I know where I’m going.’

‘Because I’m a man, when I lock my keys in thecar, I will fiddle with a coat hanger long afterhypothermia has set in. Calling the automobile clubis not an option.’

‘Because I’m a man, when the car isn’t runningvery well, I will pop the bonnet and stare at the

engine as if I know what I’m looking at. If anotherman shows up, one of us will say to the other: “I used to be able to fix these things, but now withall these computers and everything I wouldn’t knowwhere to start.” We will then drink a couple of beersand break wind as a show of brotherhood.’

‘Because I’m a man, when I catch a cold, I needsomeone to bring me soup and take care of me whileI lie in bed and moan.’

‘Because I’m a man, when one of our householdappliances stops working, I will insist on taking itapart, despite copious evidence to suggest that thiswill just cost me twice as much once the repair per-

son gets here and has to putit back together.’ ‘Because I’m a man, I musthold the television remotecontrol in my hand while I watch TV. If the thing hasbeen misplaced, I may miss awhole show looking for it.’‘Because I’m a man, there is

no need to ask me what I’m thinking about. Thetrue answer is always either sex, cars, sex, sport orsex. I have to make up something else when youask, so just don’t ask.’

‘Because I’m a man, I think what you’re wearingis fine. I thought what you were wearing five min-utes ago was fine too. Either pair of shoes isfine. With the belt or without it looks fine. It doesnot make your rear look too big. It was the pastaand potatoes and cocktails that did that. Your hairis fine. You look fine. Can we just go now?’

‘Because I’m a man - and this is, after all, theyear 2008 - I will share equally in the house-work. You just do the laundry, the cooking, thecleaning, the vacuuming and the dishes, and I’ll dothe rest. Like wandering around in the garden witha beer, wondering what to do.’

I sincerely hope that all the women reading thiswill now have a better understanding of men.

is a month ly busi ness mag a zine for the inter na tion al recy cling indus try and is pub lished 10 times a year.

Address

P.O. Box 20986802 CB ArnhemThe Netherlands

Delivery Address

Jacob Marislaan 306813 JV ArnhemThe Netherlands

Phone +31 26 3120 994Fax +31 26 3120 630E-mail: info@recy clin gin ter na tion al.comWebsite: www.recy clin gin ter na tion al.com

Publisher & Editor

Manfred [email protected]

Deputy Editor

Gert-Jan van der [email protected]

Magazine Administrator

Helga [email protected]

Editorial con sul tant

Ian [email protected]

Contributing edi tor

Alfred [email protected]

Contributing edi tor/Consultant tech nol o gy

Prof. Ir. Wijnand Dalmijn, TechnicalUniversity of Delft, The Netherlands

Contributing to this issue

Jim Fowler, Helga Fresen, LydiaHeida, Ian Martin, Alfred Nijkerk,Richard Paul, Lili Shi, Voermans vanBree Photographers, Si Wakesberg

Art Direction

Inpladi Lay Out Studio

Printing Company

vanGrinsven druk kers Venlo bv

Advertising Sales

Jan Willem YpmaPhone: +31 343 517 488Fax: +31 343 510 253E-mail: [email protected]

Subscriptions

Subsciption rate: € 149 a year (excl. V.A.T.)

ISSN 1387-8700

Copyright 2008 ©

All rights reserved. No part of this pub li ca tion may be repro duced or trans mit ted by any means with out writ ten per mis sion of the pub lish er.

Member of

Cars - and car-related matters - can literally drive usmad. But they can also serve to highlight some of themost striking aspects of male psychology....

Because I’m a man

‘You look fine. Can we just

go now?’

Manfred BeckEditor

BIR

RI_036 Viewpoint:Viewpoint 04-03-2008 11:41 Pagina 3

1247 AdvertRI15Feb08art.indd 1 15/2/08 2:51:53 PMAR_1937.indd 1 15-02-2008 11:46:31

Rising oil prices have led to increased interest in therecycling of plastics. Firms processing plastic granu-late are scouring the world for the best and cheapestsources of such materials. The success of greenhousefarming in southern Spain has made available forrecycling enormous quantities of end-of-life agricul-tural plastic.

You may think it unusual to describe a major USscrap company as a group of niche boutiques but, inessence, that is exactly what AMG ResourcesCorporation is. Well, boutiques may be a stretch, butmost of the company’s business segments are a bitunique, related to each other and generally dominantin their realm.

Global Marketing Systems (GMS) functions at theheart of a recycling trade in which guidelines and leg-islation are either very young or still under construc-tion. The US-based company is one of the largestplayers in the field of trading vessels with India.‘Majority of the owners care more about the price,than the environmental issues, so we have to do it,’says founder Anil Sharma.

Demands for an enhanced producer

responsibility system and on-going adap-

tation of the Directive on Waste Electrical

and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) by EU

member states provided the two main areas

of discussion at the 2008 International

Electronics Recycling Congress (IERC) in

Salzburg, Austria. The congress was marked

by a call for greater enforcement of regulations,

increased collection rates and prevention of ille-

gal shipments of e-waste. Harmonisation and sim-

plification of regulations were seen as top priori-

ties to enhance the safe treatment of discarded

electronics.

In this issue

AMG Resources’ philosophy of growth 38

28

E-wasteregulations:calls for strongerenforcement

I N T H I S I S S U E

He got involved in the recycling and shredder indus-try almost by accident. He would rather own a scrapyard than sell shredders. He prefers the Democratsover the Republicans, and Barack Obama overHillary Clinton. He loves running marathons anddrinking a good glass of wine, and has even managedto combine the two. Meet Jim Schwartz, a man whohelped to shape the world shredder industry.

Jim Schwartz - connoisseur of wines and shredders 46

GMS aims for responsible vessel trading with India 54

Estimated to be growing at an annual rate of between10 and 30%, the global remanufacturing industry isclaimed to save enough raw materials each year tofill 155 000 railroad cars. This article investigateswhy remanufacturing has been dubbed the ultimateform of recycling.

Remanufacturing - a second life for products 58

Bumper plastics crop harvested for recycling 62Viewpoint 3

Events Calendar 6

News 8

Product News 23

Magazine Round Up 26

E-scrap directive revision 37

Supplier: Marathon’s Nexgen 48

Italians’ role in the US scrap industry 52

Plastics recycling statistics 66

Powder impression moulding 68

Textile recycling in Senegal 70

World steel growth 79

In the next issue 94

Markets Analysis

Ferrous scrap 72Stainless steel scrap 80Non-fer rous scrap 84Recovered paper 88Textiles 91

RI_002 INHOUD:Opmaak 1 28-02-2008 15:25 Pagina 5

E V E N T S C A L E N D A R

2008

1-5 April St Petersburg (Russia)4th International Aluminium

Recycling Conference & Exhibition

AlusilPhone: +7 495 785 2005E-mail: [email protected]

6-10 April Las Vegas (USA)

ISRI Convention and Expo 2008

Annual convention & scraprecycling industry expositionISRIPhone: +1 202 662 8500Fax: +1 202 624 9257www.isri.org

9-12 April Montichiari (Italy)METEF - Extrusion Show 2008

The international aluminiumexhibitionEdimet Phone: +39 030 998 1045Fax: +39 030 998 1055E-mail: [email protected]

14-15 April Warsaw (Poland)APRA’s 1st European Symposium &

Exhibition

Automotive PartsRemanufacturersAssociationPhone: +1 703 968 2772Fax: +1 703 968 2878E-mail: [email protected]

5-9 May Munich (Germany)IFAT 2008

Messe MunchenPhone: +49 89 949 20265Fax: +49 89 949 20269E-mail: [email protected]

18-19 May Guangzhou (China)China International Recycling

Conference and Exhibition

China National ResourcesRecycling AssociationPhone: +86 10 8586 0178ext. 607Fax: +86 10 8586 3393E-mail: [email protected]

2-4 June Monte-Carlo (Monaco)BIR Spring Convention

Bureau of InternationalRecyclingPhone: +32 2 627 5770Fax: +32 2 627 5773E-mail: [email protected] www.bir.org

3-6 June Toronto (Canada)Electronics & Battery Recycling ’08

International conference,exhibition and plant toursICM Phone: +41 62 785 1000Fax: +41 62 785 1005E-mail: [email protected]

16-18 June Shanghai (China)4th Asian Stainless Steel Conference

SMR – Steel & Metals MarketResearchPhone: +43 5672 72737-0Fax: +43 5672 72737-99E-mail: marketresearch@

smr.atwww.smr.at

16-18 June Amsterdam

(The Netherlands)Reverse Logistics Association

Conference & Expo

3rd Pary Service ProvidersJeremy VickPhone: +1 512-576-7166E-mail: [email protected]

18-20 June SingaporeCitywaste Asia 2008

TerrapinnPhone: +65 6322 2320Fax: +65 6226 3264E-mail:[email protected]

19-22 June Istanbul (Turkey)REW Istanbul 2008

The 4th International Recycling,

Environmental Technologies and

Waste Management Fair Tuyap Fair & CongressCenter Phone: +90 212 275 75 79Fax: +90 212 288 36 11E-mail: [email protected]

Events

23-25 September Shanghai (China)IFAT China

Messe München Phone: +49 89 9 4920 282Fax: +49 89 9 4920 289E-mail: mihaela.savu

@messe-muenchen.dewww.ifat-china.com

20-21 October Berlin (Germany)Waste Management & Recycling

Naseba CommunicationsPhone: + 971 4367 1376E-mail: [email protected]

congress.europe.com

The US Institute of Scrap Recy-cling Industries (ISRI) will cele-brate its 20th anniversary at thisyear’s event. During the conven-tion, the organisation will look athow ISRI and their members havechanged the face of the industry,paying tribute to the individuals,families and businesses that havehelped to establish ISRI’s promi-nent position. The organisation willalso analyse the many challengesfacing the recycling industry todayand over the next two decades.

The convention will also featureISRI’s largest-ever exhibition. Allavailable exhibitor and equipmentspace has been sold, with the re-sult that a record number of 204companies and organisations willshowcase their products and ser-vices in Las Vegas.

This year’s theme is ‘Nexxt’ -

Celebrate the First 20 Years, Explore the Nexxt 20 Years.

Featured speaker MalcolmGladwell has been an influentialstaff writer with The New Yorkermagazine since 1996. The keynotespeaker on the second day of theconvention will be Charlie More-craft who will provide a compellingaccount of the safety lessons he haslearned following a severe accident.Another guest speaker will be Mar-cus Buckingham, a researcher andauthor who is considered to be oneof the world’s leading authoritieson employee productivity and lead-ership/management.

For more information, contact: ISRI, Washington, USA,Phone: +1 202 662 8500,Fax: +1 202 624 9257, Website: www.isriconvention.org

26-28 June Dalian (China)2008 China International

Environmental Protection Fair

Environment MonitoringStation of SEPAPhone: +86 411 825 38643Fax: +86 411 825 38616E-mail: market@

sinoexhibition.comwww.sinoexhibition.com

17-19 September Düsseldorf

(Germany)13th International Battery Recycling

Congress

ICM Phone: +41 62 785 1000Fax: +41 62 785 1005E-mail: [email protected]

Recycling International • March 2008 6

6-10 April Las Vegas (USA)2008 ISRI Convention & Exposition

For daily free global recycling news, visit

RI_006 Events:Events 28-02-2008 11:37 Pagina 6

Adverts.indd 1 20-02-2008 15:38:23AR_1950.indd 1 28-02-2008 16:13:48

N E W S


Something to hold on toA man goes to his dentist to have a tooth removed. The dentist pulls

out a freezing needle and prepares to give the man an injection. ‘Noway! No needles! I hate needles,’ the patient cries. The dentist starts tohook up the laughing gas and the man objects again. ‘I can’t do the gasthing,’ he moans. ‘The thought of having the gas mask on suffocatesme!’ The dentist then asks the patient if he has any objection to taking apill. ‘No objection,’ the patient says. ‘I’m fine with pills.’ The dentist dis-appears for a moment and, on his return, says: ‘Here’s a Viagra tablet.’Astonished, the man asks: ‘Wow! I didn’t know Viagra worked as apainkiller!’ ‘Actually, it doesn’t,’ says the dentist, ‘but it will give yousomething to hold onto when I pull your tooth out.’

Ben Sacco’s Joke of the Month

Sponsored by

• Sierra InternationalMachinery, Inc.

www.sierraintl.com

• Sierra EuropeRecycling

www.sierraeurope.com

US consumers who bought newmobile handsets in the final quarterof last year recycled their old phonesat double the rate of the third quar-ter. Nevertheless, only 9.4% of thoseconsumers took the recycling optionin fourth quarter 2007, according toa study conducted by researchagency iSuppli involving 50 000 UShouseholds.

‘iSuppli’s fourth-quarter surveyindicates that while US consumersincreasingly are recycling their oldhandsets, there’s still plenty of roomfor improvement,’ says GregSheppard, Chief DevelopmentOfficer for iSuppli. ‘More US con-sumers were motivated to recycletheir handsets by the rising aware-

ness of green issues when it comesto disposal of electronic waste.Wireless companies are promotingthe recycling of old phones, makingit easier for consumers to do so.’

So what did the other 90.6% ofnew handset buyers do with their oldhandsets? ‘More than one third of allold handsets, 36.8% to be precise,were stored away in the fourth quar-ter of 2007 and now are collectingdust in closets throughout America,’Mr Sheppard notes. ‘Consumerskeep their old phones because theyperceive them to have some residualvalue. However, all too often, thosehandsets end up in the trash whenspring cleaning comes.’

www.isuppli.com

Multiserv expands global operations

MultiServ, the industry-leadingmill services division of worldwideindustrial services company Harsco,has been awarded a nine-year con-tract in Belgium that is expected togenerate revenues in excess of US$ 100 million. The new contractis part of a global expansion by theUS company.

The contract awarded byArcelorMittal’s ALZ Genk stainlesssteelworks calls for MultiServ toassume on-site responsibilities formanaging the mill’s complete scrapyard and slab yard operations. ALZGenk is one of two major Arcelor-Mittal stainless steelworks inBelgium, both of which alreadyutilise MultiServ’s expertise across

a range of services including on-siteslag pot transport, metal recovery,slab grinding and scrap oxy-cutting.

In Australia, meanwhile,Multiserv has been made responsi-ble for a range of melt shop andproperty services at OneSteel’s sitein Victoria. The company will alsoprovide manual slab scarfing andoxy-cutting services at Duferco’sVerona Steel Spa plate mill inVerona, Italy. And as part of a newcontract signed with Corus Group’sTeesside beam mill in the UK,MultiServ will provide round-the-clock handling and stockyard man-agement of incoming steel slabs.

www.harsco.com

More mobile phonesrecycled in the USA

Stena buys intoRomania’s WEEE market

Scandinavian recycling groupStena has acquired a majority shareof Romanian company DTM WasteRecycling SRL, which will hence-forth be known as Stena DTM SRL.The main focus of the company’soperations will be the recycling ofwaste from electrical and electronicequipment (WEEE) in accordancewith the related EU directive.

It is claimed that Stena DTM SRLwill hold a dominant position in the

field of electronics recycling and pro-cessing of hazardous waste. DTMWaste Recycling SRL was set up asrecently as 2006 but has rapidlygained acceptance within this fast-developing area of activity inRomania.

Stena DTM SRL will operate fromthree locations in Romania: Bucharest(headquarters); Darmanesti; andApahida.

www.stenametall.com

Michelin tyre plant to berecycling centre

Tyre manufacturing giant Michelinand industrial waste managementcompany Suez will open a recyclingcentre at Michelin’s former tyre plantin Toul, France, as part of its pledge toretain activity at the site. The finan-cial details have not been disclosed.

In a joint statement, the twoFrench groups say the project - to beknown as Campus - will processused materials, notably rubber-

based items from Michelin’s facto-ries, as well as conduct research intorecycling techniques.

Michelin announced in Octoberlast year that it expected to sustainaround Euro 130 million (US$ 190million) in charges relating to theclosure of the plant, and that part ofthis sum would contribute towardsmaintaining local employment.

www.suez.com

RI_018 NEWS:Opmaak 1 28-02-2008 11:45 Pagina 8

N E W S

Recycling International • March 2008 9For daily free global recycling news, visit

Strict e-recycling lawproposed for New York

The city of New York is a stepcloser to adopting one of the tough-est electronics recycling laws in theUSA - despite strong objections frommanufacturers and the city’s MayorMichael Bloomberg.

New York’s city council hasapproved a bill that would impose aUS$ 100 fine on anyone who con-signs an old computer, printer orother electronic device to the rubbishbin. Recycling of electronic wastewill become mandatory, and manu-facturers will be required to takeback their own products as well asthose made by companies that havegone out of business.

The council estimates that resi-dents of the Big Apple purchasemore than 90 000 tonnes of electron-ic products every year. The devicescontain hazardous materials such aslead and mercury, and most end upin the refuse stream. If the new mea-sure becomes law, the city’s volun-

tary electronics collection and recy-cling programmes would be replacedby a variety of schemes designed byelectronics manufacturers. Thoseefforts could include kerbside pick-ups, returns by mail and in stores,and neighbourhood collections.

Under New York’s proposed law,manufacturers would start collect-ing electronics for recycling in 2009.Starting in 2010, city residents couldbe fined US$ 100 for throwing out apiece of electronic equipment. In2012, manufacturers would have tocollect enough discarded electronicequipment to equal 25% of the aver-age weight of the goods they sold inthe city during the previous threeyears.

Mayor Bloomberg has made itclear that he will not support manda-tory thresholds, and is expected toapply a veto. Ten US states, includingConnecticut and New Jersey, havealready adopted similar measures.

* One51 The One51 group of the Republic of Ireland has continued its takeover

strategy by acquiring two UK recycling firms, namely Howarth Metals ofManchester and Howarth Metals’ offshoot Howcan. One51 has beenextending its links to the waste management and recycling businesses ina number of locations, and CEO Philip Lynch has made it clear that hewill continue to seek expansion in these key market segments.

www.one51.com

* Metal One and ELG HanielMetal One Corporation of Japan and Germany-based ELG Haniel

have established a stainless blend scrap processing joint venture inSodegaura, Japan. The venture will supply materials for offshore stain-less makers mainly in China and developing countries, according tosources. ELG Haniel controls 51% of the joint venture and Metal Onethe other 49%. This represents the processors’ second stainless steel ven-ture within a relatively short period given that, last year, ELG and MetalOne formed Nippon Stainless Resources (NSR).

www.elg.de

* FCCFCC has opened a plant at Aznalcóllar in Spain for recycling electrical

and electronic waste (WEEE). Costing Euro 9.2 million (US$ 13.4 mil-lion), the facility is located on a 25 000 square-metre site and features awhite goods, brown goods and lamp processing line. According to FCC, itwill annually recycle some 11 500 tonnes of WEEE. An 80% recovery ratewas attained during trials but this figure should be exceeded in 2008.

www.fcc.es

Business News

Coca-Cola rewarded forrecycling efforts

The National Recycling Coalition(NRC) - a US non-profit recyclingadvocacy group - has honoured TheCoca-Cola Company with its annual‘Recycling Works!’ award for thecompany’s commitment to sustain-able packaging design, investmentin recycling infrastructure and itsgoal of recycling or reusing 100% ofits PET bottles in the USA.

‘The Coca-Cola Company hasplayed a pivotal and unprecedentedleadership role with their commit-ment to a sustainable economy and asustainable environment,’ says KateKrebs, Executive Director of theNRC. ‘By carefully examining theenvironmental impacts of their prod-ucts and packaging throughout theirlife-cycle, and assessing the end-of-life options, Coke has laid out astrategy that takes packaging deci-

sions to a more comprehensive anddynamic level.’

In September 2007, Coca-Colaannounced an investment of morethan US$ 60 million to build theworld’s largest plastic bottle-to-bot-tle recycling plant in the USA, aswell as funds to support the recy-cling infrastructure as part of itscomprehensive goal to recycle orreuse all the plastic bottles it uses inthe US market.

Over the last decade, the NRC’s‘Recycling Works!’ award has gone toan organisation or to an individualwho has demonstrated stellar lead-ership in recycling and conservationof the environment. Previous recipi-ents include Dell, Starbucks,McDonald’s Corporation andEnvironmental Defense.

www.nrc-recycle.org

Europe’s glass recyclers collected5.8 percentage points more contain-er glass in 2006 compared to the pre-vious year, although the increasefalls to 2.8 percentage points if newand potential EU member states areincluded in the figures.

The statistics from the Europeancontainer glass federation FEVE showhuge disparities from one country toanother. The unrivalled champions inglass collection are Switzerland(96%), Sweden (92%) and Belgium

(91%). In stark contrast, Hungary’scollection rate was 18% while Poland,Turkey and Slovakia collected,respectively, 28%, 22% and 35%.

Among the major European coun-tries, Germany ranks first with a col-lection rate of 89%, which is equiva-lent to 2.5 million tonnes of glass.France (60%) and the UK (50%) werelagging some way behind. Bottom ofthe FEVE list came Romania on 9%and Greece on 10%.

www.feve.org

European glass recycling on the increase


AR_1885:Opmaak 1 06-12-2007 08:55 Pagina 1

N E W S


The UK’s Department forEnvironment, Food and RuralAffairs (Defra) has increased itspackaging waste recovery and recy-cling targets for 2008 onwards.Overall recovery goals of 72% for

2008, 73% for 2009 and 74% for 2010will ensure that the UK meets the2008 EU directive target of recyclingat least 60% of packaging waste.

To reflect current market factorsand updated data on Great Britain’sperformance, the target increasesfor aluminium and glass for 2008 areslightly smaller than those put outto consultation, although they arestill higher than the 2007 goal andare set to rise steadily year on year.

Over the next 12 months, Defrawill be working with industry, localauthorities, the Waste & ResourcesAction Programme (WRAP) and oth-ers to develop a package of measuresto increase aluminium recycling.According to Defra, significantimprovements in collection and sort-ing arrangements are required, par-ticularly for beverage cans in thehousehold and on-street wastestreams.

Joan Ruddock, the UK’s Ministerfor Waste, comments: ‘Reducing,recovering and recycling packagingis an important way in which busi-ness, government and the consumercan work together to reduce green-house gases. These increased targetsrepresent our commitment to driveup recycling in Great Britain andtackle dangerous climate change.’

www.defra.gov.uk

UK sets new packagingrecycling targets

New glass recyclers’association

Europe’s glass recycling industry isto be represented by a new organisa-tion known as FERVER (FédérationEuropéenne des Recycleurs de Verre).

Headquartered in the Belgiancapital Brussels, the body recentlyheld its first congress in the samecity. Its 22 members from 10European countries include repre-

sentatives from the glass productionindustry and from European organi-sations such as FEAD, FEVE,ProEurope and Glass for Europe.

According to FERVER, its mem-bers recycle 63% of the glass collect-ed in Europe and operate 51 of thecontinent’s 102 recycling plants.

www.ferver.org

Sims continues onacquisition trail

Sims Recycling Solutions (SRS),the world leader in end-of-life elec-tronics recycling, has acquired theprominent Canadian electronics recy-cling business Accu-Shred as well asRecommIT, a leading IT equipmentdisposal agency in the UK.

Based in Mississauga, Ontario,Accu-Shred represents SRS’ secondbusiness in Canada; the companyalready operates a 100% electronichardware recycling facility atBrampton, Ontario. Steve Skurnac,President of SRS in North America,says: ‘We are extremely pleased towelcome Accu-Shred into our busi-ness. Their strong customer base andcommitment to providing environ-

mentally sound recycling offers Simsan excellent platform for furthergrowth in the Canadian markets.’

Speaking about the takeover ofRecommIT, SRS’ Global CEOGraham Davy comments: ‘Theirinfrastructure in the UK offers Simsan excellent platform for furthergrowth in an important market. Theaddition of RecommIT enables us toimmediately enhance the service toour client base by building on ourcurrent asset services and recoverybusiness. Sims will now have a moreflexible logistics solution by utilisingoperations based in both the northand south of the UK.’

www.sims-group.com

Fuji Xerox opens e-waste facility in China

The launch has taken place of thefirst e-waste recycling facility inChina to be established by a foreigncompany.

Printing machine manufacturerFuji Xerox has unveiled an integrat-ed resource recycling facility inSuzhou Industrial Park where print-er cartridges, photocopiers andprinters collected from across main-land China will be converted into 64categories of raw material.

A wholly-owned company of FujiXerox in China, the new facility rep-resents a total investment of Yen 650

million, and has the capacity to han-dle 15 000 pieces of equipment and500 000 printer cartridges each year.The operators plan to recycle 4000pieces of equipment and 120 000printer cartridges in the first year.

Besides Japanese Fuji Xerox, anumber of other foreign companiesare also looking to build e-waste pro-cessing facilities in China. Accordingto Panasonic representative YouNan, the company is keeping a closewatch on the sector and may soonopen a facility of its own.

www.fujixerox.com

Ukraine to lower scrapexport duties

To bring itself into line with WorldTrade Organization (WTO) require-ments, the Ukrainian government isto lower export duties on scrap met-als over a period of several years.

Duties on certain grades of ferrousscrap will be cut from Euro 25 toEuro 10 per tonne over the course ofsix years, according to media reports.For non-ferrous scrap, duties will bereduced to 15% ad valorem (a per-centage of the variable non-ferrousprice) over a period of five years.

Since January 2003, the Ukraine

has imposed an export duty of Euro30 per tonne on ferrous steel scrapand, in effect, has operated a ban onexports of non-ferrous metals. Theferrous scrap export duty con-tributed to a decline in overseas ship-ments from the Ukraine at a timewhen global demand and prices wereon the increase. Domestic metallur-gical producers therefore benefitedfrom scrap prices below world levels.

The Ukraine was scheduled tojoin the WTO in February.

www.wto.org


In developing the innovative MHL 350 we had only one thing in mind: your special requirements. Fast operating cycles and easy handling, high lifting capacity over the whole slewing range, efficient original Terex® Fuchs cooling system, powerful and fuel-efficient design, robust construction, excellent maintenance access – it all adds up to lower costs for every tonne you handle.

The new MHL 350 is specially designed for the challenges of scrap handling.You can rely on the Terex® Fuchs material handling specialists.

RISING TO THE CHALLENGEMHL 350. Blazing a trail for new standards in scrap handling

MHL 350: • modern 148 kW turbo diesel engine• operating weight up to 35.5 t• reach up to 16 m• original Terex® Fuchs separate cooling system• dual-circuit hydraulic system for smooth

synchronous control irrespective of load

The Terex® Fuchs programme:• loading machines from 19 to 77.5 t operating

weight and up to 21.0 m reach• complete solutions honed for your specific

purpose – we cover scrap, recycling, timber and port applications

• the system solution: Terex® Fuchs QuickConnect

Terex® Fuchs GmbH D-76669 Bad Schönborn GermanyPhone: +49 (0) 72 53/ 84-0 Fax: +49 (0) 72 53/ 8 41 11Web: www.terex-fuchs.de Email: [email protected]

PURPOSEBUILT

©Terex Corporation 2008 – Terex is a registered trademark of Terex Corporation in the United States of America and many other countries

Wellcome

to Terex® Fuchs

in hall C3

stand 405/504

AR_1936.indd 1 14-02-2008 10:05:35

N E W S


WORLDWIDE SUPPLIER OF

SHREDDER REPLACEMENT

CASTINGS� HAMMERS� GRATES� BREAKER BARS� REJECT DOORS ESTBLISHED 1934

LEVAND STEEL & SUPPLY

CORPORATIONLevand House � 1849 Crestwood Blvd.

Irondale, AL 35210tel + 1 (205) 956 1111fax + 1 (205) 956 2256www.levand.com

[email protected]

advertisement

Stop put on NLMKacquiring Maxi Group

The Federal Antimonopoly Servicein Russia has refused to allowNovolipetsk Integrated MetallurgicalComplex (NLMK) to acquire 100% ofthe shares in Maxi Group. The ser-vice claims some of the papers provid-ed by NLMK contained inaccuratedata on the company’s employeeswho already owned a controllingstake in Maxi Group. Therefore, ithas been decided that the acquisitionwould represent a violation of compe-tition protection law. Moreover,NLMK will face administrative lia-bility for buying Maxi Group’s con-trolling shareholding earlier.

Maxi Group controls a number ofelectro-metallurgical plants and

companies dealing in the production,recycling and sale of ferrous andnon-ferrous metals. NLMK is one ofRussia’s leading metallurgical enter-prises whose market share exceeds35% for many types of product.

The service’s Industrial ControlDirector Alexei Ulyanov says: ‘Thiswas last year’s greatest transactionin the ferrous metallurgy field inRussia, and the two parties hap-pened to go through with it withoutthe Federal Antimonopoly Service’sofficial agreement, which isabsolutely unacceptable. We arenow considering what to do aboutthe company in terms of fines andsanctions.’

North American steelmaker NucorCorporation has acquired the stock ofSHV North America Corporation,which owns 100% of The David J.Joseph Company (DJJ), its relatedaffiliates and real estate. As a resultof the deal, which was concluded forapproximately US$ 1.44 billion (Euro1 billion), scrap broker and processorDJJ becomes a wholly-owned sub-sidiary of Nucor Corporation and willmaintain its headquarters inCincinnati, Ohio, USA.

‘We are extremely excited toannounce the acquisition of a compa-ny that has been our partner ingrowth for the last 38 years,’ saysDaniel DiMicco, Chairman, CEO andPresident of Nucor. ‘With its consid-erable scale and excellent manage-ment team, DJJ offers Nucor a largeplatform for continued growth in thissegment of the industry.’

In addition to DJJ’s scrap process-ing operations and expertise, itsextensive brokerage operations pro-vide Nucor with global sourcing ofmany key steelmaking raw materi-

als. DJJ’s rail services and logisticscapabilities will allow Nucor toleverage the largest private railcarfleet in North America dedicated toscrap transportation. DJJ’s industri-al scrap programmes will also pro-vide the corporation with improvedraw material channels.

The addition of DJJ to Nucor’sscrap processing capabilities willallow the company to processapproximately 4 million tonnes offerrous scrap annually. In 2007, thecompany brokered over 20 milliontonnes of ferrous scrap and morethan 22 727 tonnes of non-ferrousmaterials. It is expected to processmore than 3.5 million tonnes of fer-rous scrap in 2008, utilising 12shredders at 35 yards.

Shortly after Nucor announced itsacquisition of David J. Joseph, thelatter confirmed its purchase ofGalamba Metals Group of KansasCity, Missouri. The company oper-ates 16 scrap processing facilities inKansas, Missouri and Arkansas.

www.nucor.com

Nucor acquires David J. Joseph

As one of the US leadingrecyclers, DJJ assets include

ferrous metals processing,brokerage and rail services.

Award for tritium Technology

Global technology corporationGeneral Electric (GE) and theUniversity of Bath in the UK havereceived an award for developing atechnology to store, treat and recycletritium waste - a radioactive chemi-cal by-product of medical researchand nuclear power generation.

The award from the UK’sInstitution of Chemical Engineers(IChemE) is given in recognition ofthe technology’s ability to minimiseenvironmental impact with respect

to resource use, recycling and waterreduction. GE has established aresearch centre to adapt the tritiumtreatment technology for use in theglobal nuclear energy industry.

The new tritium treatment tech-nology is designed to capture andprocess tritium waste so that it canbe properly stored and recycled,thereby reducing environmentalimpact and personnel exposure lev-els so as to enhance workplace safe-ty. The separated tritium can beused by the medical research indus-try or stored until the tritium turnsinto safe, non-radioactive heliumthrough natural radioactive decay.

The technology is currently beingintroduced at the GE HealthcareMaynard Centre in Cardiff, UK, aspart of a £20 million (US$ 40 mil-lion) tritium recovery and recyclingfacility due to begin operation dur-ing 2008. GE Healthcare usesradioactive material - in the form ofhydrogen isotope tritium - in theproduction of medical diagnostic andtreatment products. The newapproach cuts the amount ofradioactive waste from this process.

www.bath.ac.uk


KNOW YOUR SCRAP! ANALYZE YOUR ALLOY GRADES IN SECONDS

Contact us now forthe special Rhino price!

>> Analyze your alloy grades in seconds

>> High specific analysis by material chemistry

>> Bright, color display provides easy viewing of results

>> Fast on-the-spot analysis

>> Instant and accurate results

>> Rugged, lightweight design

>> Worldwide technical support

Handheld Alloy Analyzer

INNOV-X SYSTEMS EUROPE B.V.

Helftheuvelpassage 20 | 5224 AP ‘s-HertogenboschThe Netherlands | Tel: +31 (0)73-62 72 590

[email protected] | www.innovx-europe.com

AR_1944.indd 1 20-02-2008 10:39:16

N E W S


* Magnus HallThe Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) has appoint-

ed Magnus Hall as its new Chairman. Mr Hall, who has been thePresident and CEO of Sweden’s Holmen Paper Group since April 2004,takes over from Frits Beurskens of the Smurfit Kappa Group. ‘One ofthe most important steps for me is to arrive at a manageable system forallocating emission rights without auctioning, allowing the industryroom to invest in carbon dioxide efficient processes,’ observes Mr Hall.

www.cepi.org

* Vic Cocker and Michael AverillUK waste and recycling technology developer Modern Waste has added

Vic Cocker and Michael Averill to its board as Non-Executive Directors.Mr Cocker founded the Waste & Resources Action Programme, the UK’snot-for-profit waste recycling and waste minimisation organisation, whileMr Averill spent 13 years as Group Chief Executive of Shanks Group plc,Europe’s third largest independent waste management company.

www.modernwaste.co.uk

* Björn GiesbersRecycling equipment supplier Matech has named Björn Giesbers as a

Director. Mr Giesbers becomes a 50% owner of the Dutch company alongwith Marc van de Wijdeven, who had previously been the sole owner ofMatech.

www.matech.nl

* Roger EdwardsWaste and recycling management group Verdant has promoted Roger

Edwards to Managing Director in place of co-founder Simon Miles. Thecompany, which is located in Sevenoaks, Kent, UK, forms part of theGreenstar group. Until 2008, Mr Edwards had been Managing Directorof Verdant’s Waste Services (UK) Ltd subsidiary in Southampton.

www.verdant.co.uk

People

Switzerland tops environ-mental performance list

Switzerland leads the world in‘green’ terms, according to the 2008Environmental Performance Index(EPI) produced by a team of expertsat Yale University and ColumbiaUniversity in the USA.

The 2008 EPI, released at theWorld Economic Forum in Davos,Switzerland, ranks 149 countriesaccording to 25 indicators trackedacross six established policy cate-gories: environmental health; airpollution; water resources; biodiver-sity and habitat; productive naturalresources; and climate change.

Second to fifth positions on thelist are occupied by, respectively,Sweden, Norway, Finland and Costa

Rica, while Mali, Mauritania, SierraLeone, Angola and Niger bring upthe rear. The USA was placed 39thin the rankings, significantly behindother industrialised nations such asthe UK (14th) and Japan (21st).Indeed, 22 members of the EuropeanUnion were ranked ahead of theUSA which recorded poor scores ongreenhouse gas emissions and airpollution impact on ecosystems.

Belgium remains near the bottomof the list of European nations.‘Belgium remains a shock,’ acknowl-edges Professor Daniel Esty, thereport’s lead author and Director ofthe Yale Center for EnvironmentalLaw and Policy.

HP boosts recycling volumes in 2007

US electronics manufacturerHewlett-Packard (HP) says it recy-cled nearly 250 million pounds (114million kg) of hardware and print car-tridges in fiscal year 2007 - anincrease of approximately 50% overthe previous year and the equivalentof more than double the weight of theTitanic. H-P also recovered 65 millionpounds (30 million kg) of hardwarefor refurbishment and subsequentresale or donation, thereby increas-ing its annual reuse rate by 30%.

H-P claims it surpassed its goal torecycle 1 billion pounds (0.45 billion

kg) of technology equipment in 2007and is well on its way to reaching anew target to recover 2 billion pounds(0.9 billion kg) by the end of 2010.

In Europe, the Middle East andAfrica, H-P nearly doubled the vol-umes it recycled over the course oflast year to 170 million pounds or 77 111 tonnes of equipment. In theAmericas region, the company recy-cled an estimated 65 million pounds(29 484 tonnes) while the total forthe Asia Pacific region was 13 mil-lion pounds or 5897 tonnes.

www.hp.com

Knowaste in newEuropean venture

Canada-based Knowaste, a pioneerin recycling technologies for nappiesand personal care products, is toinvest £20 million (US$ 40 million) inrecycling facilities across the UK overthe next five years. Planning permis-sion is already in place for sites inboth Wales and the West Midlands.

The Knowaste recycling processenables 98% of a disposable nappy tobe removed from the waste streamand used in the production of a vari-ety of products, including plasticcladding and roof tiles as well as plas-tic injection and extrusion products.Knowaste’s aim is to handle 100 000

tonnes of nappies per annum whilealso processing other absorbenthygiene goods such as bed liners andincontinence products.

Roy Brown, President and CEO ofKnowaste, says: ‘There are currently750 000 tonnes of nappy waste creat-ed in the UK alone, which is enoughto fill around eight football stadi-ums. When all our plants are fullyup and running, 13% of all the UK’snappy waste will be diverted awayfrom landfill and recycled.’

An earlier Knowaste operation inthe Netherlands went bankrupt.

www.knowaste.com


AR_1941.indd 1 18-02-2008 16:38:11

N E W S


According to scrap tyre recyclerCBp Carbon Industries Inc., itslargest investor has upped its initialinvestment by US$ 20 million (Euro13.6 million) to enable the companyto exploit a new green carbon tech-nology.

The US company has been scalingup its development plans in Europein preparation for commencing oper-ations in North America and theAsia Pacific region. CBp is expand-ing the capacity of its Hungarianplant from 3000 tonnes to 10 000tonnes per annum while the roll-outof new plants - generally with capac-ities of around 30 000 tonnes perannum - is in progress.

The company’s Vice-President ofTechnology, Jack Fader, has filedeight new patents in respect of tech-nology covering ancillary applica-tions, such as use of CBp GreenCarbon in road surfacing and roof-ing in addition to its more tradition-

al application in tyre and rubbermanufacture. Upon acceptance forregistration, these patents will pro-vide CBp with 17 to 20 years ofpatent protection.

CBp Green Carbon is a commodi-ty that increases in value with ris-ing oil prices and the growing short-age of virgin carbon black. The tech-nology recycles 100% of used tyresand scrap rubber, CBp claims.

CBp Europe Ltd, the primarypatent owners and licensors to thecompany, have sold 100% of world-wide ownership of the patents andall rights to the technology to theparent company for: an additionalconsideration of US$ 4 million (Euro2.7 million); 10 million shares andwarrants at US$ 2 (Euro 1.36); andtwo tranches of US$ 3.5 million(Euro 2.4 million) when the next two30 000-tonne capacity plants entercommercial production.

www.cbpcarbon.com

Studsvik to process radioactive metalSwedish nuclear waste technolo-

gy specialist Studsvik has obtainedall the necessary licences to con-struct and operate a radioactivemetal recycling plant near Sellafieldin the UK, which is home to theworld’s first commercial nuclearpower station. The station is nowbeing decommissioned, as well assome other older nuclear facilities.

From the outset, the plant willintegrate its operations withStudsvik’s metal-melting facilities inSweden. The firm plans to use theSellafield plant to process low-levelradioactive metal from the decom-missioning of UK nuclear plants.The metal will be sold into the UKrecycled metal market for industrialuse while the remaining radioactivewaste will be packaged and disposedof in a low-level waste repository atnearby Drigg. According toStudsvik, 500 000 tonnes of contami-nated scrap metal in the UK can betreated, recycled and reused.

Plant construction is divided intoa number of phases: the first aims tocreate a waste characterisation, sizereduction, decontamination andrelease or disposal facility. This firststage should be completed during thesecond half of 2008, at which pointthe facility will become operational.

In addition to recycling metal, theplant could also be used to accommo-date Studsvik’s mobile high-forcecompaction process, which is used toreduce the volume of low-level waste.

Studsvik acquired the site inearly 2006 and a licence applicationunder the Nuclear Installations Actwas submitted in June 2007. Otherregulatory submissions have beenmade under the requirements of theRadioactive Substances Act 1993and Euratom Treaty Article 37. Thenew UK Health and SafetyExecutive licence stands fromFebruary 18 this year.

www.studsvik.com

Leading Australian scrap metalsprocessing group CMA Corporationhas expanded its operations in NewZealand by completing the acquisi-tions of unnamed transport servicebusinesses and a secondary ferrousprocessing operation for a total ofNZ$ 4.05 million (US$ 3.18 million).

According to newly-appointedCMA Managing Director DougRowe, who replaces Peter Hatfull,the expansion of CMA’s NewZealand operations is part of thecompany’s core strategy for growth.He comments: ‘Developing our infra-structure allows our metal recyclingbusiness to handle higher volumes,

and achieve greater efficiency fromour operations. In turn, this leads toimproved stock turnover, pricingand profitability.’

In related news, CMA has com-pleted its US$ 6.85 million acquisi-tion of the 125 000-tonnes-per-annum Meretec Steel RecyclingPlant at Chicago, Illinois, USA. Theplant recycles galvanised steel usingthe patented Meretec process whichremoves and recovers the metal’szinc coating to produce clean black‘Meretec Meltstock’ and high-gradezinc particulate.

www.cmacorp.com.au

‘A statistician is a man who believes figuresdon’t lie, but admits than under analysis

some of them won’t stand up either.’

Quote ~ unquote

Sellafield - home to one of the world’slargest nuclear power stations.

CBp to exploit scraprubber technology

Australia’s CMAexpands abroad


P18.indd 1 26-02-2008 11:18:52

N E W S


advertisement

UK waste collection firm Biffa hasconfirmed a take-over offer worth£1.2 billion (US$ 2.35 billion) from aconsortium of private equity con-cerns. But Biffa, whose 1500 vehi-cles are a familiar sight across theUK, adds that an even higher bid forthe business may be forthcomingfrom another party that has beencarrying out due diligence checks onits books.

Biffa is involved in all areas ofwaste management in the UK,including general refuse collection,recycling, landfilling, handling haz-ardous waste and cleaning. The com-pany operates 86 depots whichtogether collected around 4 milliontonnes of refuse last year.

The consortium comprisingMontagu Funds, Global Infrastruc-ture Partners and UCIL is offering

350 pence a share for the company.Montagu’s Jason Gatenby says Biffarepresents ‘a market-leading busi-ness with a great workforce in a sec-tor we understand well and wherewe have a demonstrable track recordof success’. Biffa’s Non-ExecutiveChairman Bob Davies says the buy-ers’ investment plans ‘will help max-imise the opportunities presented bychanging legislation to delivergrowth into the medium term’.

In November last year, Montaguand HgCapital announced that theyhad approached Biffa several weeksearlier about a possible cash offer -later revealed to be 330 pence a share- but that this had been rejected.HgCapital withdrew its interest inJanuary, at which point the unnamedthird party signalled its interest.

www.biffa.co.uk

UK waste giant istakeover target

Catalyst acquires USnewsprint maker

Catalyst Paper Corp. of Vancouver,Canada, has struck a deal with a sub-sidiary of AbitibiBowater to acquire arecycled newsprint mill in Snowflake,Arizona, USA, for US$ 161 million.The deal will be partly financed by aproposed C$ 125 million rights offer.The sum excludes trade receivables ofabout US$ 19 million that are beingretained by Montreal-basedAbitibiBowater.

The acquisition will increaseCatalyst Paper’s total newsprintproduction capacity to around 980000 tonnes per annum. ‘TheSnowflake mill, a leading recyclednewsprint producer with annualproduction capacity of 375 000tonnes on two modern papermachines, is regarded as one of thelowest-cost newsprint mills in NorthAmerica,’ according to Catalyst.

The two companies have alsoagreed to a three-year supply con-tract under which AbitibiBowaterwill provide some 40% of the

Snowflake mill’s recycled fibrerequirements in the first year - aproportion that will decrease overthe life of the agreement.

In 2006, the Snowflake mill gen-erated earnings before interest,taxes, depreciation and amortisation(EBITDA) of US$ 58 million on netrevenues of US$ 195 million. For the12 months ending September 302007, the mill generated EBITDA ofUS$ 30 million on net revenues ofUS$ 185 million.

CEO of Catalyst Paper RichardGarneau comments: ‘This acquisi-tion will provide Catalyst with a nat-ural hedge against Canadian dollarfluctuations and is particularlytimely in the current environment ofvirgin fibre supply constraints.’Catalyst Paper intends to source theremainder of the mill’s fibre require-ments direct from the recycling mar-ket in western North America.

www.catalystpaper.com

According to the Maritime andPort Authority of Singapore (MPA),container traffic hit 27.9 millionTEUs (twenty foot equivalent units)last year - a 12.7% increase over 2006.Singapore also maintained its leadingposition in terms of bunker sales andtotal vessel calls, claims Singapore’sMinister for Transport Raymond Lim.

MPA’s Chief Executive Tay LimHeng comments: ‘The good resultsreinforce our status as a global hubport. They also reflect the successfulpartnership between the MPA andthe industry, as Singapore developsfurther as an international maritimecentre.’

However, Singapore was only nar-rowly ahead of Shanghai in terms ofcontainer throughput, with theChinese port handling 26.15 millionTEUs to give year-on-year growth ofover 20%. Total cargo throughput at

Singapore climbed 7.8% last year to483.4 million tonnes - some 80 mil-lion tonnes short of Shanghai’s totalof 560 million tonnes. Shanghai hasbeen the world’s busiest port interms of total cargo tonnage for thelast three years.

Projects worth US$ 1.4 billion(Euro 0.95 billion) are already underway to boost Singapore’s capacity bysome 40%. The expansion pro-gramme is slated to add 16 berths tothe Pasir Panjang terminal, increas-ing its annual handling capacity by14 million TEUs. Due for completionin 2013, these new facilities will sup-plement the 13 berths already beingbuilt by the Port of SingaporeAuthority under another project duefor completion in 2009 which willboost its total handling capacity inSingapore to 35 million TEUs perannum.

Singapore - the world’sbusiest container port


Tel: +44 141 440 0424Fax: +44 141 440 0874

E-mail: [email protected]: www.jradam.co.uk

Buyers of all Ferrous, Non-Ferrous Metals &

End of Life I.T. Equipment

Riverside Berth, King George V DockRenfrew Road, Glasgow, G51 4SD

www.macpresse.comLoc. S. Giuseppe 20080 Vernate - Milano - ItalyTel. +39-02.905.24.20 - Fax +39-02.905.28.93

A complete range of equipment to

answer every recycling demand.

P20.indd 1 26-02-2008 11:17:58

N E W S


* CSRUS scrap metal processor Consolidated Scrap Resources (CSR) has

commissioned an extensive upgrade of the non-ferrous separating systemon its 4000 HP 98/104 shredder at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. This willinclude: a new double-deck Bivitec 1900 x 7M pre-ferrous magnetic sepa-rator; a two-metre wide Steinert eddy-current separator; a couple of two-metre wide Steinert ISS metal poppers; a motor control centre; eight con-veyors; and associated platforms and enclosures. This equipment sup-plements two existing eddy-current machines operated by CSR.

www.consolidatedscrap.com

* SennebogenThrough its Australian supplier Pacific Materials Handling of

Victoria, German material handler specialist Sennebogen has recentlydelivered a new 830M D series machine to Sims Metal’s Noble Park depotin Melbourne, Australia. The machine features a distinctive elevatingcab comprising new features designed to increase operator efficiency,comfort and productivity. The machine is also fitted with a 15-metreboom/stick arrangement, a SMAG 0.8-metre Orange peel grab and ahydraulic Genset for use with a magnet.

www.sennebogen.com

Sold!

The steel can remains the world’smost recycled packaging material,according to data gathered by theBelgium-based International Ironand Steel Institute (IISI).

In 2006, 6.6 million tonnes of steelcans were recycled across the 35countries from which data are collect-ed. The overall packaging recyclingrate was 67% compared to 64.9% in2005. According to IISI, this perfor-mance prevented approximately 11.9million tonnes of carbon dioxide frombeing released into the environment.

For the first time, the annual fig-ures contained recycling statisticsfor China, Brazil and Turkey. Chinarecycled an estimated 1.2 milliontonnes of steel cans in 2006 com-

pared to 1.3 million tonnes of post-consumer steel cans recovered forrecycling in the USA. Japan recov-ered 645 730 tonnes of post-con-sumer food and beverage cans, andrecycled a total of 720 600 tonnes ofpackaging steel. The 27 memberstates of the European Union recy-cled 2.5 million tonnes.

Julie Renner, Chairwoman ofIISI’s Committee on Packaging,comments: ‘The data from our mem-bers shows a continued high recy-cling rate for steel cans in manycountries. In real terms, the ton-nages of steel from packaging beingrecycled in individual countries arealso steadily increasing’.

www.worldsteel.org

Steel packaging recycling on the increase

Having reported flat first-halfresults, Australian paper makerAmcor has announced plans to closeits historic paper mill at Fairfieldand invest A$ 230 million (US$ 211million) in a new recycling facility inNew South Wales. The Melbourne-based packaging giant has also con-firmed plans to build a A$ 400 mil-lion (US$ 367 million) recyclingfacility at Sydney by 2010-2011.

The company’s Managing DirectorGreg Beatty says the new 345 000tonnes-a-year paper mill is one of thebiggest single investments in thecompany’s history: ‘The new mill willsignificantly improve environmentalimpact. Recycled and bore water willbe used in the production processwith minimal use of town water forback-up purposes.’

Amcor’s Chief Executive KenMacKenzie warns that the packag-ing company faces economic head-winds this half-year owing to slow-ing economic growth, rising rawmaterial costs and inflationary pres-sures. ‘There’s greater uncertaintyin terms of where the economy in theUSA and Europe is going,’ MrMacKenzie says. ‘We’re basicallysaying it’s wait-and-see over thenext three or four months.’

Operating cash flow also took ahit in the first half of the currentfinancial year, falling 25% on theprevious year to A$ 92.9 million.Sales dropped 13.4% to A$ 4.7 billioncompared with the previous corre-sponding period.

www.amcor.com

Amcor packs up atpaper mill

Probe into Japan’spaper recycling scandal

Japan’s Fair Trade Commission(FTC) has asked Nippon PaperGroup Inc., the first major paper-maker to admit falsifying the ratioof used paper contained in its recy-cled paper products, to account forits actions, reports the Kyodo News.The FTC is said to be investigatingwhether the country’s second-largestpapermaker and several other majorpaper manufacturers violated a lawbanning false labelling.

Also, paper producers have con-

vened a committee meeting aimed atdevising strategies for preventingrecycling fraud. ‘We are called on torestore public trust in our productionpractices and we want you to tacklethe matter with speed and inearnest,’ Chairman of the JapanPaper Association Shoichiro Suzukitold some 30 committee members. Ofthe 38 companies making up theassociation, 17 have acknowledgedoverstating the content of used paperin their recycled paper products.

advertisement


Lind

eman

nw

ww

.metso

min

erals.com

Brings together what belongs together: the new EtaPress®.

Can you really have everything at once? With the new scrap baler EtaPress® you can have it •A wealth of technical innovations ensures high efficiency thanks to fast cycles and low-

maintenance hydraulics • Space saving design due to compact and low-noise drive unit •Economic through efficient energy consumption and service-friendly detail solutions • And

high availability thanks to optimized blades and an ingenious lubrication system in the

compression chamber • In short: a whole bundle of advantages • For further information please contact:

Daniel Zeiler

Tel.: +49 (0)211 2105 - 300

E-Mail: [email protected]

Metso Lindemann GmbH · Erkrather Straße 401 · D-40231 Düsseldorf · Tel.: +49 (0) 211 21 05 - 0 · Fax: +49 (0) 211 21 05 - 376 · E-Mail: [email protected]

Check list complete.

04730_KUP_MET_AZ_EtaPress_GB:A4 22.02.2008 15:08 Uhr Seite 1

AR_1957.indd 1 25-02-2008 15:40:39

P R O D U C T N E W S


Increased angle for Container Tilter

A-Ward Attachments Ltd of NewZealand has modified its ComboContainer Tilter to enable it toload a wider range of productsby increasing the operatingangle from 45 to 50 degrees.

This enhancement is said to offerbetter product flow when placingmaterial into either 20-foot or 40-foot containers. ‘This product inno-vation is part of A-Ward’s commit-ment to ongoing research and devel-opment in response to client needs,’

comments the machinery manufac-turer.

For the coming months, A-WardAttachments is planning severalproduct releases and improvementsfor the recycling, demolition andquarrying industries. Meanwhile,the company is beginning its fourthyear of intellectual property law-suits against two major manufactur-ers of excavator attachments. Man-aging Director Simon Ward statesthat innovation and intellectualproperty are key components to con-tinued rapid growth and that thecompany is firmly committed to pro-tecting its rights.

A-Ward Attachments Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand, Phone: +64 9 622 3111, Fax: +64 9 634 5128, Email: [email protected]

www.a-ward.co.nz

EcoTowerSort combines sorting steps

The newly-introduced EcoTower -Sort metal sorter saves on spacethanks to its unique ‘double-decker’ design, according tomanufacturer Toratec GmbH.

Capable of sorting all metals in-cluding stainless steel, the ma-chine’s width range varies from 600to 3000 mm while further decks canbe added to the system.

Different modular sorting tech-nologies are implemented with theEcoTowerSort. Depending on thetask in hand, eddy currents, induc-tive metal sensors, optical camerasensors (CCD), near infrared sen-sors (NIR) or combinations of thesedifferent technologies are utilised.

Input material is sorted on-lineinto several output streams suchthat a repeated material input isprevented and a suitable materialdistribution is achieved for the bestpossible sorting result. Distributionof the material is optimised at eachsorting step. Material can be ejectedby the use of air or via an airlessmethod based on the paddle or fin-ger system, explains the manufac-turer.

Toratec GmbH, Bremen, Germany, Phone: +34 93 804 82 66,Fax: +34 93 804 82 67, E-mail: [email protected]

www.toratec.com

Eriez X-ray inspection systems


Two new models of X-ray inspec-tion system produced by UStechnology developer Eriez areequipped to handle large and tallpackages.

The XR-41 and XR-51 are designedto identify contaminants, controlproduct and package mass, scan formissing or damaged product, detectpacking voids and confirm fill levels,according to the manufacturer.

Said to be ideal for larger pack-ages, the XR-41’s strengths include:

the foreign body detection of metal,glass and PVC; and inspection formass and missing or defective ob-jects. As with the smaller XR-21model, the XR-41 offers enhanced in-spection capabilities for packaged orloose goods where multiple productsand belt speeds are required.

The Eriez XR-51 is a double-beamsystem for glass-in-glass or metal-in-metal inspection requirements. Itcan be used on production lines run-ning taller cylindrical containerssuch as jars and cans. This model issaid to be superior at detecting smallstatistical variations in the productthat signal contamination or devia-tion from accepted specifications.

Both the XR-41 and XR-51 fea-ture a 15-inch colourtouch screen, stain-less steel construc-tion and an auto set-up capability.

Eriez, Erie, Pennsylvania,USA, Phone: +1 814 835 6000, Fax: +1 814 838 4960, E-mail: [email protected]

www.eriez.com

Single-shaft shredder for wood

A new shredder from Germancompany Weima Maschinenbau issaid to size-reduce all types ofwood material, including residuesfrom chipboard, medium densityfibreboard (MDF) and solid wood,as well as extremely hard woods.

The compact WL2 single-shaftshredder is particularly suited towoodworking companies thatprocess small to medium volumes ofwaste, the manufacturer claims.

Infeed materials enter a hopperfeaturing an enlarged opening mea-suring 790 mm by 745 mm. The ma-terial is shredded between rotor andstator blades and delivered viaa screen located underneaththe rotor. Depending on theparticle size and material,throughput can be as high as 2square metres per hour.

The machine boasts a powerrating of 15 kW, a speed of 100 rpmand an overall weight of approxi-

mately one tonne. The WL2 rotor hasa working width of 790 mm while ro-tor diameter is 180 mm. Its reversiblecrown cutters are concave in shapeand have an edge length of 30 mm.

Weima Maschinenbau GmbH,Ilsfeld, Germany, Phone: +49 70 6295 700, Fax: +49 70 6295 7092, E-mail: [email protected]

www.weima.com

RI_029 Product News:Product News 28-02-2008 11:48 Pagina 23

SENNEBOGEN Maschinenfabrik GmbHHebbelstrasse 3094315 Straubing / GermanyTel.: +49 (0) 9421/540-146e-Mail: [email protected]

Material Handling Machines with operating weights from 22 - 225 tRecycling Timber Sand and Gravel Port Multihander

Lasting top performance -in any environment� Heavy-duty boom system� Optimum availability due to its robust construction� Technical components – simple to understand and easy to reach� Made in Germany

SENNEBOGEN 830 M D-Series

NewMunich Trade Fair Centre5.- 9. MayArea C3, Booth 319/422

2008

830M-engl:Layout 1 20.02.2008 12:23 Uhr Seite 1

AR_1951.indd 1 20-02-2008 13:35:14

P R O D U C T N E W S


Blade lubrication with LaBounty shears

US hydraulic cutting tools man-ufacturer Stanley LaBounty hasintroduced an automated, bladelubrication system which, it isclaimed, will significantly reducemaintenance and enhanceshearing performance.

Use of this new line of shears -called the MSD Saber-Lube Series -will double the blade life, halve

build-up welding time on the affect-ed jaw areas and reduce downtimeby two weeks or more per year, ac-cording to the manufacturer.

The new tool will convert bladefriction into an increase in usablecutting power of up to 8% while oth-er features include reduced noiseand easier removal of wear parts.The overall cutting process issmoother, reducing shock loadingthroughout the shear and excavator,states Stanley LaBounty. A longercomponent life will be realised byless welding, it adds.

The MSD Saber-Lube Series willbe presented at the 2008 Institute ofScrap Recycling Industries (ISRI)Exposition in Las Vegas, USA, onApril 7-9.

Stanley LaBounty, Two Harbors, Minnesota, Phone: +1 218 834 2123, Fax: +1 218 834 3879, E-mail:[email protected]

www.stanley-hydraulic-tools.com

Rapid 600 series for plastics recyclers

Rapid Granulator AB of Swedenhas introduced a new series of‘open-hearted’ granulators. TheRapid 600 series is available inthree models and can handle upto 2500 kg of material per hour.

Rapid’s ‘open-hearted’ concept isbased on an ergonomic design thatprovides swift, direct and completeaccess to the heart of the machine,the rotor and cutter house duringproduction changes. According tothe manufacturer, this radicallysimplifies inspection, cleaning andmaintenance processes which canaccount for up to 80% of a granula-tor’s running costs.

As well as the new 600 Series,Rapid offers 300, 400 and 500 seriesopen-hearted granulators. The 400Series has been expanded to include:the 400-60 HD (Heavy Duty) fortough applications; and the 400-120,the widest model in this series which

suits the recycling of extra-wide in-jection moulded and thermoformedwastes.

The Rapid ‘open-hearted’ granu-lators are designed for high-volumecentral or beside-the-press granula-tion of injection-moulded, blow-moulded or extruded plastic wasteor rejects for direct recycling. All em-ploy the Rapid cutting technique,comprising a clean double-scissorscutting action and a constant cuttingcircle for producing uniformly-sizedgranules with minimal dust content.

The machines’ cutting action issaid to reduce the force needed toslice through plastics, resulting inlower energy consumption.

Rapid Granulator AB, Bredaryd,Sweden , Phone: +46 370 865 00,Fax: +46 370 802 51, E-mail:[email protected]

www.rapidgranulator.se

New Mega-Batch Feeder from US Shredder

The US Shredder and CastingsGroup has designed and sup-plied the heaviest batch feederfor the scrap and shredderindustry, the company claims.

Designed for a recent installationwhere mined auto shred fluff is beingprocessed, the batch feeder is thoughtlikely to lend itself to many applica-tions within the scrap industry.

US Shredder and CastingsGroup’s President Bill Tigner ob-serves: ‘The durability and design ofthe feeder literally makes it unpar-alleled in similar equipment that issupplied to the scrap industry.’

Measuring 8 feet wide and avail-able in lengths of 20 feet and longer,the Mega-Batch Feeder is designedto accept full loads of materialloaded directly from a dump truck.Feed rates can be varied from 5 feetto 150 feet per minute. Suppliedwith motor, power pack and electri-cal controls, the feeder employs aproprietary sealed belt capable ofhandling shred, automotive shred-der residue (ASR) and waste prod-

ucts. It also uses a ‘kick back’ drumfor proper metering of material.

The US Shredder and CastingsGroup offers complete scrap shred-ding systems, Moros scrap shears,balers and loggers, as well shreddercastings, service and consulting tothe North and Central Americanscrap industry.

US Shredder and CastingsGroup, Brookhaven, Mississippi,USA, Phone: +1 601 835 4095, Cell: 601-320-1049 (Bill Tigner),Fax: +1 601-835-2745, E-mail:[email protected]

www.usshredder.com

Sliding door for Orwak’s 3410 baler

Waste technology corporationOrwak has equipped its 3410baler, which was launched in2007, with a sliding door.

This optional feature offers a dis-tinct advantage in operations wherematerial flows are constantly high orwhere baler use is intense at specifictimes of the day, observes theSwedish manufacturer.

Whether comprising the slidingdoor option or not, all 3410 balers of-fer the same main features, includ-ing: a short cycle time, a safe dooropening mechanism and quiet oper-ation, with noise levels reachingonly 59.5 decibels. The cycle time ofthe Orwak 3410 is just 35 secondswhile the cycle times of the 3810 and3210 models - which were alsolaunched last year - are 35 secondsand 13 seconds respectively.

The new balers are equipped witha conveniently located switch on theside of the machine which makes iteasy to change the settings betweenhigh pressure for cardboard and lowpressure for plastic foil.

AB Orwak, Sävsjö, Sweden,Phone: +46 382-157 00, Fax: +46 382-106 07, E-mail: [email protected]

www.orwak.com

RI_029 Product News:Product News 28-02-2008 11:48 Pagina 25

Aluminiumscrap in demand

The aluminium business is boom-ing - mainly because of strong de-mand from developing countries, itwas confirmed at the 15th Alumini-um Recycling Congress in Munich,Germany. Having stood at 427 000tonnes in 1995, internationally-trad-ed volumes of aluminium scrapreached 2 million tonnes a decadelater, mainly because the USA andRussia were exporting surpluseswhich could not be processed athome to, notably, Europe and Japan.

Meanwhile, China has become thelargest export market for aluminiumscrap: in 2007, the country imported1.765 million tonnes, notably fromEurope, the USA and Australia, notedMichael Lion, Director of Sims AsiaHolding. China’s aluminium process-ing industry has increased its sec-ondary aluminium production from1.3 million tonnes in 2002 to 2.35 mil-lion tonnes in 2006, with a total of 2.8million tonnes anticipated for 2008.

Currently, China operates two sec-ondary aluminium smelters with anannual capacity of more than 50 000tonnes each, while more than 100companies are processing 10 000 to

50 000 tonnes of aluminium scrap peryear. According to targets set out inthe country’s eleventh Five YearPlan, which runs until 2010, Chinesecompanies should produce 4.5 milliontonnes of secondary aluminium.

Dutch sitting on 130 millionbatteries

Dutch households are hoardingsome 130 million spent batteries, ac-cording to Stibat. The organisationresponsible for the collection and re-cycling of batteries in the Nether-lands calculates that each householdis home to 97 batteries which are ei-ther full, empty or in use within ap-pliances. Of these, an average of 18 are empty batteries.

Some 83% of spent batteries arecollected in the Netherlands whilethe remainder end up in the refusestream. Currently, more than 12 000retail shops are acting as free collec-tion points: in 2007, these attracted847 326 kg of batteries or 28.4% ofall batteries collected in the Nether-lands. Almost every primary schoolin the Netherlands takes part in col-lecting batteries too.

As of September 2008, all retailshops which sell batteries in theNetherlands will provide free collec-tion points and will also take respon-sibility for delivering the batteries toStibat’s recycling centres. More than10 000 tonnes of batteries were col-lected by Stibat in 2007.

On average, it takes around tenyears for a new battery to make itsway from a shop into the recyclingstream. www.stibat.nl

Ireland strug-gling to meetlandfill goals

The waste sector in Ireland haswarned that a call for ‘urgent action’to help Ireland meet its 2010 land-fill targets could have come too late.

A discussion paper entitled ‘Hittingthe targets for biodegradable munici-pal waste: Ten targets for change’says the outcomes currently beingachieved with biodegradable munici-pal waste (BMW) are ‘less than satis-factory’. The National Waste Reportfrom the country’s EnvironmentalProtection Agency revealed that, dur-ing 2006, some 1.4 million tonnes ofBMW was landfilled in Ireland.

Dr Andrew Walsh, Managing Di-rector of Ireland-based Celtic Com-posting Systems (CCS), commented:‘Given that the timeframe to developany form of meaningful bio-waste in-frastructure, whether it is compost-ing facilities, biogas plants or me-chanical biological treatment sites,is three-plus years, we are beyondurgent. It would seem highly im-probable that Ireland can now makeup the shortfall by 2010.’

PJ Rudden, Group Business Di-rector of the RPS Group consultan-cy, said: ‘I agree with the EPA thatwe need to vigorously tackle the di-

version of biodegradable waste fromlandfill. As the EPA points out, ourNational Biodegradable WasteStrategy points the recommendedway forward as a combination of bio-logical and thermal treatment.

As recycling rates in Ireland arenow reaching the best in Europe, av-eraging from 40% to 50%, and sub-stantial residual waste remains tobe managed, there is now an in-escapable requirement for waste toenergy to reduce landfill rates to20% or less in accordance withNorthern European norms.’

Commenting on the EPA report,the Irish Green Party’s environmentspokesman John Gormley said: ‘Weneed some new thinking to breaksome old habits and this report fromthe EPA makes a very welcome con-tribution to finding solutions to ob-stacles in our path.’

Lehigh planstwo tyre powderplants

Lehigh Technologies Inc. of Flori-da, USA, a manufacturer of rubberpowder from scrap tyres, will reach adecision shortly on the location oftwo new plants. The four sites cur-rently under consideration are in Al-abama, California, North Carolinaand Tennessee.

The proposed plants will formpart of Lehigh’s bid to triple produc-tion capacity of its ultra-fine rubberpowder. Each site will employ be-tween 75 and 100 people in facilitiesof approximately 120 000 squarefeet. The company already operatesa plant at Tucker, Georgia, USA,and plans to break ground on its sec-ond plant in early 2008, with thethird plant to follow shortly there-after. Once completed, Lehigh will

www.recy cling mag a zin.de

A mag a zine for the recy cling indus try is pub lished inmany coun tries. Although these pub li ca tions main lycover news of the domes tic mar kets, many of them alsosig nal inter na tion al trends. Recycling Internationalrounds-up items from these mag a zines which are ofinter est to the inter na tion al recy cling indus try.

The mag a zines we co-oper ate with in pub lish ing extracts from their edi to ri al pages are:• Scrap (USA)• Recycling Today (USA)• Recycling mag a zin (Germany)• Magazine Recycling Benelux (The Netherlands/Belgium)• Recy cling & Waste World (UK)• Recykling Poland

R O U N D U P

Magazine Round Up

www.mrb-uit gev ers.nl

www.recy cling wasteworld.co.uk

www.recy cling to day.com


RI_034 Round Up:Round Up 28-02-2008 11:50 Pagina 26

have the capability to produce morethan 300 million pounds of its engi-neered rubber powder which it sellsto manufacturers in the automotive,rubber, plastics and other polymerproduct-consuming industries.

‘We continue to see great demandfor our ultra-fine rubber powderacross the tyre, plastics, carpet, coat-ings and other industrial manufac-turing industries,’ says AnthonyCialone, founder and Chief Operat-ing Officer of Lehigh. ‘The final fourstates are aggressive in helping tobring new economical and environ-mental products to market. Theircommitment to clean technology andproducts that take on environmen-tal sustainability is great, makingthem terrific candidates as we in-crease the volume of our rubber pow-der.’

The Staubach Company, a Texas-based real estate advisory firm, isleading the quest to identify the bestlocations for the new plants.

Telecom firmsdial into recycling

A number of large cell phonemanufacturers, as well as serviceproviders, have joined the US Envi-ronmental Protection Agency’s Plug-In to eCycling programme to pro-mote the recycling of cellular tele-phones. Partners in the schemeinclude AT&T Wireless, Best Buy,LG Electronics, Motorola, Nokia, Of-fice Depot, Samsung, Sony Ericsson,Sprint, Staples and T-Mobile.

To kick off the campaign, the EPAhas released a series of public serviceannouncements carrying the message‘Recycle Your Cell Phone. It’s An EasyCall’. These are intended to highlightthe convenience and environmen-tal/social benefits of recycling a cellphone. EPA has also introduced apodcast that addresses many commonquestions on cell phone recycling.

Further information about the

cell phone recycling campaign can befound at: www.epa.gov/cellphone

EPA rules onmercury releasefrom EAFs

The US Environmental Protec-tion Agency has issued new air emis-sion standards for mercury releasedfrom steelmakers’ electric arc fur-naces. The rules require facilities tobuy motor vehicle scrap fromproviders that participate in anEPA-approved programme for theremoval of mercury switches.

Known as the National VehicleMercury Switch Recovery Program,this is designed to remove mercury-containing switches from scrap vehi-cles before these are flattened, shred-ded and melted to make new steel.The switches have been used for light-ing in hoods and trunks, as well as inthe anti-lock braking systems of manyvehicles manufactured prior to 2003.

US battery collection jumpsincreases

The Rechargeable Battery Recy-cling Corporation (RBRC), a non-profit public service organisation inthe USA dedicated to recyclingrechargeable batteries and cellphones, has reported a 12% increasein collection totals. More than 6.3 mil-lion pounds (2.8 million kg) ofrechargeable batteries have been re-cycled in the USA and Canadathrough its Call2Recycle programme.

‘We are proud to report an in-crease in rechargeable battery col-

http://www.scrap.org

lection numbers this year, which is atrue testament to the efforts andparticipation of our many retail, con-sumer and community partners whohave joined forces to further raiseawareness of rechargeable batteryrecycling,’ comments Doug Smith,Chairman of the RBRC’s board of di-rectors and Director of CorporateEnvironmental Affairs at Sony Elec-tronics. ‘Additional factors such asstate and local legislation and grass-roots involvement have helped boostoverall environmental awarenessand underscore the importance ofrechargeable battery recycling.’

Call2Recycle is a nationwiderechargeable battery and cell phonerecycling scheme which is designedto provide a convenient means of col-lecting and recycling old cell phonesand used rechargeable batteriesfound in cordless electronic prod-ucts, such as cordless power tools,two-way radios, cordless and cellu-lar phones, lap-top computers, digi-tal cameras and camcorders.

Steinert honoured forinnovation

German firm Steinert Elektromag-netbau GmbH and its SeparationTechnology business unit has been ho-noured for its innovation. ProfessorAndreas Pinkwart, Germany’s region-al Minister of Innovation, Science, Re-search and Technology presented acertificate marking its achievementsto Steinert GmbH’s Managing Direc-tor Franz Heiringhoff.

In his tribute to the award winner,Dr Hjalmar Kuntz, Chairman of thejury, praised in particular Steinert’scontinuous product development andits thoroughly international approachto market development. In laudingSteinert as a ‘hidden champion’, DrKuntz said medium-sized companiesfrom North Rhine-Westphalia wereamong the driving forces of the Ger-man economy.

R O U N D U P


RI_034 Round Up:Round Up 28-02-2008 15:28 Pagina 27

In the quiet, friendly and historic city of Salzburg, avibrant atmosphere settled upon the Salzburg

Congress Centre for the 7th International ElectronicsRecycling Congress (IERC). For three days, Mozart’sbirthplace played host to 356 delegates from aroundthe globe - a record IERC attendance.

The event attracted key players from the elec-tronics recycling sector - mainly from Europe, butalso from further afield. The congress was markedby a call for greater enforcement of regulations,increased collection rates andprevention of illegal shipmentsof e-waste. Harmonisation andsimplification of regulationswere seen as top priorities toenhance the safe treatment ofdiscarded electronics.

A recent study carried out bythe United Nations University (UNU) suggests thatonly around 25% of Europe’s medium-sized house-hold appliances and 40% of larger appliances arecollected for salvage and recycling, leaving ‘sub-stantial room for improvement’. With a few excep-tions, collection rates for smaller appliances areclose to zero.

The study - compiled on behalf of the EuropeanCommission - predicts that, among the 27 EU mem-ber states, volumes of e-waste will rise 2.5 to 2.7%per year from the 10.3 million tonnes generated in2005 (around one-quarter of the world’s total) toroughly 12.3 million tonnes per annum by 2020.‘The report’s targets, if implemented, would lead to

a European harvest of roughly 5.3 million tonnes ofe-waste by 2011, up from 2.2 million tonnes today,’said study manager Ruediger Kuehr of UNU’s officein Bonn, Germany.

E-waste is also the fastest-growing waste streamin the USA. According to 2005 estimates from theUS Environmental Protection Agency, only 12.5%of the 2.63 million tonnes of e-waste discarded inthe USA during 2005 was recovered for recycling.The other 87.5% wound up in landfills or was incin-

erated, thus wasting a hugequantity of increasingly expen-sive, potentially recoverablemetals and other materials. Last year, according to the USElectronics Recycling Coalition,changes introduced by theBush administration allowed

computer monitors and TVs containing toxic mate-rials such as mercury and lead to be exported solong as they were destined for recycling. The lawdemands that exports of hazardous waste takeplace only once the receiving country has officiallyagreed to accept it.

E-waste transport

‘We really need to have a recycling police,’ conclud-ed Graham Davy, CEO of Sims Recycling Solutions -by far the world’s largest e-waste recycler. He reflect-ed the sentiments of the majority of congress speak-ers in saying that lack of enforcement of WEEE reg-ulations is the main cause of the increase in illegal


By Gert-Jan van der Have

Demands for an enhanced producer responsibility

system and on-going adaptation of the Directive

on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment

(WEEE) by EU member states provided the two

main areas of discussion at the 2008 International

Electronics Recycling Congress (IERC) in

Salzburg, Austria.

Kurt van der Herten of the EuropeanCommission unveiled the latest developmentson WEEE legislation in Europe.

Newly elected steering Committee ChairmanDr Victor Haefeli talked about the ‘dos anddonts’ of fridge recycling.

E L E C T R O N I C S R E C Y C L I N G

E-waste regulations: calls fo

Graham Davy: ‘We really need to have

a recycling police’

India is the market of the future, said Indiangovernment official Dr Sandip Chatterjee.

RI_008 Review IERC:Opmaak 1 28-02-2008 11:41 Pagina 28

exports of e-scrap to such hubs as Mumbai in India,Guiyu in China and Lagos in Nigeria.

Attempts to prevent illegal shipments of elec-tronic waste to Third World countries appear to befailing dramatically. ‘Illegal exports of WEEE toAsia and Africa are still massive,’ suggested Kurtvan der Herten of EU Directorate-GeneralEnvironment. ‘The main reasons are the highdemand for resources in China and other countries,and the high demand for cheap, used equipment inAfrican countries. 25-75% of the electrical and elec-tronic equipment shipped to Africa is useless.’

Mr Van der Herten also noted growth in illegalshipments of household waste to newer EU memberstates such as Poland, the Czech Republic andHungary, with a large proportion originating inGermany where many landfills have been closedand dumping costs have increased.

Mr Davy criticised the EU strategy of discourag-ing legal waste shipments within and outside of theUnion. ‘Governments may say “thank you” whenyou are recycling CRT glass, but if we want to bringit to India or Malaysia for further processing in ourplants, we are facing strict regulations,’ he said.

Sims Recycling Solutions –which recently tookover Canada’s Accu-Shred from Canada andRecommendIT from the UK- is facing regulatoryproblems when they collect e-waste in an EU mem-ber country and want to ship it another country.‘The single concern is that regulators have to sup-port the free movement of recycled goods if theywant to support recycling,’ Graham Davy added.

EPR or IPROver the last decade, many electronics manufac-

turers have introduced recycling schemes for theirown brands or in co-operation with their competi-tors. The term ‘individual producer responsibility’(IPR) was raised by a number of speakers, includingTimo Mäkela, Director of Sustainable Development& Integration at the European Commission. Herevealed in his keynote speech that, in April thisyear, a new directive will be proposed in the area ofproducer responsibility - a proposal that willencourage electronics manufacturers to design theirproducts with a close eye on recycling.

In the USA, the Electronic Product EnvironmentalAssessment Tool (EPEAT) is a government-fundedinitiative designed to help institutional IT pur-chasers address environmental concerns in buyingdesk-top computers, lap-tops and monitors.Manufacturers associated with the programme pre-sent a product to EPEAT and receive a gold, silver orbronze certificate based on environmental perfor-mance. Design for recovery through recycling sys-tems that utilise shredding as well as refurbishmentare central to the certificate system. ‘We are very suc-cessful in the USA,’ says EPEAT’S OperationsManager Wayne Rifer, ‘but I do not understand why,among all the stakeholders in the process, the recy-clers are the least enthusiastic partner.’

Jean Cox-Kearns also alluded to IPR, whichrelates to recycling programmes organised and exe-cuted by individual brands, as well as to extendedproducer responsibility (EPR) - which covers themore collective approach through strong govern-mental interference. Recycling Manager for Europe,Africa and the Middle East at US manufacturerDell, she explained that her company favours anindividual programme for its end-of-life computers.


Recycling bodies cast doubt on illegal shipment data The European recycling federations EFR (ferrous metals), EUROMETREC

(non-ferrous metals) and ERPA (paper) have denounced reports of high percentages ofillegal waste leaving the EU, describing the figures as ‘inaccurate’ and ‘misleading’.

In late 2007, several EU trade organisations claimed that ‘51% of all shipments areillegal and, of the remainder, 43% have irregularities’. The three recycling organisa-tions say it would be more accurate to state that ‘some 51% of EU waste shipments pre-selected as potentially illegal were confirmed as illegal shipments’.

The recycling organisations ‘strongly object to the proliferation and misuse of distortedstatistics that suggest a more fundamental problem with the regulation’, they say.

Congress organiser ICM’s ‘powerwomen’organised a perfect get-together in Austria’shistoric city of Salzburg.

Greenpeaces’s Melissa Shinn addressed theproblems of e-waste which is not treated in anenvironmentally-friendly way.


s for stronger enforcement


The SPECTRTO iSORT convinces with itssimple operation, light weight and accuratemeasurement results.

- Rechargeable battery operation for severalhundred sparks

- Identification of Fe, Ni, Ti, Al, Cu and Co matrices- No radioactive source- No protective gas required (not even for carbon

analysis in low alloy steel)- Fingerprint procedure for automatic material

identification- ICAL logic system for instrument control

Learn more about the SPECTRO iSORT during a demonstrationor in Internet. Additional information can be found underwww.spectro.com/isort, [email protected] andTel. +49.2821.892-2102.

Visit us: ISRI 2008, April 7-9, Las Vegas, Booth 532

High Speed HandheldSpectrometer

for On-Site Metal Analysis

Van Peperzeel is market leader in the field of collecting, sorting, valuation andtransportation of consumer and industrial batteries in the Netherlands.

With years of experience and expertise in controlling and processing these difficult but valuable materials,

Van Peperzeel is the expert and your reliable partner.We ensure a safe transport, storage and an environ-

mental friendly recycling throughout Europe. Not only for batteries, but also for non-ferrous

metals and residues.

To get you more information, call us now on +31 (0)320-401 400.

James Wattlaan 68218 MB Lelystad

+31 (0)320 - 401 400+31 (0)320 - 401 409

[email protected]

TF

EI

Your consumer & industrial batteries, non-ferrousmetals and other residues in safe hands

Van PeperzeelYour profit,

our expertise

P30.indd 1 26-02-2008 11:19:00

According to Mrs Cox, Dell’s programme features:its own collection system instead of the consumerdrop-off approach adopted under EPR; an assess-ment for resale; data wiping; WEEE-compliantrecycling; and reporting and certification.

Sony’s Andreas Bohnhoff also supported the indi-vidual approach, adding that it would be beneficialif individual company programmes competed withothers with regard to recycling. In Japan, Sony isco-operating with other electronics brands, havingestablished combined recycling facilities. In Europe,Sony works with other electronics companies suchas Braun, Electrolux and Hewlett-Packard withinthe European Recycling Platform (ERP) in pushingfor a shift from sector-based or single-source pro-ducer responsibility organisations (PROs) to cross-sector pan-European competition. Mr Bohnhoffsaid: ‘If you compare the countries with a traditionof take-back-systems with those who are involved inthe ERP scheme, the total cost impact for Sony fromthe traditional countries was higher than from theERP countries.’

Greenpeace takes part

Sony and Dell are among the frontrunners onGreenpeace’s ‘green tech’ list. The ‘green’ actiongroup was making its debut at the IERC, withToxics Policy Advisor Melissa Shinn explaining todelegates how brands of electronics are rankedaccording to environmental performance on a quar-terly list released by Greenpeace International. Thelist attracts a lot of attention from the media andthe public, as well as from manufacturers such asApple which changed its responsibility strategy fol-lowing criticism by Greenpeace.

The list is based upon Greenpeace tests on thepresence of harmful elements in companies’ devicesand on testing manufacturers’ voluntary collectionschemes. But UNU researcher Jaco Huismanblamed Greenpeace for taking into account only themanufacturers’ policies rather than their total col-lection rates.

The presence of Greenpeace’s Mrs Shinn drew alot of attention at the congress. ‘It’s part of thechange in Greenpeace corporate strategy to worktogether with manufacturers to find a solution,instead of just producing noise as activists,’ sheexplained.

Turning to treatment of e-waste, she said: ‘If youlook to Guiyu in China, the atmospheric concentra-tion of chromium is 36 times higher than that of anindustrial location in Taijon, Korea, and 190 timesthat of urban Tokyo.’ Last year, scientific fieldresearch in the city found out that the amount ofDeca BDE (a brominated flame retardant) in Guiyue-waste workers’ blood was almost 15 times greaterthan that in a control group. ‘Apart from the envi-ronmental problems it brings, it causes cancer, kid-ney problems, learning loss, lower concentration,reproduction problems and asthma,’ Mrs Shinnsummarised.

Greenpeace favours a strong IPR policy based onincentives for manufacturers as well as for con-sumers. But Norbert Zonneveld, Chairman of theEuropean Electronics Recyclers Association (EERA),countered: ‘We have done all of that in the past, butit’s not working!’ The organisation released a paperduring the congress in which it claims that currentWEEE recycling practice in Europe is failing. The



Electronics designers improve environmentalstandards

A new international standard from the Switzerland-based InternationalElectrotechnical Commission (IEC) will help designers of audio-video and informa-tion technology equipment - such as lap-tops, mobile phones and TVs - to make the bestdecisions on energy efficiency and on reducing environmental impact at the start of thedesign and development process, IEC claims.

According to the association, which comprises national standardisation organisa-tions from all over the world, standard IEC 62075 makes designers consider the entirelife-cycle of a product - from the materials and energy used in its manufacturing, to itsefficiency when switched on or in stand-by mode, through to safe disposal of the prod-uct at the end of its life.

Electronics designers are told to consider the product’s energy efficiency, the use ofvarious materials such as different types of plastics, as well as the product packaging.To increase energy efficiency, the standard helps to explain the different operatingmodes and the relevant benefits/drawbacks to be considered. The standard also advis-es on environmental regulations coming into force and provides links to governmentenvironment agencies around the world.

Commenting on the new standard, IEC General Secretary and Chief ExecutiveOfficer Ronnie Amit says: ‘The IEC standard helps designers consider all aspects of aproduct’s life-cycle, from the cradle to the grave. If we can get designers to think holis-tically at the start of the product’s life-cycle, then it’s a win-win for the consumer, gov-ernments and industry alike.’

www.iec.ch

A record gathering of 356 e-waste professionals attended the InternationalElectronic Recycling Conference in the Salzburg Congress Centre. Johnny van Heuverswyn of Belgium-based

Galloometal (left) and Jan Visser of the DutchCoolrec Group.

Dave Morrey and Theresa Walton ofEnviroServ in South Africa.


We trade and process all kinds of

MAGNESIUM SCRAPMAGNESIUM SCRAPALUMINIUM SCRAPALUMINIUM SCRAP

as well as

SHREDDEDSHREDDEDNON-FERROUSNON-FERROUS

METMETALSALS

Magtrade BVDe Boelelaan 7, 1083 HJ Amsterdam,

The NetherlandsTel: +31 20 3452337Fax: +31 20 3452338

E-mail: [email protected]: P.O. Box 75078, 1070 AB Amsterdam

P32.indd 1 26-02-2008 11:18:42

document also presents proposals for improvement ofthe WEEE Directive (see page 37 of this issue).

Fridge recycling

‘CFC is the number one ozone killer, a massivecontributor to the greenhouse effect,’ warned DrVictor Haefeli in his presentation about environ-mentally sound fridge recycling. A single chloro flu-oro compound-containing fridgeequates to 2800 kg in carbondioxide, it is claimed. Eachyear, around 18 million fridgesare discarded in the EU, ofwhich 14.4 million are containCFCs, according to Mr Haefeli,who is Director of RUAGEnvironment, a technologyresearch group based inAltbach, Switzerland. Duringthe IERC congress VictorHaefeli was elected as the new Chairman of theSteering Committee, replacing Filip Geerts.

He criticised the use of separate recycling process-es for CFC and non-CFC containing appliances.‘Mis-sorting is the most important factor,’ he said.‘Even conservative estimates of sorting errors yieldsignificant differences with respect to greenhousepotential, ozone depletion potential and the forma-tion of photochemical oxidants.’ He claimed thatjoint processing of CFC and non-CFC containingfridges represents the only right way of recycling.

Just a week after this presentation, Mr Haefeli’scontention was endorsed by a research projectsupervised by the Austrian Federal Ministry of theEnvironment and carried out by an Austrian recy-cling company. Monitored by statisticians at ViennaTechnical University, the study looked at removinghydrocarbon (HC) appliances from an incomingstream of appliances and subjecting them to sepa-rate processing. It was found that 1.6% of the appli-

ances had been incorrectly sorted by the highly-skilled workforce.

A study published by Germany’s Öko-Institut inMarch 2007 showed that a CFC/HC sorting errorrate as low as 1% would lead to unacceptably largequantities of CFCs entering the HC processingchain. As HC appliances are still typically treatedin an auto shredder or a non-encapsulated shred-

der, any CFC-containing appli-ances accidentally included inthe HC appliance stream wouldresult in the CFCs being emit-ted to atmosphere - an avoid-able environmental hazard, theresearchers concluded.Mr Haefeli urged better imple-mentation of the WEEE direc-tive. ‘100% quality control isnot demanded yet, and a com-parable and checkable quality

is not possible,’ he said, before blaming fridge man-ufacturers and importers for insufficient markingof HC models.

Emerging markets

Among the emerging markets for electronicsequipment, India currently is one of the key players



US manufacturers urge nationwide standardsMajor vendors, including Hewlett-Packard (HP), Dell and Sony, are working to push

through a legislative mandate in the USA to make it easier for users to recycle theirconsumer electronics. The mandate calls on companies to cut consumer electronicsrecycling costs and to make reuse and recycling the highest priority when manufac-turing products, said company executives during a panel discussion at the recentInternational Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, USA. Only nine US stateshave introduced recycling regulations but others are in the pipeline.

According to the company executives, some manufacturers have taken advantage ofweak recycling laws to create products that cannot be effectively recycled or reused.Some companies have standards in place to make easy-to-recycle products, but othershope to drive down their own costs by adopting lower production standards.

A legislative mandate would create a level playing field for manufacturers, says TodArbogast, Director of Sustainable Business at Dell. A common approach to designing forrecycling would promote the production of such products and drive down manufacturingcosts through effective product design and distribution, it is argued. Production costscan also be cut through recycling and reusing materials. ‘There are significant econom-ic benefits in doing so as well as significant environmental benefits,’ says Mr Arbogast.

In its strategy, Dell follows a Texas state law that requires PC manufacturers to dis-pose of products as easily as they are placed on the market. HP is adopting standardsto recycle printers whose plastics content doesn’t convert to raw material. Meanwhile,Sony has launched a programme so customers can recycle consumer electronics for freeby taking them to locations near its 75 Sony Style stores. The company expects toexpand this scheme to 150 stores over the coming months.

Roger Burri of Swiss company Air Mercury (left) and Jean-PhilippeFusier of MTB Recycling in France hosted a free beer bar during theIERC in Salzburg where the beer was served by an attractive lady bartender. It goes without saying that they scored a big success.

Ghislain Van Damme, Sourcing Manager ofUmicore Recycling Solutions in Belgium

Melissa Shinn: ‘If you look to Guiyu inChina, the atmospheric

concentration of chromium is 190 timesthat of urban Tokyo.’


P34.indd 1 26-02-2008 11:18:16

- particularly because of growth in the ICT branch.The export of software and its enabled services grewfrom US$ 12.9 billion in 2003-04 to US$ 31.3 billionin 2006-07. India’s share of global sourcing between2001 and 2006 climbed from 62% to 65% for IT, andfrom 39% to 45% for business process outsourcing.Despite the extensive increase in ICT, professionaltreatment of e-waste is said to have a long roadahead. Owing to the substantial profits available,many recyclers have set up small-scale units: Indiais home to some 270 large and medium-sized scrapdealers but more than 2000 small recycling opera-tions have grown up around e-waste.

According to Dr Sandip Chatterjee, Director at

India’s Ministry of Telecommunications, there arejust a few worldwide recyclers in the organised sec-tor - among them Trishiraya Recycling of Chennaiwhich became part of the Sims Group in late 2007,TES-AMM Recycling, also of Chennai, and CimeliaResources of Hyderabad.

Although imports of e-waste are banned by theSupreme Court of India and also contravene theBasel Convention, large quantities of discardedhardware equipment are arriving in India for disas-sembly and disposal through non-official channels.A recent study has estimated that some 50 000 to70 000 tonnes of e-waste is imported annually intoIndia. ‘The key concerns of the e-waste crisis in Indiaare not just the steady rise of domestic inventory,’warns Dr Chatterjee, ‘but also large accumulationof imported waste materials; and, more importantly,these volumes of materials are being recycled in theunorganised sector in non-scientific ways.’

According to Dr Chatterjee, a holistic approach isneeded to address India’s e-waste management chal-lenge. ‘You cannot only stress environmental aware-ness among consumers, producers, institutions, pol-icy-makers and legislators; you should also providealternative solutions to address the socio-economicissues involved with e-waste management.’

A possible approach for unitswithin the unorganised sectorcould be to concentrate on collec-tion, dismantling and segregationwhile metal extraction, recyclingand disposal would be the respon-sibility of the organised sector. DrChatterjee observed: ‘This wouldcreate a win-win situation for therecyclers.’

advertisement

Conference proceedings for saleThe complete proceedings of

the 7th InternationalElectronics Recycling

Congress can be purchasedfrom congress organiser

ICM for Euro 350/US$ 480,including economy postage

& packing. For more information or topurchase the proceedings,

visit: www.icm.ch


A highly feminine Austrian ‘rock’n roll’ band added lustre to the networkingdinner.


Thermo Scientific NITON XL3 Series

Alloy Analyzers

Part of Thermo Fisher Scientific

©20

08 T

herm

o Fi

sher

Sci

entif

ic In

c. A

ll rig

hts

rese

rved

. All

trad

emar

ks a

re th

e pr

oper

ty o

f The

rmo

Fish

er

Scie

ntifi

c In

c. a

nd it

s su

bsid

iarie

s.

NITON Analyzers EuropeMunich, Germany

+49 89 3681 [email protected]

www.thermo.com/niton

Sales & Service Worldwide

Visit us in Booth #216 at the 2008 ISRI Expo!

ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS

The world‘s Number One trade fair for the environment and waste disposal provides unrivalled international coverage, total solutions and the global expertise of market leaders.

New topics at Ifat 2008:• COASTAL PROTECTION AND FLOOD CONTROL• GENERATING ENERGY FROM WASTE MATERIALS

Make this global trade fair part of your success! All further information on: www.ifat.de

23 – 25 Sept. 2008Shanghaiwww.ifat-china.com Experience the world‘s no.1 growth market

New Munich Trade Fair Centre

5–9 May15th International Trade Fair for Water – Sewage – Refuse – Recycling

Messe München GmbH • Messegelände • D-81823 München Hotline: (+49 89) 9 49 - 1 13 58 • Fax: (+49 89) 9 49 - 1 13 59

P36.indd 1 26-02-2008 11:18:06

Implementation of the EU’sDirective on Waste Electrical and

Electronic Equipment (WEEE) ‘hasnot been a success’ and has givenrise to a host of ‘shady business prac-tices’. That is the stark conclusion ofa hard-hitting position paper enti-tled ‘Towards sustainable WEEErecycling’ which has been publishedby the European ElectronicsRecycling Association (EERA) -whose members handle more thanhalf the WEEE treated in Europe -as its contribution to the process ofrevising the 2002 directive.

Prepared by EERA’s ExecutiveSecretary Norbert Zonneveld, the pa-per outlines key reasons perceived bythe association for the failure of thedirective to achieve its objectives andalso incorporates revision proposals.The issues raised are of key concernto the association’s members whohandle approximately 1.2 milliontonnes per annum or around 55% ofthe total WEEE volume treated inEurope each year. Combined, thesecompanies have invested more thanEuro 1 billion in treatment facilitiesover the last five years.

Regarding the 2002 directive,EERA complains that ‘nearly alltimelines have been exceeded’ andthat, as a result, 200 million Euro-pean citizens lack the collection andtreatment services required by the

European Commission and Euro-pean Parliament. It maintains thatcollection rates for nearly all cate-gories of WEEE are less than 30% ofthe total amount of equipmentplaced on the market.

The organisation also alleges ‘nu-merous articles of the directive havenot been correctly transposed in thevarious member states’.

‘False’ heading

The paper points to illegal exportsof WEEE to non-OECD countries -‘mostly under the false heading ofreuse’. Such volumes are often foundto be recycled with the objective ofharvesting only valuable parts andmaterials. ‘The recycling processes donot comply with any of the EU rulesand regulations on health, safety orenvironment,’ the association claims.

EERA also alleges ‘sub-standardrecycling practices’ due either to thelack of enforcement and/or to pricepressure. Too few public servantshave been assigned to the enforce-ment of the policy on the WEEE life-cycle, resulting in ‘a low chance ofbeing caught’ for illegal practicesthat can yield ‘high economic bene-fits’. Evidence exists, it adds, of un-fair pricing and below-cost treat-ment contracts being awarded to re-cyclers that do not comply with theprinciples of best available technolo-

gy (BAT) and/or best environmentalpractices. The association contendsthat, to date, 66-80% of WEEE is un-accounted for, while European citi-zens ‘pay (directly or indirectly) forwhat is supposed to be the good col-lection and treatment of their end-of-life products’.

EERA’s recommendations

Against this backdrop, EERA of-fers a number of recommendationsfor improving the WEEE directive,including the following. * In order to stop the illegal export

of WEEE to non-OECD countries,the articles on reuse should bemade inoperative and effortsshould be made to secure the possi-bility of reuse of end-of-life elec-tronic equipment under anotherset of rules and regulations inwhich it is controlled and enforced.

* As a minimum, the rates of sepa-rate collection should be 50% of thevolume of those products that wereput on the market before August13 2005, and 65% of those productsthat were put on the market afterthat date. For products with a highenvironmental burden, a collectionrate of at least 90% should bemandatory.

* It should be compulsory for retail-ers, local authorities and business-es to submit WEEE to approved

and authorised treatment and re-cycling operations and take-backsystems in order to avoid the sig-nificant leakages created in the re-verse logistics (thought to be equiv-alent to more than 70% of the vol-umes arising).Furthermore, EERA warns strong-

ly against the deletion of certain cate-gories from the scope of the WEEE directive and against the ‘wateringdown’ of requirements relating to recovery and recycling rates.

For more information: www.eera-recyclers.com

E - C Y C L I N G


EERA lambastsWEEE directiveimplementation

EERA’s Executive Secretary NorbertZonneveld: ‘Illegal exports of WEEE to non-OECD countries happen under the false head-ing of reuse.’

A new position paper from the European Electronics

Recycling Association highlights what it perceives

to be serious flaws in the implementation of the

EU’s Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic

Equipment (WEEE). The organisation also puts for-

ward its own blueprint for revising the directive.

By Manfred Beck

RI_052 EERA on WEEE:Opmaak 1 28-02-2008 11:56 Pagina 37

A s Allan M. Goldstein, AMG President and CEO,explains: ‘People still refer to us as a detinner,

which is less than 10% of our business. The goodnews is that there are no more “big parts” of our busi-ness. Each segment is a small percentage that whenadded together make us a good-sized company.’

This stems from Mr Goldstein’s ‘first cousins’business philosophy. ‘When you look at our growth,you’ll see that we select niche areas to go in thatare related to our existing segments - or “firstcousins” of our existing businesses - and are areasin which we want to grow,’ he explains. ‘We arealways looking for opportunities that fill in ourniche areas - geographically and in our productlines. That’s been our goal.’

The most recent acquisition in pursuit of thatgoal was closed on February 15 this year whenAMG acquired Midwest Steel & Alloy, Inc., a leaderin railcar dismantling, railcar parts reclamation,mill roll processing and heavy burning. Midwestoperates from a 50-acre processing facility inYoungstown, Ohio, and is supported by corpo-rate/commercial offices in Cleveland and a commer-cial office in Yorkville, Illinois.

Differing approaches

Although AMG Resources Corporation is slightlymore than two decades old, the company’s heritagedates back much farther. Sidney Goldstein, Allan’sfather, was born in Brooklyn of Russian immigrantparents. Growing up during the Depression influ-enced his business philosophy, which was quite dif-ferent from the one pursued by his son.Characterised as ‘someone who worked his entire lifeand was a hard, hard worker’, Mr Goldstein seniorwas a scrap peddler. He had a truck (Allan still hasit), but no yard and no employees. He would pick upscrap and then deliver it to a buyer at the end of theday. He told his son: you don’t have equipment


By Jim Fowler

AMG Resources’ philosophy of growth

Baler operator at work at AMG’s mill service operation SPSP in Sparrows Point, Maryland, USA

You may think it unusual to describe a major US scrap company as a

group of niche boutiques but, in essence, that is exactly what AMG

Resources Corporation is. Well, boutiques may be a stretch, but

most of the company’s business segments are a bit unique, related

to each other and generally dominant in their realm.

AMG Resources’ President and CEO AllanGoldstein (left) and Jim Orendorff, Sr., whoheads AMG’s West Coast U.S. business,based in Phoenix, Arizona.

RI_027 Comp. profile:Opmaak 1 28-02-2008 15:44 Pagina 38

because it breaks down; you don’t have employeesbecause they give you problems; you don’t have landbecause you can’t get rid of it, it’s not liquid; and youkeep whatever assets you have portable.

In 1974, Allan Goldstein began his career as anattorney, ultimately having his own firm specialis-ing in mergers and acquisitions. Then in 1982, justone year after his father passed away, he bought thedefunct Hoffman Metals in Newark, New Jersey. Herecalls: ‘It was shut down and I figured I could open itup and do things with it.’ Unknown to him at thetime, he was about to experience one of the worstscrap markets ever. ‘I opened it up and watched thescrap market go down and asked, “what the hell kindof business is this?” It did, however, teach me a les-son - the bad times are the best times to grow.Because everybody was getting out of the business,we were able to grow and become a force in the areaand then opened Goldmet, a non-ferrous operation. Ihad kept the name S. Goldstein & Son, my father’scompany, which was the ferrous end of our business.’

Early mistakes

Although his father had been a peddler fordecades, Mr Goldstein acknowledges that he him-self knew nothing about the scrap business. He sayswith a laugh: ‘I was so naïve, they’d put me away if Itold you stories of my early mistakes.’

He was still practising law - his practice support-ing the scrap business - and would go to the businesslibrary in Newark at lunch-time to learn the multi-tude of scrap grades. ‘There was a lot of teethinggoing on to try and understand the business,’ he says.

In 1986, Vulcan Materials Company announced itwas selling its detinning division. Mr Goldsteindecided to try and acquire the operation, a processwhich took two years and established AMGResources Corporation headquartered in Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania. ‘The lucky part with Vulcan,’ he says,‘was that I had good people. As a lawyer, you take cas-es on or projects for business financing and you learnthat business. The idea is to learn more than the guywho is buying or selling the business. I was neverafraid of that part of it. That was my goal - to learn it.’

On March 4 1988, AMG acquired Vulcan plants inBaltimore (Maryland), Gary (Indiana) and inPittsburgh that were detinning new scrap cuttingsfrom can makers. The new owners calculated that thecan makers were scrapping 10% of their tinplate,which was being bought by AMG. The other 90% ofthe tinplate made its way into cans. AMG realisedthat the potential market for recycling used cans wastherefore about nine times that of tinplate - a tremen-dous potential for growth. An important part of the

Vulcan deal, and the key to tapping that growthpotential, were the two detinning plants in the UKwhere the technology for detinning used cans hadbeen developed. Today, AMG is the largest detinnerin the USA and the UK. Since 2001, AMG’s UK facili-ties have operated specially-engineered plants thatprocess aluminium residue from used bimetal cans.

‘We do some aluminium in the USA,’ MrGoldstein notes, ‘but the USA doesn’t have bimetalcans.’ He adds: ‘Non-ferrous is an area we are goingto focus on. We’re not in it in a tremendous way, butwe should be.’

Private rail fleet

Included in the Vulcan purchase was a fleet ofrailcars ranging in size from 2500 to 7000 cubic feet.‘We were one of the first in the industry to havesuch a fleet,’ Mr Goldstein notes, ‘and we haveincreased it because it provided service to our cus-tomers along with our railcar management systemoperated by our transportation department.’ AMG’sprivate rail fleet is now approaching 1000 cars, oneof the largest of any US scrap broker.

Just one year after the Vulcan acquisition, in1989, AMG opened a 200 000-square-foot greenfieldplant on approximately 20 acres in St Paul,Minnesota, which was unique for its waste-to-ener-gy plants. Utilising technology designed, engi-neered, patented and constructed by AMG, thefacility processed magnetised trash and used steelcans. Non-metallic material is made into pelletsand burned as a fuel substitute. The AMG facilityhas since tripled in size.

Although Vulcan thought of itself as being in thedetinning business, Mr Goldstein always took theview that AMG was in the scrap business. ‘Whatprompted me to go into scrap brokerage was that wewere selling detinned bundles to steel mills. We had


C O M P A N Y P R O F I L E

Used bimetal cans being unloaded at AMG’sLlanelli plant in Wales for processing.

Precipitation iron is processed at AMG’sfacility at Lathrop, California.

Finished precipitation iron is processed atAMG’s Lathrop facility in California.


Go modular with Osborn’s 5 step process at

[email protected]

[email protected]

1519 South BostonTulsa, Oklahoma 74119

Ph: +1 (918) 585-5884 Fax: +1 (918) 585-1232

Specialists in Shredders, Downstream Components

Shredder Emission Systems

Infeed Conveyors

Cascade Cleaning Systems

Worlds Only Patented “ZeroBleed”

No Emission System

Magnetic Separators

Screening and Conveying

Non ferrous Separation

AR_1934.indd 1 14-02-2008 10:08:24

direct relationships with mills and the idea was toexpand and capitalise on those relationships to sellother materials.’ It was in 1991 that AMG opened itsfirst brokerage office in Pittsburgh. Today, the com-pany is one of the largest brokers in the USA with 13brokerage offices as well as one in the UK.

A significant amount of the scrap AMG handles isfrom industrial accounts where the company hasmulti-year contracts. ‘We pick it up at an industrialsite in our railcars or via truck and move it directly toa mill consumer,’ he explains. ‘Scrap from our indus-trial accounts only comes to one of our yards if it hasto be processed or consolidated. Between brokerageand processing, I think we probably handle morethan 2 million tonnes of ferrous scrap annually.’

Having done mergers and acquisitions work asan attorney, Mr Goldstein says: ‘I only know howto grow. We’ve always done one or two transactionsa year. You either grow or you die - you can’t staythe same.’

Looking for opportunities

Throughout the 1990s, AMG acquired scrap com-panies in the eastern USA and the Midwest. Itbegan on-site scrap management and optimisationprogrammes at what is now the Mittal SteelCompany mill at Sparrows Point, Maryland, and atFord Motor Company’s foundry in Leamington, UK.Asked if he expects this segment of AMG’s businessto expand, Mr Goldstein responds: ‘If the opportu-nity is there, we look at it. These were individualopportunities that came along. That’s where most ofmy time is spent - looking. If an opportunity fits ourbusiness model, we go forward. If not, we pass.’

In 1998, AMG acquired a new cousin in Lathrop,California, and began operating what is the largest(and only) precipitation iron maker in the world. Itwas the company’s first plant on the US West Coastand has since expanded to produce specialty gradesfor foundries.



AMG’s growth has continued in recent years via:its 2006 acquisition of a 50% interest in RoyalGreen LLC, which operates an automobile shred-der and a specialty clip shredder in Reading,Pennsylvania; its 2007 joint venture with AllianceSteel Service Co., which has resulted in the openingof new scrap yards in St Paul and Red Wing, both inMinnesota; and most recently, the acquisition ofMidwest Steel & Alloy.

Secondary plate products

Although AMG had been in the secondary steelbusiness, the creation in 2005 of a new division,Chicago Plate Products, greatly expanded its pres-ence in the purchase, processing and sale of sec-ondary plate products. Mr Goldstein reports that thedivision is ‘doing extremely well’ and has just tripledits size at a new location in East Chicago, Indiana.

AMG’s Tube Division is another opportunity thatdeveloped from the company’s relationships which,according to Mr Goldstein, ‘seemed a naturaladjunct to us’. Located in Birmingham, Alabama,the division provides high-quality tubing at a costlower than direct mill buys. Mr Goldstein says: ‘Oneof the advantages of being a private company is ourstealth. We don’t disclose our total sales. I don’t lookat units (tonnage) or sales - they mean nothing. I look at our margins - that’s what I care about.’

He exclaims: ‘These are good times in the scrapindustry, and while we’ve been growing, it’s been dif-ficult. In the last few years, we’ve grown more inter-nally than through acquisitions. Because of some ofthe bidding wars going on for scrap companies, I canbuild a yard a lot cheaper than buying one.’

Growth outside the USA is more problematic,according to Mr Goldstein. ‘We’re always looking,but it is difficult because of the differences in cul-tures and laws in other countries.’ However, hesays: ‘AMG has a heavy presence in Europe with itsexisting can makers who have gone internationaland are marketing their scrap throughout the con-tinent. Our goal is to make can makers and our oth-er industrial customers as efficient as possible.Through our engineering department, we workwith them in developing operations in new coun-tries to design and install specialised equipmentthat reduces their overall scrap handling costs.’

‘Dynamic’ scrap industry

Mr Goldstein describes the scrap industry todayas ‘a more dynamic and changing business thanever before’. He continues: ‘We have to be cognizantof what may happen to domestic steel mills - in thelong term, are they going to continue to melt or are

Tinplate in shredded and baled forms waiting to be detinned at AMG’sLlanelli plant in Wales. The tinplate has been shredded or baled at thecan maker’s facility with equipment specified and installed by AMG tomaximise their scrap-handling efficiency.

Tinplate about to be detinned at AMG’s Baltimore plant.

Ingots formed from tin recovered in the detinningprocess at AMG’s Baltimore plant have been refinedto 99.98% purity - the purest commercial tin availablein the world.

Four of AMG’s Senior Executives. From left toright: Sean Kerrigan, Deputy ManagingDirector & Commercial Director, AMGIndustries plc, Birmingham, UK; AllanGoldstein, President & CEO, AMG ResourcesCorp., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; JimOrendorff, Sr., President, AMG ResourcesPacific Corp. & Director, Western Marketing(Phoenix, Arizona, USA; and Jason Carpenter,Supplier Liaison Manager, AMG Industries plc,Birmingham, UK.


MANTSINEN

Precise

EfficientEconomical

Safe

Tel. +358 13 252 5500 Fax +358 13 252 5555

www.mantsinen.comMANTSINEN

The mark of efficiency

AR_1924.indd 1 21-01-2008 13:45:50



For more information: AMG Resources Corp.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Phone: +1 412-777-7300Fax: +1 412-331-0972

E-mail:[email protected]

www.amgresources.com

they going to import slabs and can they be competi-tive? If they do bring in slabs, where will our scrapbe consumed? We know it’s going to be in China andTurkey, but where else will it go and how will weget our scrap to those locations if the dynamics ofthe steel business change?’

He adds: ‘I’m amazed that the current climate inthe scrap industry has existed for as long as it has,and I don’t understand it to a degree. The ride wasgood, but I’m not overly optimistic and we don’t planon an optimistic basis. I think we’re in for a correc-tion. What is happening now that hasn’t happenedbefore is the violent swings in the market.Percentage-wise they may be similar to the past,but we work on dollar margins, not percentage mar-gins. When you have these US$ 50 to US$ 70swings, they far outpace your profit in those swings,so you have to be careful. It’s a very intense busi-ness to manage right now, very intense.’

He also believes that ‘more and more, the scrapindustry is changing from a US business to aninternational business’. And he acknowledges:‘Export is a growing part and will be a growing partof our business.’

Tremendous people

Looking at AMG’s growth and success, MrGoldstein credits his people. ‘We have tremendouspeople,’ he states. ‘They are self-motivated, we givethem a lot of discretion and they operate their ownbusiness segments. There is a lot of back and forthwith our people. We have what I call “spheres ofauthority overlap” so they co-ordinate with eachother. I’m a cheerleader. I don’t manage the com-pany on a day-to-day basis. I have extraordinarypeople who run the business.’

He sees ‘getting good people’ as a major challengefor the scrap industry. ‘Since we don’t have manyyoung people coming in looking for positions, we’retraining people now, something we’ve never donebefore,’ he explains. ‘Before we hire anyone, we askthem to spend some time in one of our scrap yards. Ialways say “unless you like working with this mate-rial in this operation with this dirt and equipmentand these people and actually enjoy it and go tosleep at night and can’t wait to come back the nextday and are looking forward to it, don’t get involvedin our business because you won’t do well”.’

Mr Goldstein has another business philosophy.‘We look at the performance of the whole company,not the individual segments in terms of how ourpeople do. Why? Because we are one ship. If theship floats and does well, we’re all going to do well.If the ship is not doing well, there are no lifeboats,and don’t tell me about your division. That’s not theway it goes. The whole company bottom line has todo well. This approach works - it emphasises thatwe are one organisation.’

Asked about the next generation of leadership forAMG, Mr Goldstein says: ‘My son Eric is in thebusiness, but I consider AMG a private business,not a family business. There is a difference as oursenior people also have interests in the company. Ienjoy what I’m doing and we have a good group ofpeople who are younger than me who will take over.Who will they be? I don’t know but I have no con-cern about that. I can’t begin to tell you how blessedI am with the quality of our people.’

He concludes: ‘We are a people business.Equipment can be replaced, but good people arehard to find. Our people are our balance sheet andthey are doing a magnificent job.’

Tinplate waiting to be detinned at AMG’sLlanelli, Wales plant.

Detinned bundles are loaded into railcars at AMG’sBaltimore facility for shipment to the end consumer.

Used cans are stored at AMG’s Llanelli plant in Walesafter being shredded.

Aluminium processed at AMG’s Llanelli plant in Walesis loaded for shipment to the end consumer.


BIR

60th Anniversary of BIR

FAIRMONT MONTE CARLO HOTEL, 2-4 JUNE 2008

World Recycling Convention & Exhibition 2008

and

In Monte Carlo, the Bureau of International Recycling will be celebrating its 60th anniversary – a milestone in the history of the world recycling organisation.

& Opening Address by H.S.H. Prince Albert of Monaco& keynote speaker of world renown at General Assembly& expected attendance of over 1000 businesspeople from 70 countries& high-profile speakers at commodity sessions& exceptional social programme with 60th anniversary gala dinner

Join the most international recycling event in the world!

Provisional sequence of meetings:

For updates, check on www.bir.orgwww.bir.org

Monday, 2 June 200810.30 Stainless Steel & Special Alloys Committee14.30 Ferrous Division 19.30 Welcome Reception

Tuesday, 3 June 200809.30 Annual General Assembly* 11.00 International Environment Council* 14.30 Non Ferrous Division 16.30 Tyres Committee 20.00 60th Anniversary Gala Dinner

* The sequence or date of these meetings might be changed depending on the availability of the keynote speakers and honorary guests.

Wednesday, 4 June 200810.00 Textiles Division 11.30 Plastics Committee 14.30 Paper Division

BIR - 24 Avenue Franklin Roosevelt • B - 1050 Brussels (Belgium) • Tel : +32 2 627 57 70 - Fax : +32 2 627 57 73 - E-mail : [email protected]• Website : http://www.bir.org

AR_1914.indd 1 14-01-2008 11:15:36

We havecomplete solutionsfor yourcontainer business.

RECY SYSTEMS INC23945 Calabasas Road 202Calabasas, CA 91302

Toll free 888 757 RECY Regular 818 222 7795

[email protected]

»Do you have

your container business

under control?«

VISIT US AT THE ISRI CONVENTIONIN LAS VEGAS

FROM APRIL 6-10, 2008AT BOOTH 645

AR_1949.indd 1 20-02-2008 10:44:39

How did you come to join the recycling industry?Actually, that was purely by coincidence. Back in

1975, a former university room-mate of mine wholived in San Antonio met someone from the Newellfamily in a bar there. In those days, Newell was oneof the few companies that built shredders. Helearned that Newell was looking to hire someone tosell its shredders in South America. At that time, Iwas frequently travelling in that region for my workas an engineer in the clothing industry. I took thejob with Newell without having any knowledgeabout the recycling or shredder business.

What are your early recollections of yourtime in the industry?

Back then, the recycling industry was still calledthe scrap business. It was fascinating. I got verygood, on-the-job training and learned about shred-ders by being a field engineer. Shredders werebooming business in those days. American compa-nies like Newell and Universal, also known asHammermill, were not selling shredders, they weretaking orders. Newell had an 18 months’ backlogand was building one shredder plant each month.Later, I also sold shredders in Europe. Eventually, I went to work for one of my clients, Dr HelmutTrapp of Rohstoffe Trapp in Frankfurt, and I worked and lived in Germany for some fivemonths. I went back to the USA in 1981 to work forTexas Shredder, of which I became a minorityshareholder. In the beginning, the company wasonly selling and manufacturing wear parts. I ledthem to start building European-style downstreamsystems. Later, we also started selling shredders.

My dual role was sales and engineering work -implementing technology which I gained throughmy travels. At Trapp Rohstoffe, I had learned thatEurope was ahead of the USA in downstream sys-tems and I used that experience to our advantage inAmerica.

What exactly is involved in your current jobwith Metso Minerals?

In 2005, Texas Shredder was taken over by Metsoand I stayed on board.

I handle a lot of the international sales and capi-tal equipment. During my travels, I keep my eyesopen and I’m also a sort of technology scout – I’malways on the look-out for new, good things to intro-duce to the shredder industry.

I N T E R V I E W

Jim Schwartz - connoisseur o

By Manfred Beck

Jim Schwartz of Metso MineralsTexas Shredder.


RI_044 Interview Jim S:Opmaak 1 04-03-2008 11:59 Pagina 46

What are the main changes that you havewitnessed during your years in the industry?

Obviously, the consolidation. In the 1970s, mostscrap companies were family owned and we weredealing with individuals with interesting and some-times colourful personalities. Today, more than halfof the time we’re dealing with corporations anddon’t often know who the decision-makers are. Butconsolidation was an inevitable thing for the indus-try given the globalisation of the business.

Of course, there have been many changes in theshredder business as well. In the 1970s, shredderswere relatively new and only the forward-thinkingpeople wanted them. People usually didn’t know any-thing about shredders but they wanted them becausethey could give them more throughput. They made achoice for a small or big one and that was it. Overthe decades, shredders have evolve to become the‘aircraft carriers’ of the recycling industry.

What are the current trends in the shredderindustry?

The biggest trend is towards bigger shredderswith powers of more than 3000 HP. Machines withpowers of 6000 to 9000 HP are already common-place. EMR in the UK currently has the biggestshredder motor with a power of 10 000 HP.

Today, maintenance on shredders is much lowerthan in the past: in the 1970s, there was one hour ofmaintenance for every hour the shredder was run-ning; today, that has come down to around less thanhalf of that.

The main developments have been in down-stream equipment. It has really changed the shred-ding industry. Today, you can spend more moneyon the non-ferrous than on the ferrous processingequipment. It used to be that you might spend US$1 million on ferrous separation and US$ 250 000 oneddy-current separators. Nowadays, you can easilyspend more than US$ 2 million on the ferrous pro-cessing and perhaps US$ 5 to 6 million on the non-

ferrous processing, which is not uncommon with thebig shredders that process more than 25 000 tonnesper month. Recovering as much of the metal fromthe fluff as possible is very profitable with today’smetal prices and there’s some very good equipmentin the market to do that.

Of course, if liquid nitrogen ever becomes eco-nomical use, it could revolutionise the shreddingindustry.

If you could change one thing about life inthe recycling industry, what would it be?

I would like to be a partner in a metal recyclingcompany and buy a shredder instead of sellingthem: first of all because that way you make a lotmore money; and secondly I could be more involvedin organisations like BIR and ISRI, and help influ-ence recycling and environmental legislation.

The reason why we at Texas Shredder never gotinto the metal recycling business was basically alack of money. In the early 1990s, together withsome partners, we pursued opening a metal shred-ding business in Israel, but it failed for political rea-sons because the Israeli government did not allowscrap to be exported in order to guarantee that thecountry’s only steel mill got enough raw material. Itdidn’t help; the mill went bankrupt a few years lat-er. Of course, now I’m too old for such an adventureand I’m completely happy with what I’m doing withMetso Texas Shredder – selling shredders.

You are fascinated by politics, so who do youthink will win the US Presidential Election?

I’m not a fortune-teller but I would put my moneyon the Democrats. I think a Democrat Presidentwould be better for the recycling industry becausethey are more interested in environmental issueslike global warming and how recycling can con-tribute to sustainable development by savingresources and cutting down carbon dioxide emis-sions.

My personal Democratfavourite is Barack Obama. Heappeals especially to the youngerpeople, which is a good thing, butalso to the older folks. As for JohnMcCain, the Republican candi-date, he’s a nice man but repre-sents ‘old’ thinking. BarackObama is a fresh sound, a cleanbreak with old policy.

And what can Mr Schwartzsay about Mr Schwartz?

For my work, I enjoy travelingthe whole world. You meet manydifferent people and cultures,taste exciting food and wines,and you make friends. I love agood glass of wine, and I also likerunning. I still love jogging fairlyregularly and I have run 11marathons, of which most over-seas. The marathon I liked run-ning the most was the Marathondu Médoc because it allowed meto combine my love of wine andrunning. The event runs throughone of the finest wine regions inFrance, through great wineestates like Chateau Latour andLafitte, and the people all offerwine to the runners and specta-tors. There’s wine, music anddancing at every stop, and I justhad to do some tasting. Most ofthe 7000 runners are dressed incostumes. It’s not really a race,but more a moving party. I didfinish - eventually - but in a timeof more than six hours instead ofaround four hours. And therewere more than a thousand peo-ple who finished even later.

I N T E R V I E W

r of wines and shredders

’A Democrat Presidentwould be better for the

recycling industry.’

‘Shredders are the aircraft carriers of the recycling industry.’


RI_044 Interview Jim S:Opmaak 1 04-03-2008 11:59 Pagina 47

K eep an eye on the international horizon for anew player in the global market for recycling

equipment. Marathon Equipment Company and itsNexgen division intend to make their presenceknown around the world with the ultimate goal ofbeing a major player.

Although Marathon believes it dominates thevertical compactor and self-contained business inthe USA, it has only an 8% baler market share -with not even close to 1% of the baler business inEurope. And while Marathon sees little room forgrowth in the compactor niche, its Nexgen divisionsees not only the USA but also the rest of the worldas opportunities for growth.

Established in 1967, Marathon manufactured itsfirst Ramjet waste compactor in an abandoned gasstation in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. The com-pany continued to grow and, in 1975, moved to itscompany headquarters in Vernon, Alabama. Today,Marathon also builds equipment in Fayette,Alabama, Yerington, Nevada and Clearfield,Pennsylvania in manufacturing space totalling 421 000 square feet. After 23 years as a privately-held company, Marathon was acquired in 1990 byDover Corporation, a multi-billion dollar diversifiedindustrial manufacturing company.

Expansion into recycling

As the company achieved dominance in the com-pactor business, the decision was made to expandbeyond the waste industry into the recycling indus-try, and in 1989 Marathon introduced its first verti-cal baler.

In 1992, a Side-Eject horizontal baler was creat-ed. Designed to save time, labour and space, it had asmaller footprint because the bale was ejected fromthe side rather than the end, so the machine couldbe positioned in a corner.

One year later, Marathon introduced its first lineof two-ram balers. Then in 1999, the company cre-ated what it called ‘the most affordable horizontalbaler on the market for corrugated cardboard’.Known as the Stealth, this was an instant successbecause of its large charge box and price tag ofunder US$ 20 000.

However, even with its various baler lines and aUS$ 40 million turnover, Marathon was known inthe late 1990s as a leading maker of compactors butnot as a baler manufacturer. That was to change.

Identity problem

In January 2003, Gordon Shaw was namedMarathon’s President and, to help revitalise thecompany’s recycling systems, two industry veteranswere hired: Joe Szany as Director of Nexgen Salesand Jim Cunningham as Director of Engineering.

Recognising the identity problem confrontingMarathon, Mr Szany broached the issue in a meetingof company managers. Mr Shaw wasted no time indeciding to call the baler line Nexgen, a name alreadytrademarked by the company for another purpose.

Nexgen’s product lines include: * Balers: Galaxy 2R two-ram, TIEger auto-tie,

vertical and manual-tie (five models);* RAZ-R mobile scrap shear, five models with 600

to 1800 tonnes of cutting force;

S U P P L I E R


Nexgen is already the fastest-growing component of its parent

Marathon Equipment Company. But the manufacturer of balers and

mobile scrap shears is setting its sights even higher - on becoming a

name known throughout the world for its recycling equipment.

In 2008 alone, the aim is to double its number of overseas dealers.

By Jim Fowler

NEXGEN Galaxy2R baler in Conway, UK.

Earlier this year, Nexgen sold a Galaxy 2R, the company’s fourth two-ram in the UK.

Nexgen has a range of five models of Galaxy2R two-ram balers.

The world beckonsMarathon’s Nexgen

for

RI_016 Supplier Marathon:Opmaak 1 28-02-2008 15:33 Pagina 48

* Prospector Wire Processors (four models); * EZ-TRAX conveyor systems (five models).Mr Szany recalls that, in 2003, he inherited a sales

forecast of US$ 6 million which meant Nexgen was toaccount for around 6% of Marathon’s US$ 96 millionturnover. ‘In five years, the company has grown byabout US$ 30 million,’ he calculates, ‘and about US$19 million of that growth has resulted from Nexgen -the fastest-growing part of Marathon’s business.’

International sales

Mr Szany also recognised that Marathon rarelydid more than US$ 1 million of business each yearin the international arena. ‘I suggested that weweren’t emphasising that business enough,’ herelates, ‘and management said, “go to it”.’

Jesse Nasianceno joined Nexgen in August 2005as Regional Sales Manager for international sales.Mr Szany notes: ‘By the time 2006 rolled around, wehad grown the international business by a total of50% over the best previous base year. In 2006, ourinternational sales were roughly US$ 3 million - stillvery small, but a major increase. However, 2007sales were virtually stagnant at US$ 3.5 million.’

The reason? ‘We had difficulty adjusting to thecultures of the various countries in which we weredoing business,’ says Mr Szany. ‘There wasn’t therealisation that we had to do things differently to beacceptable to the international market such astranslating manuals, making electrical currentscompatible and meeting certification processes.’

The result? ‘Everyone within the company had tostep up - purchasing, engineering, manufacturing

and service,’ he explains. ‘We conducted internalseminars for our employees stressing that it’s notwhat we want to do that’s important; it’s what ourcustomers expect from us.’

A first step was to hire a technical writer totranslate manuals into the appropriate languages.The electronics on Nexgen machines were improvedto include the option of interface data in other lan-guages. ‘If you’re going to do self-diagnosis throughyour PLCs, your PLCs better be set-up with theappropriate language,’ Mr Szany comments.

Promoting dealerships

Nexgen has also been promoting dealershipsthroughout the world. Currently, the company hasdealers in the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Romania,Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates,Singapore, Mexico, Ecuador, Uruguay, Trinidad,the Bahamas and Puerto Rico. Negotiations areunder way to establish dealers in the Philippines,India, South Korea and China.

In December 2007, Fred Prins was namedNexgen’s Regional Sales Manager for the EasternHemisphere - incorporating Europe, the MiddleEast, Asia, Africa and Australia. ‘Our business inthat area hasn’t been more than US$ 500 000 orUS$ 600 000 a year, so this is a building block,’ saysMr Szany. ‘Mr Prins has his sights set on doing US$5 million in that territory this year. Mr Nasiancenowill now be responsible for international sales inMexico, Central and South America and theCaribbean.’ Prospector wire chopping systems havebeen sold in Uruguay and Mexico and negotiationson a unit are under way in Argentina.

A Galaxy 2R was sold earlier this year by the com-pany’s UK dealer. It is Nexgen’s fourth two-ram in theUK. All four are being used to bale plastic - an applica-tion in which Mr Szany believes Nexgen is the leader.

Competitive products

Looking ahead, Mr Szany says: ‘I have to believethat because of exchange rates and the competitive-ness of our products, Germany, the Netherlandsand the UK should be strong markets for us in thecoming years.’ In terms of dollar sales, he expectsNexgen’s Galaxy 2R balers will be predominant.

‘In terms of units,’ he adds, ‘we’re going to sell alot of Marathon’s Vert-I-Pack (VIP) vertical com-pactors. It’s a unique product that goes into theparking lot of a fast-food store. We introduced theVIP in Sweden and our dealer believes he can sellthousands of them there. The unit sells for US$ 10 000, and five can be shipped in an export con-tainer for US$ 700 each, so freight will not be dis-

ruptive in getting that business.’Mr Szany believes that, as the

company becomes more involvedin Europe, ‘we’re going to learnnew ways to solve the problems wesolve’. He adds: ‘We are seriousabout integrating some of thethings we see European manufac-turers do into our product lines,and the best place to do that ini-tially is in our products going toEurope. I think all of our cus-tomers will benefit from this cross-pollination of equipment ideas.’

Marathon is using its Nexgenproduct line to build its interna-tional dealer base ‘because we feelthat long-term, our balers will bemore exportable than our com-pactors’, says Mr Szany. ‘Weexpect to double the number ofdealers we have in 2008, mostly inthe EU, and we also hope to havedealers in Japan.’

Mr Szany’s outlook forNexgen’s international sales in2008 is US$ 8 million. His five-year forecast is US$ 50 million.‘Our reputation is growing aroundthe world and the Internet bringseveryone closer together,’ he con-cludes.

S U P P L I E R


For more information: Marathon EquipmentCompanyVernon, Alabama, USAPhone: +1 205 695 9105Fax: +1 205 695 8813www.nexgenbalers.com

Joe Szany, Director of Nexgen Sales: ‘Ourreputation is growing around the world.’

RI_016 Supplier Marathon:Opmaak 1 28-02-2008 15:33 Pagina 49

in globalrecyclinginformation

The world is yourmarket...We signal worldwide recyclingtrends

You process, buy and sellrecyclables...We reach a grand total of 33 000readers in 127 countries on allfive continents

You want qualityinformation...We bring you market analysis,news, legislation updates andreviews from the major recyclingconventions, congresses andtrade shows

You need to know aboutnew technologies andequipment...We keep you fully briefed on thelatest developments

Recycling International is• received by the international

recycling community’s topdecision makers, processors,traders, brokers andconsumers

• read by trade organisations,research institutes and(inter)national agencies

• written by recycling experts

Want to know more?Give us a call +31 26 3120-994Send us a fax +31 26 3120-630Send us an e-mail [email protected] our website www.recyclinginternational.com

Simplythebest...

Simplythebest...


AR_1799:AR_912 28-02-2008 12:32 Pagina 1

AR_1323:AR_1323 04-12-2007 09:35 Pagina 1

Any demographer studying the composition ofthe US scrap trade would surely conclude that

it was a multi-cultural and even a multi-lingualindustry. Immigrants entering the USA in the latenineteenth/early twentieth century looked for eco-nomic opportunities and many found the answer inthe collection of scrap iron, copper, recovered paperand old rags. By multi-cultural, we mean that thescrap population consisted - and consists - of vari-ous ethnic backgrounds, including Jewish, Italianand Irish among others, although all are Americans.

Most of these immigrants were Russian andPolish (later German) Jews fleeing from the brutal-ity of Europe during this period. Italians alsoarrived in large numbers to make a new home forthemselves in the USA; although forming only aminority of the scrap business, they represented aninfluential and active minority who made theirpresence felt, particularly in the fields of steel scrapand recovered paper.

In the mid-twentieth century, one could alreadyfind countless Italian names associated with scrapoperations in the USA. An examination of adver-tisements in scrap journals of that period revealsthe names of Benedetto, Giove, Gaccione, Derrico,Battaglia, Mastronardi, Zampiello, Jiampietro andCostellano, to name but a few.

Although many of these names belong to historyrather than to the present, there is no doubt thatthese were forceful characters who helped to growand expand the US scrap industry through hardwork and a willingness to try new methods, includ-ing the use of more modern equipment.

During my 50 years in and around the scrap

industry, I have met many executives with strongItalian collections. What follows in this article is arecollection of some of those I got to know andadmire. It certainly is not a complete list of Italianswho helped push this industry forward - it wouldtake an encyclopedia to cover that.

Integrity and honour

In those early days, the name of Richard Bonomowas like a banner waving over the scrap industry.He was President of Schiavone-Bonomo Corp.,Jersey City, New Jersey, one of the largest andmost influential steel scrap concerns. Those whoknew him praised his integrity, his sense of honour,and the moral tone that he established in all hisbusiness activities. He was one of the many suc-cessful Italian executives who kept a close contactwith the town he came from in Italy, becoming alarge benefactor to that town. The Bonomo namebecame a kind of standard of excellence, and therewere other Bonomos who came on the scene andparticipated in moving the scrap industry forward.

Intertwined with Richard Bonomo’s reputationwas the name of Louis Schiavone, a partner inSchiavone-Bonomo who became a symbol of execu-tive power in the industry. He was a forceful anddominating personality. Over the years, documentsrecord many Schiavones who entered the scrapbusiness: some were close relatives, some distantrelations, others just namesakes; but when you said‘Schiavone’, you were already talking about a well-known and respected collective group.

One of the later Schiavones was MichaelSchiavone of New Haven, Connecticut. A very


By Si Wakesberg

A large proportion of the

scrap industry’s biggest

and most respected con-

cerns can trace their

roots to a single family. In

the USA, some of the

most influential of those

scrap industry famil ies

originated in Italy. In this

article, the author - who

has spent f ive decades

writing about the industry

- recalls some of those

individuals with an Italian

connection and their

resounding impact on the

growth of the US scrap

industry.

How Italians helped shapetoday’s US scrap industry

In the ‘old days’, scrapwas collected usinghorse and wagon

RI_061 Italians RI:Opmaak 1 28-02-2008 15:58 Pagina 52

knowledgeable executive, he was kind enough toshare information with a young reporter. Despitethe advantage of his name, he made his ownimpression on the scrap trade.

Old-timers may recall Louis Galamba, the ChiefExecutive of Sonken-Galamba Corp., a foremostconcern in the scrap business. Louis was a powerplayer whose words were listened to respectfully byindustry members.

Leading ISRI role

In more recent years, the Cozzis - Frank andAlbert - became exceedingly prominent scrap per-sonalities. Albert ran a large business before becom-ing Chief Executive of Metal Management, a giantscrap company which absorbed many small familyfirms through purchases and mergers. He remains afluent speaker who has addressed many scrap andsteel meetings. Frank has played a leading role inthe US Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI),eventually being elected its Chairman in 2006. Thesedays, the Cozzis run their own company.

No article on the contributions of Italians to theUS scrap industry could be written without mentionof Sandy Cortopassi of Overland Metals in St Louis.A virtuoso in the field of aluminium, he was aremarkable individual, a humanitarian, and a familyman who devoted much time to his wife and children.His company grew to be one of the most successfuland respected aluminium firms in the country.

Ask about well-known Italians in the scrapindustry and the name Dick Zampiello will come upalmost immediately. His abilities and ingrainedsense of scrap have helped him expand Omnisource,the company he currently represents. And he is alsoa shining representative of the multi-lingual scrapbusiness: as an Italian, he claims to speak a betterYiddish than many of his Jewish colleagues. Butthen, he is not alone: reportedly, Frank Cozzi hasbeen known to throw in a word or two of Yiddishwhen appropriate.

Working in harmony

The scrap business is more than multi-lingual.From the very beginning, it has shown that peoplecan work together in harmony, irrespective of theircultural backgrounds. While run by the Bonomosand Schiavones, the Schiavone-Bonomo Co. had asone of its ruling figures Herman Moskowitz (andlater other Moskowitzes) who helped build the com-pany’s fine reputation. Herman was a teacher ofscrap as well as a leading executive.

And then there was the immaculately-dressedArthur Chiappari, President of Bronx Iron & MetalCo., with whom I had lunch several times onFordham Road in the Bronx. The Bronx alsolaunched the Capassos - Frank and Pat - who ranan outstanding company in the outer borough andcould be seen at meetings of the Copper Club, NARIand later ISRI.

Peter Avagliano, who held a leading position atSchiavone-Bonomo and later when the company wasabsorbed by Hugo Neu, is probably one of the best-known scrap executives. He represents a measureof honesty and integrity that has made his namerespected among all who do business with him. Hisknowledge of the steel scrap trade is enormous.

In 2006, I had the privilege of interviewing BenSacco of Sierra Iron & Metal Co. He is a mostcharismatic character, a man of wit and humour,with an extensive knowledge of both the scrap andrelated equipment business. Ben has made extraor-dinary efforts to help build a cohesive Italian com-munity in his state of California. Ben’s son John,long active within ISRI, was elected a ViceChairman of the organisation in 2006.

Reaching out to help

The Italians who came to the USA did not forgettheir own histories, reaching out to help communi-ties overseas by rebuilding churches, helping toequip schools, and sending money abroad to aidmany charitable institutions.

The decline in family businesses within the USscrap trade due to mergers and acquisitions has cer-tainly affected companies with Italian backgrounds.Nevertheless, many firms, such as BantivoglioMetal Co. of Camden, New Jersey, have beenaround for many years and are still very much inexistence. And many newer companies have found aplace in the US scrap business and are carrying onthe work of their predecessors.

Without doubt, the individuals mentioned in thisarticle, as well as many others of Italian origin,have stamped their individuality on an industry inwhich integrity outweighs ethnicity.

U S S C R A P I N D U S T R Y

Recycling International • March 2008

Si Wakesberg1913-2008

On Friday February 22, justbefore this issue went to press, welearned that the author of this arti-cle Si Wakesberg had passed awayin his home city of New York at theage of 94. Si was a dear friend, awonderful colleague and wasknown throughout the recyclingindustry as a skilled journalist.Right up until his death, he servedas New York Bureau Chief for theUS Institute of Scrap RecyclingIndustries’ magazine ‘Scrap’. Notmany people in the recyclingindustry knew that Si Wakesbergwas also a gifted writer of fictionand poetry whose work has beenpublished in print and electronicmagazines.

We will miss him dearly.

Peter Avagliano of Hugo Neu Schnitzer East.

Dick Zampiello works for Omnisource, headquarteredin Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA.

An 1957 advertisement in ‘Scrap Age’ of Delawanna Iron and MetalCompany of Newark.

RI_061 Italians RI:Opmaak 1 28-02-2008 15:36 Pagina 53

says the President and CEO of GMS at his head-quarters in Cumberland, Maryland, USA.

Clients around the world

Over the last years, GMS bought approximately120 ships - including tankers, gas carriers, reefersand container ships. Clients come from all aroundthe world, but the largest proportion of these ves-sels sail under the Greek flag and are destined to bedismantled in scrap yards in India, Bangladesh andPakistan. Most are sent to the well-known shiprecycling hub of Alang in India.

The objective of the company is to take over com-plete responsibility for an end-of-life vessel from theship-owner wherever and whenever he wantsthrough a worldwide network of agents. Mr Sharmaexplains: ‘It could be that an owner with a ship inthe Port of Rotterdam asks us to take over a ship.We make an offer, we become the owner of thatship, put a crew on it, fulfil all the regulatoryrequirements like insurance, and make the voyageto where we believe the ship should go.’

In recent years, the focus of GMS’ operations hasshifted from simply trading to ship owning and logis-tics, which accounted for 65% of its business last year.Mr Sharma explains: ‘In the beginning, we told own-ers the prices on offer from the different markets andthen they decided where to sail it to; normally, ship-owners used to go where they got the best price. Wesigned the contract, we put down a deposit which washeld in a direct account, the ship arrived at its desti-nation - let’s say, in India - and, after clearance by cus-toms, we paid over the money. We sold the ship afterthat to the recycler and delivered the ship to him.’

Being responsible

According to Mr Sharma, the difference between a‘good’ cash buyer and a ‘bad’ cash buyer lies in the

taking of full responsibility. ‘If you look at some of ourcompetitors, they are often focusing on making aquick buck,’ he suggests. His own company, by con-trast, not only takes account of the disposal of the ves-sels but also looks to ‘educate’ the ship recycling yardsas part of its strategy of responsibility. It also placesgreat emphasis on complying with Basel Convention,International Maritime Organisation (IMO) andInternational Labour Organisation (ILO) guidelines.

Currently, the IMO is working on new guidelinesfor the ‘greener’ recycling of ships, including amandatory instrument providing globally applica-ble ship recycling regulations for international ship-ping and for recycling activities. The aim is to com-plete the instrument in time for its considerationand adoption in 2008-2009. ‘I really support theseguidelines,’ comments Mr Sharma. ‘I believe theteam working on them and who visited Alangrecently is a good team.’

He continues: ‘I believe environmental organisa-tions did a great thing with highlighting the pollutionissues, but I also believe they went too far in thewrong directions.’ Standards have improved greatlyover the last decade, he suggests, ‘but in the minds ofthe ship-owners is still the idea that, if you send yourship to the Indian sub-continent, you are killingworkers and are destroying the environment.’

According to Mr Sharma, ship-owners are becom-ing increasingly afraid for their image and are send-ing their ships to Europe for lower prices, despitethe fact that they would like to earn as much moneyas possible. He believes market interference will notpush southern Asia’s ship recycling industry to ahigher level. ‘The best thing would be to give them

S H I P R E C Y C L I N G


Global Marketing Systems (GMS) functions at the heart of a recycling

trade in which guidelines and legislation are either very young or still

under construction. The US-based company is one of the largest play-

ers in the field of trading vessels with India. ‘Majority of the owners

care more about the price, than the environmental issues, so we have

to do it’, says founder Anil Sharma.

By Gert-Jan van der Have

GMS aims for responsible v

Dr Anil Sharma, CEO and founder of GlobalMarketing Systems.

Anil Sharma started buyingUS and Russian navy ves-

sels for recycling in the early1990s while he was still a univer-sity lecturer; now his companyGlobal Marketing Systems (GMS)is the largest trader in obsoletevessels with India.

Born in India, Mr Sharma (47)left for the USA in 1982 to studyfor his MBA and Doctorate inBusiness Administration. Soonafter his graduation, he beganusing his business acumen totrade in ships. The former profes-sor aims to be a ‘responsible cashbuyer’ and is also motivated tohelp India’s ship recycling indus-try to establish a cleaner image.‘These past years, the Indian shiprecycling industry has developedrapidly and does not correspondany more to the old horrific pho-tos you often see, like mothersand children carrying asbestos,’

RI_053 Shipbreaking:Opmaak 1 28-02-2008 11:56 Pagina 54

the best price they can get and then to take a pro-portion of it out to invest in proper recycling’ he says.

He adds that the structure of incentives and subsi-dies to recycle ships in Europe is destroying a marketwhere the vessels have much more value, referringspecifically to the enormous reuse market in India.

No real future

Mr Sharma does not see any real future for shiprecycling in Europe or the USA. That said, Frenchcompany Veolia Environnement took the step lastmonth of opening a ship dismantling operation inBordeaux, France. The site includes a dry dock thatwill enable large ships to be dismantled. The adjoin-ing area will be used to prepare metals recoveredfrom the dismantling operations which will be sentby water for recycling.

The strength of the world economy over recentyears has persuaded many owners to keep their olderships in operation. However, Mr Sharma believes theship recycling industry will become very busy overthe coming years as many vessels are nearing thepoint of becoming obsolete and the world economy isin decline. For these reasons, he expects GMS to havea large volume of ships to trade in the coming years.

The Asian shipbreaking market remains highlycompetitive. Bangladesh is currently the largestship recycling market ahead of India, with just 95obsolete ships sent to the Alang facility in India lastyear compared to 295 in 2001. ‘This is how businessworks, but the bad point is that this fierce competi-tion leaves less room for reinvestment within theindustry, because the margins with which the recy-clers are operating are very, very slim,’ explains Mr

Sharma, who was born close to Alang. A recent tripby officials from the IMO, ILO, Basel Conventionand the European Maritime Safety Agency broughtsome positive news when they expressed their sat-isfaction at safety and environmental standards atthe Alang recycling hub.

So would Mr Sharma be interested in joining arecycling body such as the recently-launchedInternational Ship Recyclers Association? ‘I believein co-operation,’ he says. However, he is concernedthat some people may claim that they want to beinclusive but are, in effect, working to promotethemselves. ‘But if they were to say “these are ourmembership criteria and we don’t care where youare from”, then I would say “yes”,’ he adds.



Ship recyclers group togetherDuring an inter-sessional meeting of IMO’s working group on ship recycling in

Nantes, France, the brand new International Ship Recycling Association (ISRA) haileditself as the voice of ‘green’ ship recycling companies.

‘Something had to be done to represent ship recycling companies, for instance, atIMO sessions where there is no common voice for ship recyclers,’ comments well-knownenvironmental lawyer Bernard Veldhoven who is acting as Secretary of ISRA. ‘Shiprecycling is a highly unorganised sector, and we don’t see any reason for that.’

The association aims to establish itself as a global grouping of responsible ship recy-clers. ‘This means they have to comply with IMO standards and the Basel Convention,’explains Mr Veldhoven at the ISRA secretariat headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands.Currently, a certification structure is being developed which would be conferred on mem-bers via independent inspection agencies. ‘Currently, we are applying to receive NGOstatus which will provide us with the possibility of speaking at IMO sessions,’ he adds.

The first companies to apply for ISRA membership include six ship recyclers fromTurkey, two from China, one from the Netherlands and one from the USA. At pre-sent, there are no member companies from the Indian sub-continent where most of thevessels are being broken. ISRA will look to attract members representing shipbreakingfacilities in these developing countries, ‘but to obtain a quality certification, theseyards must accept ISRA guidelines and be willing to make investments for upgradingtheir yards to the required level’, insists Mr Veldhoven. ‘We are very open to acceptingthem as members. The possibilities for environmentally sound shipbreaking in thesecountries are enormous.’

Besides acting as the self-styled ‘voiceof the ship recycling industry’, ISRAaims to share knowledge and new ideasin order to raise ship dismantling stan-dards. ‘We have instituted three work-ing groups - a standardisation group, anIMO group and a PR group whose objec-tive is to improve the image of the shiprecycling industry.’

www.isra-dis.com

e vessel trading with India GMS expects to havea large volume ofships to trade in thecoming years.

The ISRA Board, under Chairmanship of Ms Janice HuongonLi (second from the right) of Zhongxin Ship Recycling &Steel (China)

Global Marketing SystemsInc., Cumberland, Maryland,United States, Phone: +1 301 759 9240, Fax: +1 301 759 .9260, E-mail: [email protected]

www.gmsinc.net


IT’S HARD TO BE MODEST WHEN YOU MAKE

A GREAT MACHINE !That’s why we’re willing to stand behind them with thelongest warranty offered in the industry.

With state of the art design, manufacturing equipment,hydraulics, electrical components and along with over40 years experience you can expect the performanceand the reliability that your business demands.

H-P Model Shear: the enormous advantage of the,“Adjustable Angle” compression function, it’s extremelyeffective precompression of heavy and bulky scrap.This reduces compression time there by increasingproduction. “And isn’t that the bottom line”!

H-T Model Shear with the “classic parallel” sidecompression function.

H-L Model and H-S Mobile or Portable Shear-BalerLogger: have the “Dual-Wing” compression function.

GC-L-101: the high production Moros Mobile Baler.

GC-S Baler: the unique Moros design of this Three-Compression Baler eliminates jam-ups of material.

YOU OWE IT TO YOUR BOTTOM LINE TO CALL US BEFORE YOU BUY ANOTHER MACHINE

WE MAKE THE BESTMACHINES

IndustriasHidráulicas s.a.

Poligono Malpica, calle E, Nº 54-5550.016 ZARAGOZA – Spain

34 – 976 – 57 34 10 *Fax 34 – 976 – 57 23 54e-mail: [email protected]

Shear model H-P

Side Compression of H-T

Mobile Scrap Shear Baler H-S-630-A

“Angle Adjustable” of model H-P

GC-L-101 Mobile Baler

Scrap Baler GC-S-800-B

IndustriasHidráulicas s.a.

ELECTRONICS & BATTERYRECYCLING ’08

International Conference, Exhibition & Plant ToursJune 3–6, 2008, Toronto, Canada

www.icm.ch

P56.indd 1 26-02-2008 11:28:25

Asia’s shipbreakingnations fight for ships

ISO 30000 to assistship recyclers

The International Organization forStandardization (ISO) has launched thefirst document of a new series of man-agement system standards for the recy-cling of ships. The new ISO 30000 series,Ship recycling management systems, isdesigned to support environmental pro-tection and increase the safety of work-ers, and aims to provide assistance toorganisations implementing or improv-ing a ship recycling management systemthrough guidance on the allocation ofresources, assignment of responsibili-ties, and on-going evaluation of prac-tices, procedures and processes.

Captain Charles Piersall, Chairman ofthe ISO technical committee, says: ‘ISO30000 has been developed to assist stake-holders - large and small - in the uniformimplementation of the InternationalMaritime Organization’s requirements onship recycling. The series of standardswill increase transparency, facilitatetrade, provide a clear reference for indus-try and constitute a valuable risk assess-ment tool. These ISO standards can beused by any organisation and for ships ofall types and sizes, everywhere, employedin international and domestic tradesalike.’

According to the ISO, these standardswill be useful to, among others, the shiprecycling industry, shipyards, the ship-ping industries, ship owners, maritimeresearch institutes, maritime technologyuniversities, shipping ministries, navies,labour and environment bodies, portauthorities, classification societies andinspection agencies.

Developed with the co-operation of theIMO and other international organisa-tions, ISO 30000 will support and sup-plement the work of the IMOConventions, guidelines and regulations,and other requirements to be issued byIMO relating to ship recycling.

The new ISO 30000 series can beobtained from ISO national memberinstitutes or via www.iso.org



Leading recycling States in terms of ship numbers(ships > 499 GT)

0

100

200

300

400

500

India Bangladesh China Turkey Pakistan

1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006

Source: IMO / Nikos Mikelis

After years of declining figures, the shiprecycling industry seems set to step out of

the grave. According to statistics from theInternational Maritime Organization (IMO), abase was reached in 2005 when only 361 ships(499 gross tonnage) were sent for recycling - thelowest number since the 325 recorded in 1991.The size of these obsolete vessels was also thelowest in 15 years at an average of 71 000 grosstonnes while the average age of the shipsreached an all-time high of 32.7 years. But in2006, the number of ships dispatched for recy-cling increased to 386 - still with a low averageweight of 65 000 gross tonnes and an advancedaverage age of 32.6 years.

A factor contributing to these results is thephasing out of the world’s single-hull tankerfleet in line with international law. The low vol-ume and the high average age of the ships sentfor recycling are explained to a great extent bythe particularly buoyant state of the freightmarket in most shipping sectors, IMO SecretaryDr Nikos Mikelis notes in a statistical overview.

The small number of ships offered for recy-cling has driven up scrap metal prices, espe-cially because the demand is enormous. In June2007, scrap yards in Bangladesh - currently the

world’s largest shipbreaking nation - paid cargoship owners US$ 445 per tonne, and priceshave subsequently climbed far higher still.

Currently, there is fierce competitionbetween the largest ship recycling countries ofBangladesh, India and Pakistan. Bangladeshhas overtaken India in recent years as the lead-ing shipbreaker owing to its rival’s increasedregulations as well as its own lower labour andenvironmental fees, higher prices and excellentgeographical position. Bangladesh’s steel re-rolling mills are highly dependent on steel fromships, which is the main reason the countryoffers such competitive prices.

Pakistan’s ship recycling industry, which isbased mainly around the Gaddani shipbreak-ing beaches, has received fewer ships thanever in recent years, although media sourcesreported the beaching of seven single-hulltankers at Gaddani in January 2008.Pakistani shipbreakers’ lower prices owesomething to the extensive smuggling of scrapmetal between Russia and their own country.

The fifth-largest ship recycling nation (afterChina) is Turkey, but ‘this country is mainlyattracting smaller European trading ships,whose lower value does not cover economicallythe costs of the Suez canal transit and of thelonger voyage to, say, India,’ Mr Mikelisstates.

The report can be downloaded from the IMOwebsite: www.imo.org

Table 3 Recycling statistics(ships > 499 GT)

Year of Number ofrecycling ships2006 3862005 3612004 6152003 8742002 7402001 7722000 7061999 8291998 8011997 7351996 6721995 6491994 6941993 5491992 4501991 3251990 231Total 10,389


R emanufacturing is often defined as the recy-cling by manufacturing of ‘good-as-new-prod-

ucts’ from used products. There is a widely-estab-lished infrastructure around the world to take backparts, components, assemblies and complete prod-ucts that are damaged, broken, discarded or other-wise removed from service, and to restore them to‘like new’ condition and put them back into service.

The advantages of this process are many andinclude: reduction of waste; conservation of naturalresources; energy and water savings; and air pollu-tion reduction. An often-overlooked advantage isthe benefit to consumers and customers in that theycan obtain needed parts at reduced cost in order torepair products and equipment that it might nototherwise be possible to return economically to ser-vice. In a very direct way, this saves money for indi-viduals and businesses, extends the life of equip-ment and creates added value for old equipmentthat might otherwise be discarded or replaced.

Established infrastructure

Rolf Steinhilper, Chair of Manufacturing andRemanufacturing Technology at BayreuthUniversity in Germany, calls remanufacturing theultimate form of recycling in his book on remanu-facturing essentials. Indeed, the remanufacturinginfrastructure, which has been well established forover 60 years, brings a wide range of products andcomponents that might otherwise be scrapped backinto service and provides new life to automobiles,electronic products, industrial machines, construc-tion and other heavy equipment.

The five key steps to successful remanufacturingare: disassembly; cleaning; parts reconditioning orreplacement; reassembly; and testing. The cost of a

rebuilt part is normally 50% to 75% of that of a com-parable new one and customarily carries the samewarranty. As a result, use of rebuilt products inthe market has increased steadily for those itemsthat are rebuildable, and rebuilt parts enjoy a majormarket share.

Remanufacturing experts William Hauser andRobert Lund of Boston University in Boston,Massachusetts, USA, have defined criteria for the‘remanufacturability’ of parts and components, andthese include the following: technology exists torestore the product; the product is made up of stan-dard interchangeable parts; cost of core is low rela-tive to savings in product cost achieved throughcore reuse; product technology is stable over morethan one life cycle; and there is sufficient marketdemand to sustain the enterprise.

Messrs Hauser and Lund also estimated the eco-nomics of various product areas by grouping reman-ufacturing firms into sectors according to the type ofproducts they remanufacture. They were also ableto estimate the number of firms: the automotivesector is the largest at slightly more than 50 000;the electrical apparatus sector is next with approxi-mately 13 000 firms; and the toner cartridge reman-ufacturing sector, which experienced the mostexplosive growth in the 1990s, was estimated to


R E M A N U F A C T U R I N G

Estimated to be growing at annual rate of between 10 and 30%, the

global remanufacturing industry is claimed to save enough raw mate-

rials each year to fill 155 000 railroad cars. This article investigates

why remanufacturing has been dubbed the ultimate form of recycling.

Remanufacturing -a second life for

products

Remanufacturing of a car engine.

Even non-mechanical partscan be remanufactured.

A starter motor - one of the most commonlyremanufactured auto parts.

Electronic modules such as this are the futureof remanufacturing.

Richard T. Paul

RI_020 Remanufacturing:Opmaak 1 28-02-2008 11:46 Pagina 58

comprise 6500 firms although the extentof consolidation in this area over recentyears may have reduced this number sig-nificantly.

Impressive direct employment

As might be expected, the automotive sec-tor employs the most people at approxi-mately 330 000. Electrical apparatus firmsemploy nearly 50 000, toner cartridge firms30 000 and tyre retreaders slightly fewerthan 30 000. Direct employment by thesefirms is impressive; and if one were to addall the people not directly employed byremanufacturers - including suppliers, dis-tributors, retailers, installers and servicepeople whose incomes are dependent onremanufactured products - the total num-ber would be in the millions. In Professor Lund’s book, ‘The AmericanEdge: Leveraging Manufacturing’s HiddenAssets’, remanufacturing differs from recy-cling because remanufacturing ‘recycles’ thevalue originally added to the raw material.Professor Lund adds: ‘Remanufacturing dif-fers from recycling also, most importantly,because it makes a much greater economic

contribution per unit of product than does recycling.The essential difference arises in the recapture of val-ue added. Value added is the cost of labour, energyand manufacturing operations that are added to thebasic cost of raw materials in the manufacture of aproduct. For all but the most simple durable goods,value added is by far the largest element of cost.’

He continues by way of example: ‘Even in a prod-uct as simple as a beer bottle, the cost of the basicraw materials (sand, soda and lime) is much lessthan 5% of the cost of a finished bottle. The rest isvalue added. For a product such as an automobile,the value of the raw materials that can be recov-ered by recycling is only in the order of 1.5% of themarket value of the new car. Value added is embod-ied in the product. Recycling destroys that valueadded, reducing a product to its elemental value -its recoverable raw material constituents.’

Hundreds of remanufactured products

According to The Remanufacturing Institute(TRI), a global non-profit organisation providingsupport for the marketing efforts of the aftermarketremanufactured products community, there arehundreds of distinct products that are being reman-ufactured. The following is just a short list of someof these products: motor vehicle parts; office furni-

ture; compressors; electrical apparatus; vendingmachines; photocopiers; laser toner cartridges; datacommunication equipment; gaming machines;musical instruments; robots; aircraft parts; andbakery equipment.

A product is considered remanufactured by TRI if:* Its primary components come from a used product. * The used product is dismantled to the extent nec-

essary to determine the condition of its compo-nents.

* The used product’s components are thoroughlycleaned and made free from rust and corrosion.

* All missing, defective, broken or substantiallyworn parts are either restored to sound, function-ally good condition, or they are replaced withnew, remanufactured or sound, functionally goodused parts.

* To put the product in sound working condition,such machining, rewinding, refinishing or otheroperations are performed as necessary.

* The product is reassembled and a determinationis made that it will operate like a similar newproduct.

Research makes the case

Studies performed by the Massachusetts Instituteof Technology (MIT) in Boston concluded that:* About 50% of an original component (an automo-

tive starter, in this case) is recovered in the reman-ufacturing process. This can result in annual sav-ings in the USA of 51 500 tonnes of iron ore and6000 tonnes of copper and other metals.

* Rebuilt automotive engines require 50% of theenergy and 67% of the labour that is required toproduce new engines.

Meanwhile, research by the Fraunhofer Institutein Stuttgart, Germany, demonstrated that:* The yearly energy savings by remanufacturing

worldwide equates to the electricity generated byfive nuclear power plants or to 10 774 000 barrelsof crude oil which correspond to a fleet of 233 oil tankers.

* The yearly raw materials saved by remanufac-turing worldwide would fill 155 000 railroad cars.

Advanced technologies and tools

The National Center for Remanufacturing andResource Recovery (NC3R) is internationally recog-nised as a leading centre for applied research inremanufacturing. NC3R’s mission is to deliver toindustry advanced technologies and tools for effi-cient and cost-effective remanufacturing and thedesign of products that have no negative environ-mental impacts.



The Weller brothers - John, Chris, Paul and Skip.

Dynamometer testing at the Weller RemanCenter.

A remanufactured cylinder.(Photo: ArvinMeritor)


AR_1938.indd 1 15-02-2008 11:41:49

Currently, its research efforts address a widevariety of materials, products and industries includ-ing automotive parts, military equipment, officefurniture, construction equipment and cleaningtechniques. For example, it is evaluating materialsalvage of cast iron engine blocks by identifying theblocks’ material ageing process and then using tech-niques to identify the best welding procedure.

NC3R has also conducted a facility-planning pro-ject for a carburettor and fuel injection remanufac-turer to increase the capacity and efficiency of itsproduction process by moving to a larger facility.The Operational Assistance Team at NC3R devel-oped a plan that included better material handlingmethods, a much more efficient production layout,lower travel distance, an improved work environ-ment and higher capacity.

Saving costs

NC3R offers the following statistics about recy-cling and remanufacturing which corroborate factsfrom other sources mentioned in this article:* Just by remanufacturing office furniture rather

than buying it new, US business could avoid US$ 93 million in disposal costs and small com-panies could save 30-50% in purchasing costs.

* Remanufacturing businesses employ 480 000people per year.

* A survey of remanufacturing companies foundthat over 80% had training programmes and thataverage annual expenditures on these amountedto more than US$ 30 000 per company.

* Purchasing a remanufactured product can costconsumers 50 to 75% less than a new product.

* Today’s furniture recyclers contribute more thanUS$ 1.2 billion to the US$ 13.6 billion commer-cial furniture industry.

* Annual energy savings resulting from remanufac-turing activities worldwide is 120 trillion Btus,which equals the electricity generated by eightnuclear power plants or 16 million barrels of crudeoil (about 350 tankers).

Weller Reman Center

One of the most successful remanufacturing com-panies in the USA is the Weller Reman Center inGrand Rapids, Michigan. This heavy-duty drivetrain specialist remanufactures hundreds of differ-ent models of transmissions, transfer cases, gear-boxes, pumps, differentials, drive shafts and clutch-es from dozens of manufacturers.

The Weller Reman Center is a new business unitof Weller Automotive which started in 1928 whenHarry Weller, a body shop owner, realised the value



Richard Paul is an independent automotive

consultant, based inRochester, Minnesota, USA.

He can be contacted at phone: +1 248-651-2967 or

E-mail:[email protected]

of recycled parts and bought a piece of property inMuskegon, Michigan, to store part-damaged vehi-cles. The small business thrived so he decided tomove to nearby Grand Rapids in 1949.

At about this time, his son Harry Weller II -known locally as Junior - was returning from mili-tary service and went to work for his dad. By 1960,Junior had purchased the business from his fatherand was already planning for expansion.

In 1973, Junior opened Weller Truck Parts, alsoin Grand Rapids, which quickly grew into an indus-try leader. Junior ran the auto and truck operationwith his four sons - Skip, John, Chris and Paul -until 1984 when the boys purchased both divisionsfrom him. Since that time, the Weller brothers haveexpanded the business to include five auto partslocations, three ‘repairables’ locations, 14 trucklocations and four truck parts distribution centresserving the USA and the international market.

Weller’s customers include owners and operatorsof specialty trucks, construction equipment and oth-er light to heavy duty equipment. Its remanufac-tured components are produced at two manufactur-ing sites employing over 500 people. These state-of-the-art facilities include over 120 workstations forproduction and testing utilising both conventionaland specialty equipment to disassemble, clean,recondition, reassemble and test-drive train com-ponents for heavy equipment. The two plant sitesencompass over 240 000 square feet (22 300 squaremetres) that is impeccably maintained, well organ-ised and accommodating a very large inventory.

The largest and latest plant was completed in theyear 2000 and features up-to-date equipment fortesting and quality control, including dynamometers,valve body testers and balancers for drive shafts.

A bright future

The future of remanufacturing is very bright. Lastyear, Stefan Freiberger of Bayreuth University sug-

Bush promotes remanufacturingEven US President George W. Bush is promoting

remanufacturing. In support of the agreement by G8members for an Action Plan on Science andTechnology for Sustainable Development adopted atEvian in France, President Bush encouraged moreefficient use of resources and materials. Bush’sAdministration says it will seek to ‘reduce barri-ers to the international flow of goods and mate-rials for recycling and remanufacturing, recy-cled and remanufactured products, and clean-er, more efficient technologies’.

gested in his presentation to theSociety of Automotive EngineersInternational in Detroit, Michigan,USA, that the industry is growingat a rate of 10-30% each year. Amajor focus of that growth, accord-ing to Mr Freiberger, will be theremanufacturing of mechatronicsand electronics for automotiveapplications. These are the elec-tronic control units (ECUs), instru-ment clusters and numerous otherelectronic components used to con-trol and display a variety of enginefunctions and other systems innew vehicles. He estimates thatthere are over 80 ECUs in many ofthe newest cars. Remanufactureof these components will be thepreferred way to reduce warranty,repair and service costs.


R icardo Ibánez’s future seems assured: all he hasto do is look over the fence around his facility to

see that there will be more than enough agriculturalplastic for him to recycle in the coming years.

Ibacplast, a family-owned company specialisingin the recycling of plastic bags and agriculturalplastic, is located in the heart of the world’s largestcontinuous area of greenhouse farming. This ‘oceanof plastic’ covers the coastal region of the Spanishprovince of Almería, hidden in the eastern section ofAndalusia. This semi-arid area is by far thewarmest region in Europe, making it an ideal placein winter for cultivating the fresh vegetables need-ed to satisfy Western Europe’s hunger for suchproducts. As a result, the area covered by plasticgreenhouses has grown explosively over the last 30 years and now covers roughly 26 000 hectares.

‘Hideous - all these greenhouses,’ says Mary, whois travelling for a year around Europe with her hus-band Nick. These two Aussies have fled from thebad weather in Ireland to enjoy some sun inAlmería. Her perspective on the greenhouses justproves once again that, as the saying goes, ‘beautyis in the eye of the beholder’. After all, these‘hideous’ greenhouses produce tons of fresh vegeta-bles and have brought such economic prosperity tothe area that local inhabitants undoubtedly viewthem in a more friendly light.

The greenhouses also produce end-of-life plastics:once considered a waste to be burned or dumped inthe nearest ravine, these are now considered to be avaluable secondary raw material.

P L A S T I C S R E C Y C L I N G


Rising oil prices have led to increased interest in the recycling of

plastics. Firms processing plastic granulate are scouring the world

for the best and cheapest sources of such materials. As Recycling

International discovered, the success of greenhouse farming in

southern Spain has made available for recycling enormous quanti-

ties of end-of-life agricultural plastic.

By Lydia Heida

Bumper plastics crop harvested for recycling

Agricultural plastic is blotting the landscapein the Spanish province of Almería.

Juan de Dios Mellado, one of the three share-holders of Denplax.

Ricardo Ibánez of Spanish plastics recycling company Ibacplast.

RI_049 Plastic RI SPAIN:Opmaak 1 28-02-2008 11:55 Pagina 62

Burning sun

Thanks to the ever-increasing price of oil, end-of-life plastics are no longer something to be dumpedor destroyed. You might therefore expect that firmsengaged in plastics recycling are raking in the mon-ey. But Ricardo Ibánez is not exactly jumping forjoy. ‘Plastic commands a higher price nowadays, butit’s also more expensive to purchase, so our profitremains about the same,’ he notes.

As Mr Ibánez shows us around the storage areaof his manufacturing facility, he points to the largeheaps of plastic piled up everywhere and says: ‘Thisis not the best place in the world to store money.’The sun, which burns down here even in winter,isn’t exactly plastic’s best friend.

But as Mr Ibánez explains, he needs to keep asufficient stock of plastic on hand in order to meethis monthly production quota. ‘After all, I can’t sim-ply walk into a store and buy the end-of-life plastic Ineed,’ he remarks drily. ‘I’m dependent on what thegreenhouse farmers here can supply me with, orwhat I can purchase.’

Shipping to the USA

A few kilometres further along the road that linksIbacplast to the nearby town of El Ejido, we comeacross another company with a huge appetite forend-of-life plastic - Denplax. Here also, forklift trucksare busy feeding the factory with discarded agricul-tural plastic and used bags. But instead of the plasticgranulate produced by Ibacplast, this facility recy-cles plastic into a kind of fine plastic litter.

Juan de Dios Mellado, who represents one of thethree shareholders of Denplax, places two small bagscontaining recycled plastic litter on the conferencetable in his office. One of them is a sample of darkgrey material made from a mixture of plastic bagsand agricultural plastic. The other sample is whiteand contains only agricultural plastic. Last year, thefacility produced about 15 000 tonnes of the stuff.

All this recycled plastic is shipped to Denplax’sUS partner Trex - one of the many companiessearching the world for end-of-life plastic. During atransatlantic phone call, Trex’s Executive VicePresident Harry Monahan tells us: ‘Spain is defi-nitely a rich source for us, but potentially so areCanada, Mexico, Central and South America, andthe Pacific.’ Indeed, Trex has already set up a smallpilot plant in the Pacific region.

In the USA, Virginia is where Trex has its homebase, but it also operates a manufacturing facility inNevada. At both locations, recycled plastic andhardwood sawdust roll into the factory and comeout in the form of plastic wood. After both ingredi-

ents are combined, the end product still looks likewood but has been given many of the beneficialproperties of plastic. It won’t rot, won’t splinter andnever needs to be painted.

In spite of the on-going housing crisis in the USA,Trex expects to sell roughly 50 million tonnes ofplastic wood in the coming year. It has the highestturnover of any producer of plastic wood in theworld. Mr Monahan observes: ‘We have a marketshare of 35% to 40%. No other company in our sec-tor comes near to us in terms of size.’

Chinese invasion?

There are, of course, other prospective buyers forthe end-of-life plastics. As elsewhere, this sector isfull of rumours about a Chinese ‘invasion’. But MrMonahan questions the important role assigned bysome to the Chinese. ‘Every now and then, Chinaenters the market, but they don’t tend to stickaround,’ he says. ‘The Chinese are primarily inter-ested in finding the cheapest material they can buy,such as post-consumer plastic. In other words: plas-tic bags.’

In addition, Mr Monahan is not all that botheredabout the effect of rising oil prices on the purchaseprice of plastic and on the transport costs. But he isclearly concerned about the ability of Denplax toobtain a continuous supply of raw material. Duringthe most recent public auction of plastic bags collect-ed by the government, the company was not able topurchase as much material as in previous years.

As a result, Trex will receive less plastic this yearthan in the past. In addition, the management teamat Denplax would like to convert some of the green-house plastic into granulate and sell it on the freemarket. ‘That could be quite a bit more lucrative forus,’ explains Mr Mellado. But for Mr Monahan,these plans represent less-than-welcome news.



The world’s largest continuous area ofgreenhouse farming, a virtual ‘ocean of plas-tic’ covers the coastal region of the Spanishprovince of Almería, hidden in the easternsection of Andalusia.

Large heaps of plastic in the storage area ofIbacplast.

Inside a greenhouse in Spain.

With sales of around 50 million tonnes peryear, Denplax’s US partner Trex is the world’sbiggest producer of plastic wood.


M&J Industries A/SVejlevej 5 DK - 8700 HorsensDenmarkTel.: +45 7626 6400 Fax: +45 7626 6401 E-mail: [email protected]

Shred - Tear - ReduceWith the mighty M&J Shredder

� Household waste

� Mixed waste

� Bulky waste

� Carpets and mattresses

� Industrial waste

� Stumps and roots

� Demolition wood

� Railway sleepers

� Cable drums

� Bales with metal wire

� Refrigerators

� Dead animals (BSE)

� Hazardous waste

More than 20 years’ product develop-

ment has created the success of our

shredders. Their strength, reliability and

power makes them the first choice for

major installations throughout Europe.

All our machines are based on a paten-

ted technology ensuring:

� A perfect shredding

� High efficiency and reliability

in operation

� Low wear costs

� Service reduced to a minimum

Our shredders are available both as

static as well as mobile units – and are

used in incineration plants, transfer sta-

tions, landfill sites, mechanical-biologi-

cal treatment plants, sorting/recycling

plants, slaughterhouses, and contrac-

tors.

For further information, please visit us

at: www.mj.dk

or contact us on: [email protected]

AR_1676:Opmaak 1 01-05-2007 13:05 Pagina 1

exporter of the ‘plastico’ concept. According toANAIP, the Spanish association of plastic manufac-turers, Spain is now one of the most important plas-tics-producing countries in the world, manufactur-ing almost 3.3 million tonnes in 2004. Leading buy-ers were Turkey and Morocco, with significantquantities also going to Mexico.

In all three of these countries, vegetable farminghas been carried out increasingly under plastic overthe last decade. In Turkey, greenhouses cover anarea of roughly 14 000 hectares while estimates forMorocco range from 10 000 to 19 000 hectares. InMexico, greenhouses are said to occupy some 9000hectares.

‘This sector is growing spectacularly,’ says Pieterde Rijk, Attaché for the Dutch Agricultural Councilin Mexico. ‘Between 2005 and 2006, the area con-cerned has doubled.’ This raises the question ofwhether these areas will quickly expand to becomeas big as the greenhouse area in the Spanishprovince of Almería. In the wake of the increasingsuccess of the ‘plasticos’, a solution will have to befound for the end-of-life materials they leavebehind. Until now, recycling efforts in these coun-tries have been fairly limited.

According to Mr De Rijk, around 10% to 15% ofagricultural plastic is being recycled in Mexico. InMorocco, the situation is not much better, accordingto various experts.

U ur I in, Assistant to the Dutch AgriculturalCouncil in Turkey, describes recycling there as‘peanuts’. He goes on to note: ‘Some plastics manu-facturers collect the old plastic to make new plastic.But generally speaking, the farmers simply don’tknow what to do with it when it has to be replaced.It’s a real problem.’



Massive potential in Spain

But there is a lot more end-of-life plastic avail-able in the Spanish market. Spain is one of thelargest consumers of agricultural plastic in Europe.In 2004, the country purchased roughly 95 000tonnes of plastic for crop protection - equivalent to23.6% of the total volume used in all of Europe forthat purpose, according to the National Plan for therecycling of agricultural plastic (2007-2015) pre-pared by the Spanish government.

Each year, about one third of all the plastic usedfor covering crops needs to be replaced. This takesplace in the hottest months of the year - around Julyand August - when cultivation activities are at aminimum. Mulching plastic needs to be replacedmore often: once per crop cycle or about twice a year.

To increase the percentage of agricultural plasticbeing recycled, the National Plan devotes a greatdeal of attention to mulching plastic. This type ofplastic is so thin that it is difficult to process mechan-ically. It melts very quickly such that the blades ofthe processing equipment quickly end up gettingstuck in it. Chemical recycling techniques could solvethis problem and also have the additional advantageof being able to process materials mixed with largequantities of extraneous waste. Mulching plastic isgenerally mixed with a great deal of soil.

The National Plan also advocates an approachwhereby various types of raw plastic are mixedtogether to ensure that the resulting recycled plas-tic meets the specific requirements of the productfor which it is intended. Another option is to rein-force the plastic with cellulose. Suitable marketswould have to be found for the various types of recy-cled plastic. In mechanically processing the end-of-life plastic, it would also help to melt it into granu-late as it would then be easier to sell. In this regard,Denplax is apparently acting very much in line withthe wishes of the Spanish government.

Spectacular growth

As a result of the enormous success of greenhousefarming in Spain, the country has become an

A skid steer loader is feeding the Denplax factory with discarded agricultural plastic andused bags.

Quality and safety control at the Denplax facility. The start of the granulation process at Denplax.

The storage yard of Denplax.

A truck with big bags of plastic granulate atIbacplast.


T he year 2006 produced some notable firsts forthe plastics recycling sector. In Europe, recov-

ery of post-consumer, end-of-life plastics reached50% following an increase of three percentagepoints over 2005 - the first time ever that recoveryhad matched disposal. And in the USA, recoveredPET bottle exports broke new ground in exceedingdomestic consumption.

Some 4.5 million tonnes - or 19.7% - of Europe’spost-consumer plastics were subjected to materialrecycling (a category including mechanical andfeedstock recycling) compared to 18% in 2005, whilethe energy recovery share jumped from 29% to30.3% - equivalent to approximately 7 milliontonnes - over the same comparative period, accord-ing to ‘The Compelling Facts about Plastics’. This isan annual report on production, demand and recov-ery trends in Europe released by trade associationPlasticsEurope, whose member companies areresponsible for more than 90% of the continent’spolymer production.

Although the quantity of post-consumer plasticsclimbed 1 million tonnes - or 4% - compared to 2005,increased recovery meant the quantity going tolandfill fell 1% to 11.5 million tonnes.

Cross-border movements

Within Europe, there are significant cross-bordermovements of material for recycling: for example,the proportion of imported material treated by recy-clers in Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlandsis in the range of 35 to 45%. Exports of post-con-sumer plastics from the EU-25, Norway andSwitzerland increased by 25% in 2006 to an estimat-ed 500 000 tonnes, representing 12% of all materialcollected for recycling.

The collection rate for mechanical recycling ofpost-consumer plastics increased by 2.5 percentagepoints to 19.1% in 2006 - an increase of 700 000tonnes to give a total of 4.4 million tonnes for theEU-25, Norway and Switzerland. This increase wasfuelled by higher polymer prices as well asimproved collection and sorting technology, accord-ing to the PlasticsEurope report.

Some 40% of all PET bottles available for collec-tion - equivalent to around 1.1 million tonnes - wererecycled in 2006, with recycling rates in excess of90% being recorded in countries with deposit sys-tems. Meanwhile, recycling of PVC window and win-dow-related profiles leapt 84% from 20 000 tonnes in2005 to some 37 000 tonnes the following year.

Energy recovery boost

Energy recovery capacity has been added as a con-sequence of the implementation of the EU’s LandfillDirective. More than three quarters of post-con-sumer material in Switzerland, Denmark, Germanyand Sweden is treated in energy recovery plants,while Austria, the Netherlands and Belgium are allachieving rates of around 60%, according toPlasticsEurope. And there is growing recognition in,for example, the Republic of Ireland and the UK thatenergy recovery capacity should be increased, saysthe report, ‘but the planning process is complex andprotracted and planning permission is frequentlycontested by NGOs and local interest groups’.

By contrast, feedstock recycling was significantlyreduced in 2006, with investment in European facil-ities remaining limited. ‘One interesting recentdevelopment has been the use of an integrated non-ferrous metal smelter for the treatment of WEEEplastics which have precious metal content,’ the

P L A S T I C S


Milestone momentsin plastics

recycling history

By Ian Martin

Two separate statistical analyses,

one published in Europe and the

other in the USA, serve to underline

the dynamic and international nature

of the plastics recycling sector.

Both focusing on developments in

2006, the reports reveal significant

increases in the collection of

post-consumer plastics on both

sides of the Atlantic, as well as

unabated export activity.

In Europe, some 40% of all PET bottlesavailable for collection - equivalent toaround 1.1 million tonnes - were recycledin 2006.

An interesting recent development has beenthe use of an integrated non-ferrous metalsmelter for the treatment of WEEE plasticswhich have precious metal content.

RI_005 W Plastic Update 06:Opmaak 1 28-02-2008 11:37 Pagina 66

report explains. ‘Again, the plastics in used wiringboards act as a reducing agent. Successful trialswere also held in Sweden and Belgium. It is likelythat this will be replicated at other integrated non-ferrous metal smelting installations.’

US export phenomenon

Across the Atlantic, the PET bottle recycling rateincreased for the third consecutive year in 2006 to23.5%. This was also the first year in which more ofthe PET bottles collected for recycling went to exportmarkets than stayed in the USA, according to a mar-ket overview compiled by the National Associationfor PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) and TheAssociation of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers (APR).

However, the report goes on to suggest that, ulti-mately, ‘depending on and allowing foreign marketsto harvest the value of a recyclable such as PET bot-tles does not make good sense’. It continues:‘Particularly as the issue of sustainability contin-ues to gain attention and focus, the notion of mov-ing bottles all over the world based on currency val-ues will be increasingly hard to justify. Yet, if theprocessing capacity does not exist, where are thebottles to go? The question of why the US reclama-tion industry has been eroding during the last fewyears is perplexing, particularly when these yearshave been among the most profitable.’

Collection jumps 9%

In the USA, a total of 5.424 billion pounds of PETbottles and jars were available for recovery in 2006(+7% versus 2005) while the amount of post-con-sumer PET bottles collected for recycling was 1.272billion pounds - an increase of 9% over 2005. Of thislatter total, US reclaimers purchased 619 millionpounds and export markets 618 million pounds; afurther 35 million pounds was the PET bottle com-ponent of mixed bale exports, with a significantfraction going to India. While purchases by domes-tic reclaimers fell 62 million pounds, the exporttotal was a massive 170 million pounds higher in2006. Destinations for this material includedChina, Canada, Vietnam and India.

The growth in overall recovered volumes hasbeen ascribed in part to: a leap of 42 million poundsin the California collection total; the installation ofan additional 26 automated sorting units through-out the USA; and additional commercial recoveryefforts.

Domestic purchases were supplemented byimports totalling 97 million pounds, including 40.5million from Canada, 36.8 million from Mexico, andthe balance from Central and South America.Almost 59% of these imports were in the form of‘dirty flake’, according to NAPCOR. Chineseexporters’ and domestic companies’ continuinginvestments in ‘sort and grind’ facilities resulted in‘a pronounced increase in the amount of post-con-sumer bottles purchased by reclaimers andexporters in the form of dirty flake rather thanbales’, according to the report. ‘A full 19.6% of USbottles collected eventually found their way to mar-kets in the form of dirty flake in 2006.’

Lower clean flake capacity

Total capacity among US reclamation plants pro-ducing clean flake fell around 100 million poundsto 817 million pounds in 2006. Around 65% of thiscapacity was used to produce own-consumptionmaterial for the manufacture of carpet, strapping,bottles or sheet, while the remainder was madeavailable to the merchant market.

Use of recycled PET by US converters was barelychanged in 2006 at 855 million pounds. Of thistotal, US reclaimers satisfied 75% of the totaldemand (641 million pounds), with 523 million com-ing from US bottles, 69 million from post-consumerbottle imports, and 49 million from alternative feed-stock. Canadian reclaimers supplied a further 127million pounds and the balance came from, amongothers, reclaimers in South America, CentralAmerica, Europe, India, Mexico and China.

P L A S T I C S


* ‘The Compelling Factsabout Plastics’ was producedby PlasticsEurope in partner-ship with European Plastics

Converters (EuPC), theEuropean Plastics Recyclers(EuPR) and the European

Association of PlasticsRecycling and RecoveryOrganisations (EPRO).

It can be downloaded via:www.plasticseurope.org

* For further details of the US statistics, visit:

www.napcor.com orwww.plasticsrecycling.org

In 2006, some 4.5 million tonnes - or 19.7% -of Europe’s post-consumer plastics were sub-jected to material recycling.

Use of recycled PET by US converters wasbarely changed in 2006 at 855 million pounds.

RI_005 W Plastic Update 06:Opmaak 1 28-02-2008 11:37 Pagina 67

Amajor step forward has been taken with thepowder impression moulding (PIM) process,

which can put a wide range of end-of-life materialsto valuable further use.

London-based Environmental RecyclingTechnologies (ERT), which owns the worldwideintellectual property rights to the process, last yeargranted a flat board production licence to fellow UKfirm Environmental Polymer Technologies Ltd(EPT). And since September, the latter has beenmanufacturing a product known as Reco Board at afacility in Bedwas, South Wales. Production wasdue to be stepped up from 16 to 24 hours per day atthe end of February this year, around which timeEPT was aiming to install a second line to doublecapacity to around 1200 boards per week.

The Reco Board core comprises typically 40%rubber crumb from tyres as well as agricultural,municipal and clinical wastes. The skin is made upof agricultural plastics as well as ‘WEEE directivematerials’, explains EPT’s Managing Director PeterAylmore, who was responsible for acquiring thePIM technology from the USA at the start of theMillennium. The technology ‘has been adapted toutilise large volumes of co-mingled recycled materi-als’, he adds. ‘It doesn’t rely on having a singlestream.’

The clinical waste component is supplied byEPT’s sister company Medical Waste Solutions,which is also based in the UK. The latter operates arotoclave system whereby a pressure vessel with arotating internal drum accepts medical waste mate-rials in unopened containers and subjects them toagitation, heat and moisture such that all the con-tents come into contact with sterilising steam.

Advantageous properties

Reco Board offers impact resistance, acoustic andthermal advantages, according to Mr Aylmore.Potential applications include easy-clean boards foruse in animal housing and sheds, as well as acousticprotection between layers of concrete. He also empha-sises: ‘EPT offers to buy back the board at the end ofits life against the cost of purchasing new material, soit should never end up in landfill. We have closed theloop as it goes straight back into the manufacturingprocess as a percentage of new production.’

Mr Aylmore expects all production from theBedwas operation to be absorbed within the UK butsees scope for manufacturing facilities to be estab-lished in other countries. He insists: ‘We would behappy to license the technology and product range.’

Eco Sheet licence

Meanwhile, ERT has also granted a productionlicence to 2K Manufacturing Ltd of HemelHempstead, England, for the manufacture of EcoSheet - a recycled plastic board which has won fourenvironmental awards including Building Magazine’sSustainability 2007 Award for Innovative Technologyas well as the 2007 Chartered Institute of Building’saward for innovation.

2K plans to develop several production plants inthe UK and mainland Europe over the next fiveyears. Indeed, the company has engaged PhoenixCorporate Finance Partners LLP to assist inarranging funding for ‘ambitious growth plans forproduction of PIM products in a multi-site strategybased upon regional demand pockets for productsacross the UK’. The first production facility isexpected to come on stream in late 2008 or early2009 and will be located ‘probably in east London’.

T E C H N O L O G Y


A board product composed of a wide mix of recovered materials -

including clinical waste and rubber crumb from used tyres - has been

developed using the powder impression moulding (PIM) process.

Although production commenced only late last summer, new capac-

ity is already being added to cope with anticipated demand. And as

Recycling International discovered, this is not the only product to be

derived from the PIM route.

By Ian Martin

Production boost f

The PIM process can utilise mixed plasticwaste with a high level of contaminants suchas paper or soil as a raw material feed stock.

Installing a Reco board.

The Reco Board core comprises typically 40%rubber crumb from tyres as well as agricultur-al, municipal and clinical wastes. The skin ismade up of agricultural plastics as well as e-scrap materials.

or innovative P

RI_058 Environm Rec Techn:Opmaak 1 28-02-2008 16:09 Pagina 68

According to current plans, annual capacity will be8000 to 10 000 tonnes depending on the thickness ofthe Eco Sheet product.

Excellent fixing properties

Developed by ERT in conjunction with BovisLend Lease and Land Securities, Eco Sheet uses upto 85% mixed recycled plastics to form a board viathe PIM process. Also lending itself to hoard-ings/fencing applications, the board is said to offerexcellent fixing properties when using screws andnails, and does not absorb water. The product canalso be used for the moulds used on building sitesinto which concrete is poured.

It was in January last year that 2K entered intoits first licence agreement with what is now ERT forthe manufacture of automotive components usingPIM as part of the Zurban initiative sponsored bythe Dutch government, the aim of which is to pro-duce a zero emissions light commercial vehicle basedon a cradle-to-cradle manufacturing philosophy.

According to 2K, the PIM process is capable ofyielding highly complex composite thermoplasticproducts for a potentially enormous and diverserange of applications. Key advantages are said toinclude: fewer manufacturing stages between rawmaterials and finished product; reduced assemblytimes through moulding with embedded compo-nents; good thermal and sound insulation; and rotand degradation resistance.

Replacement for plywood

‘The target market is to replace plywood in exter-nal temporary applications in the constructionindustry,’ comments ERT’s Chief Executive OfficerNiall MacKay. ‘The Eco Sheet can not only be

reused more times than plywoodbut it is also fully recyclable.’

And he adds: ‘We now have notone but two quite different recycledboards developed using the PIMprocess. The market for sheetmaterial in the construction indus-try is substantial and there ispotential for other products manu-factured using PIM. We are confi-dent that our partners at 2KManufacturing and EPT will beable to take these products success-fully to market.’

T E C H N O L O G Y


The PIM processIn the PIM process, mixed waste plastics with up to 20% non-polymer contamination

can be used to form high-value products. A polymer-rich powder is applied to the heated surfaces of an open mould to form a

skin comprising either recycled plastics or virgin material. A second mix of ‘core’ mate-rial incorporating a chemical blowing agent is then applied. The mould is closed andheated to activate the blowing agent and to form a closed-cell foam between the skinmaterial. The mould is then cooled and the product taken out. Several moulds are usedon a carousel-based production line.

‘Products with a virgin skin but recycled polymer cores can be made, so the productappears to be brand new to the consumer,’ explains ERT’s Chief Executive OfficerNiall MacKay. ‘As an open book mould is used in the process, the two skins can be dif-ferent colours or have different properties. As the skins are thin, typically 1.5 to 2mm, the amount of expensive additives such as colours can be minimised. Moulds aremade from aluminium making them relatively lower cost when compared to otherplastics processes. No external pressure is applied in the process; the powder polymeris melted and moulded in situ.’

EPT explains: ‘The PIM process allows for the manufacturing of very large parts andthe thermoplastic skins on either side of the mouldings can be made of varying thick-nesses, plus the core can be manufactured either of recycled or virgin foam, therebycreating a thermoplastic composite structure. The resulting product is very light andvery strong, and the unique use of thermoplastic materials, particularly recycled mate-rials, enables costs to be signifi-cantly lower than those parts man-ufactured in alternative processes.’

For more information:ERT Environmental, London, UK Polymer Technologies, Semly, Shaftsbury, UKPhone: +44 207 692 7002 Phone: +44 1747 830810Fax: +44 207 692 7003 Fax. +44 1747 830810E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] www.epteurope.com

or visit: www.medicalwastesolutions.co.uk or www.2kmanufacturing.info

Flow sheet of the PIM process comparing it totraditional plastics waste disposal systems

ve PIM process

RI_058 Environm Rec Techn:Opmaak 1 28-02-2008 14:38 Pagina 69

Over the years, a number of studies have under-lined the benefits of the used clothing trade to

people in the developing world. And further evi-dence of its power to transform lives has come inthe form of a business involving organisations inthe UK and a company in Senegal, West Africa.

Reusable goods are collected, part-sorted andprocessed into large bales in the UK and thenshipped to a warehouse in Colobane, a district ofthe Senegalese capital Dakar. Here, they undergofurther sorting and are converted into smaller balesready for sale to local traders via a shop set up bypartners in the venture, which is known as FripEthique Sarl or Ethical Used Clothing.

In Senegal itself, the venture has created directemployment for 26 people, many of whom are singlemothers who would otherwise struggle to find full-time jobs. They are paid around three times theaverage wage for people working in the same mar-ket, and also have their medical insurance and oth-er costs covered. Indeed, it has been estimated thatthe creation of this enterprise has immeasurablyimproved standards of living for 60 families and atotal of around 450 people.

Uplifting experience

‘When I go there, my heart is truly lifted,’ commentsNick Francis, one of the venture’s leading lights and aman with 46 years’ experience of the recycling indus-try. ‘It is a very happy and a very willing workforce,and they are delighted with their lot. In fact, there is ahuge waiting list of people wanting to be part of thisventure, which has a very high profile in the area.’

Enthusiasm for the venture has been so greatthat, during a recent visit to celebrate the firstanniversary of Frip Ethique, Mr Francis and otherkey personnel from the UK were made honorary cit-izens in a ceremony performed by the Mayor ofColobane. At the same event, one of the company’semployees in Senegal, Awa Kane Diallo, thankedlead organisations ECT and Oxfam for ‘giving usthe opportunity to work with a good salary, allow-ing us to have a decent life - not just to survive butto take proper care of our children and our families’.

Background to the enterprise

The roots of this two-continent enterprise can betraced back to a conference in Manchester, UK,some four years ago at which a representative froma social enterprise organisation in Italy spoke aboutthe selling of pre-sorted used textiles to Senegal.Mr Francis was attending the meeting in his capac-ity as a senior manager of London-based socialenterprise company ECT; also present were repre-sentatives of Oxfam - the long-established develop-ment, relief and campaigning organisation thatworks with others to overcome poverty and suffer-ing around the world. ‘At that time,’ explains MrFrancis, ‘Oxfam was sponsoring efforts to findwhere reusable clothing could be sent without dis-turbing existing clothing manufacturers, and partsof francophone West Africa were identified as areaswhere they welcomed Western clothing.’

With the demise of the Italian social enterpriseoperation in Senegal, Mr Francis and Oxfam rep-resentatives decided to establish a joint venture

T E X T I L E R E C Y C L I N G


If you want to work for the Frip Ethique company in Senegal, be pre-

pared to join a lengthy queue of applicants. The business, which

sorts and markets used clothing from the UK, has already created a

huge amount of goodwill among the people of Colobane, a district of

the Senegalese capital Dakar. And once the concept has become

truly embedded, the venture’s lead organisations may well look to

replicate its success elsewhere.

By Ian Martin

Textiles tradetransforms lives

in Senegal

Reusable goods are collected, part-sortedand processed into large bales in the UK andthen shipped to Senegal.

The logo of ECT and Oxfam’s Senegalese part-ner Frip Ethique Sarl or Ethical Used Clothing.

RI_040 Textiles Senegal:Opmaak 1 28-02-2008 11:52 Pagina 70

with a company in Senegal. Rudi Vanlangenaecker,an ECT employee born to Belgian parents inSenegal, spent three months in his homeland mak-ing preparations for the launch of Frip Ethiquewhich took place in September 2006.

‘The first step was to set up the shop in Colobanewhich sold imported finished bales of textiles fromOxfam Wastesavers’ processing plant inHuddersfield (England),’ explains Mr Francis.‘Simultaneously, we identified a warehouse andimported a second-hand hydraulic textile balingpress which was installed in April 2007.’

Current operations

With these building blocks in place, the venturehas developed rapidly and inspired ‘astonishinggoodwill’ at local level, according to Mr Francis.

Used clothing collected mainly through estab-lished Oxfam channels is partially sorted to ensurethat the content of the exported half-tonne bales

corresponds to market demand in Senegal. ‘We takeout items that are not appropriate to the Africanmarket such as heavy overcoats,’ he explains. ‘Themost popular items are cotton shirts and dresses,T-shirts and jeans - and best of all, football shirtswith “Beckham” on the back.’

When the large bales reach the facility inColobane, they are broken up and sorted on tablesinto 45 grades of used clothing. On an average day,the operation produces 75 bales weighing 45 kgapiece which are marketed through the shop tolocal traders who sell the goods on their own stalls.

Looking to the future

At the outset, Oxfam was particularly enthusias-tic about the opportunity to create employment forsingle mothers or for other people who would other-wise find difficulty in obtaining full-time work. Justover a year later in the Frip Ethique warehouse,four men are employed for the heavy lifting taskswhile the rest of the 21 non-management and non-retail staff are female.

Noting that Frip Ethique has recently begun togenerate profits, Mr Francis confirms that Oxfamwill use these revenues ‘to support its many pro-grammes in Africa’ while ECT intends to ‘re-investin other projects’ on the same continent. ‘But wewant to make sure that all aspects of the businessare right before we look at expanding in Senegal orperhaps at expanding elsewhere, and later this yearwe will be looking to develop a three- to five-yearstrategy,’ he continues. ‘Both ECT and Oxfam havebeen really pleased with the Frip Ethique ventureand we want to do more of this.’

T E X T I L E R E C Y C L I N G


ECT and Oxfam Founded in 1979 as Ealing Community Transport, ECT focused initially on provid-

ing good-quality social transport for the old, young and disabled of the London boroughfrom which it took its name. The organisation has since diversified into a number oftotally unrelated areas, including rail maintenance and even a doctor’s surgery. Nowturning over around £55 million (US$ 110 million) per annum, recycling collectionsaccount for some 80% of ECT’s interests. The organisation’s Chief Executive StephenSears was named ‘Social Entrepreneur of the Year’ for 2006.

Nick Francis, meanwhile, became involved with ECT shortly before retiring from aUK recycling industry which he had joined as an 18 year old in 1962. As the head ofindependent recovered paper merchant Clarfield Waste Paper Ltd of Bristol, he helpedto establish kerbside collections in south-west England and South Wales, offering aguaranteed market to environmental group Friends of the Earth.

The Oxford Committee for Famine Relief (Oxfam) held its first meeting in 1942 tohelp Greek civilian victims of war. Six years later, it opened one of the world’s firstcharity shop chains, starting in Oxford. In more modern times, its attempts to alleviatepoverty led it to work with like-minded organisations to form Oxfam International in1995. This confederation now comprises 13 organisations.

Working in more than 60 countries across Europe, Africa, Asia and Central/SouthAmerica, Oxfam is active in a broad range of fields including health, gender equality,trade and climate change.

Baling of used clothing at Frip Ethique Sarl in Dakar.

In Senegal, Frip Ethique Sarl has createddirect employment for 26 people, many ofwhom are single mothers who would other-wise struggle to find full-time jobs.

Small bales of used clothing are loaded in atruck, ready for transport to local traders.

In the Senegalese capital Dakar,reusable goods undergo further sorting.

RI_040 Textiles Senegal:Opmaak 1 28-02-2008 11:52 Pagina 71

will reduce its scrap export dutiesfrom the current level of Euro 30 pertonne (US$ 45) in order to satisfy re-quirements for joining the WorldTrade Organization (WTO). But therewill be, as it looks like, only reducedtonnages of scrap available for exportas domestic demand is high, and sothe Ukraine will have little choice butto allow the price of domestically-col-lected scrap to rise at a rapid pace.

China’s scrap demand was esti-mated at 74 million tonnes for 2007,of which 47 million tonnes was col-lected while the remainder camefrom mill’s own arisings and im-ports. But imports have graduallydeclined, falling from 10 milliontonnes in 2005 to 5.4 million in 2006and to less than 3.2 million tonneslast year.

In South East Asia, a price of US$500 per tonne has been paid for80/20 scrap - and US$ 25 per tonneless for containerised shipments.

Freight rates, down and up

Freight rates applying to trans-ocean shipments have fallen in Jan-uary in response to the price explo-sion in the fourth quarter of 2007,but showed a recovery in February.In fact, rates for shipping scrap fromthe USA to Turkey were still aroundUS$ 80 per tonne in the final quar-

M A R K E T A N A L Y S I S

Ferrous

Fears of recession in the USA andof the economic downturn intensify-ing in other parts of the world areyet to have a negative effect onprices of steel and scrap.

Demand for the latter has im-proved after the prices of competingcommodities - pig iron and DRI/HBI -finally followed the scrap price boomof December and January. At the timeof writing, the fob price of pig iron isaround the same as the deliveredprice of heavy scrap, which can beconsidered the normal state of affairs.

The US Composite price re-mained unchanged in the first twoweeks of February at US$ 329.17per tonne but dropped again by US$ 7 per tonne in the third week,while the February tender for high-value automobile factory bundlessaw a modest drop of only US$ 10per tonne to US$ 383 after the as-tonishing US$ 95 per tonne leap inJanuary. This new February price isUS$ 30 per tonne higher than theprevious record of US$ 352 achievedin March 2007 and US$ 100 abovethe February 2007 level.

Mills in Russia and the Ukraineare unable to purchase enough steelscrap either domestically or fromneighbouring CIS partners to satisfysharp increases in steel production.Over a six-year period, the Ukraine


Scrap prices peak as steelboom continuesWhereas steel prices have risen for the fourth consecutive

month, scrap appears to have reached a peak. Lower deep-

sea freight rates in January and a renewed decline in the

value of the US dollar in relation to the Euro and other lead-

ing currencies have prompted major scrap purchasers in

Turkey and elsewhere to desist from the panic buying wit-

nessed last December. In February, Turkey has paid US$

455 per tonne cfr for 80/20 HMS I/I I. However, the US

Composite price fell in mid-February to US$ 322.50 from

US$ 329.17 per tonne earlier in the month, while returns

from automobile factory bundle sales fell US$ 10 per tonne

following the record US$ 95 increase in January. In Japan

prices rose over US$ 35 per tonne. In the final days of

February, fob Rotterdam prices were flat at US$ 405 per

tonne for standard quality 80/20 HMS I and II scrap, US$

410 for shredded and US$ 390 for the 70/30 HMS I/II mix.

Closed: February 26 2008

Alfred Nijkerk

RI_012 MA Ferrous:MA Ferrous 28-02-2008 11:43 Pagina 72


ter of last year but have since fallenback to US$ 65 to 70 per tonne.From Rotterdam and UK ports,freight rates have dropped back toUS$ 50 - 55 per tonne. This com-pares to rates nearer US$ 30 pertonne earlier in 2007.

US East Coast exporters muststill pay some US$ 15 - 20 per tonnemore to ship their scrap to Turkeythan their Western European coun-terparts. Meanwhile, US West Coastexporters to China, South Korea andTaiwan were relieved that sky-highfreight rates have fallen from overUS$ 100 per tonne in the fourthquarter of 2007 to around US$ 70-80in February. These high deep-seafreight rates also provided an incen-tive for US West Coast and inlandscrap companies to ship far moresteel scrap by container at a lowerfreight rate compared to bulk ship-ment. However, the differential hasnarrowed since bulk freight rateshave fallen but container rates haverisen since around mid-December.

In addition to the January value ofthe US dollar, this fall in deep-seafreight rates supplied scrap-hungryTurkish mills with another argumentfor not paying more for their import-ed scrap in the first quarter. Reducedcompetition from Russian steel ex-ports also helped to convince theTurks that they were paying enoughfor imported scrap from the West.

Of course, US and EU scrap ex-porters knew that Turkey was des-perate to buy scrap owing to their ex-cellent sales of long steel and to themarked drop in exports from CIScountries as a result of ever higherdomestic demand and weather-relat-ed problems that led to the blockingof many Baltic and Black Sea ports.

However, the Turkish mills stoodfirm in their refusal to pay more forimported scrap as they had boughtwell over 100 000 tonnes towards theend of last year and in early 2008.

Competing commodities

Iron ore contract prices for 2008will show an increase of 65% with ef-fect from April 1. Negotiations wereconcluded in early February, withthe latest annual increase followingon from hikes of 9% in 2007, 19.5%in 2006 and 71.5% in 2005. Brazilianpig iron prices have risen to morethan US$ 500 per tonne deliveredNew Orleans and there was also anincrease in HBI/DRI prices to aroundUS$ 390 per tonne fob or slightlymore. In a late February tender thehighest bidder for Indian pig ironwas US$ 511 fob Indian port.

Chinese negotiators have appearedto remain calm but must be experi-encing some sense of panic since anannual iron ore increase of this mag-nitude would render the country’ssteel much less competitive. It hasbeen calculated that the increase willpush up their steel production costsby some US$ 40-80 per tonne.

And they face another danger: ifBHP Billiton and Rio Tinto merge orthe former buys the latter, then theywill be dealing with only two iron oreadversaries. The Australians havealready given to understand thatthey will gradually move away fromthe traditional annual contract pric-ing system to more ‘spot’ or ‘index’sales. They would have noted withinterest that India recently man-aged to sell spot iron ore fines forUS$ 200 per tonne, which is nearlydouble the Australian price.

Chinese coke prices have risen to

US$ 500 per tonne fob compared tojust US$ 170 one year ago.

Freight advantage

And there is another spectrelooming: the Australians want toswitch from the fob system to a uni-form landed price for iron into Asiabecause this would enable thefreight advantage over the Brazil-ians to be incorporated into the newiron ore prices. For deliveries to Chi-na, the freight advantage for Aus-tralian iron ore over Brazilian mate-rial is currently some US$ 30 pertonne but was more than US$ 55 inthe final quarter of 2007.

China imported some 380 milliontonnes of iron ore last year, a totalwhich looks small when set againstits domestic mining output of 700million tonnes. But the comparisonis deceptive because China’s own orecontains a significantly lower ironcontent which is falling with everyyear, thus leaving ever more slag fordisposal. In fact, the 700 milliontonnes equates to only some 350 mil-lion tonnes of concentrate.

Last year, around 38% of China’siron ore imports came from Australia(equivalent to some 145 milliontonnes) while a further 25.5% or 98 million tonnes was supplied byBrazil. Deliveries from India amount-ed to around 80 million tonnes.

Brazil produced some 330 milliontonnes of iron ore in 2007, of which90% was supplied by the CVRD min-ing company; this compares to the 280million tonnes produced in Australia.

World demand for imports of ironore will be around 900 milliontonnes this year. In 2007, world ironore production totalled 1.65 billiontonnes - an increase of 11% whencompared to 2006. Last year’s worldexports reached 850 million tonnesof which 735 million tonnes wereoverseas (2006: 685 million tonnes).The main exporters were CVRD ofBrazil with 42% of world exports andRio Tinto and BHP/Billiton of Aus-tralia with 24% and 14% respective-ly. Thus, the ‘Big Three’ accountedfor 80% of world iron ore exports.

It takes approximately 1.6 tonnesof iron ore to make one tonne of liq-uid iron or pig iron, while 1.5 tonnesof coking coal are required to makeone tonne of coke for blast furnaces.

Electric arc furnaces (EAFs) live onsome 80 to 90% scrap, with the bal-ance being pig iron or DRI/HBI; how-ever, as in the past, they can alsoconsume 100% steel scrap - or 102 to105% when taking melting lossesinto account. International trade inEAF steel mill feed is made up ofaround 100 million tonnes of steelscrap, 16 million tonnes of pig ironand 14 million tonnes of DRI/HBI.

Brazil exported 3.6 million tonnesof pig iron last year, mainly to theUSA, whereas the 2006 total was 4.3million tonnes. Pig iron prices in-creased at the end of January to re-gain their margin of around US$ 50per tonne over No. 1 scrap in exceed-ing US$ 500 per tonne cfr USA andSouthern Europe. There was also anincrease in the price of sponge iron(DRI/HBI) to US$ 390 per tonne fobVenezuela, which is about the sameas shredded scrap in the USA.

Steel

Steel prices have been risingacross the board on a daily basis ow-ing to strong global demand, especial-ly for plate and long products. Theseare the highest prices for 12 monthsand have been achieved at a timewhen experts in the USA and beyondare regularly expressing concern overthe potential for a global recession.

It is true that the US dollar ex-change rate has been low, with theEuro attaining a value of US$ 1.49in January. But the greenbackmounted a surprise recovery of morethan 2% in February to reach US$ 1.50 to the Euro before fallingback again to US$ 1.50.

Demand for steel will remain highthis year, particularly in developingcountries and in the Middle East, al-though China has become less com-



The Shredder Company’s

Next GenerationEngineer

ing !

I want these changes

(asap)

Double wide chain and sprock

ets(240)

Replacable pivot

12” bearings

top and bottom

Wider bearingstoo

I want you tocall it the

Thicker steelon yoke

inside and out

ScottThanks

DFR

SDFR2The Shredder Company, LLC7380 Doniphan Drive

Canutillo, (El Paso), Texas 79835Phone [email protected]

You will have to have

Bigger Hydraulic

Cylinderson this.

S SX

See above

Check it out

Add pins and bolts

and cover plates! SNtell me what you think

Patent Pending

AR_1939.indd 1 15-02-2008 11:44:42

petitive since the start of the yearowing to higher export taxes. Chi-na’s overseas shipments jumped33% last year to a record 65 milliontonnes; exports to the EU soared46% while those to the Middle Eastsky-rocketed 205%. However, Chi-nese steel exports are expected todrop back materially this year.

In 2007, total flat steel importsinto the EU increased by 15%.

Mills recoup margins

Knowing that domestic steelstocks have fallen to a 10-year low,

steel mills in the Western World havetaken their chance to recoup mar-gins. And producers could also cele-brate the fact that, in percentageterms, prices of scrap and substitutesdid not rise as steeply as those of rawand finished steel. If we take the USAas an example, carbon steel prices in-creased US$ 20 per short ton for Jan-uary deliveries, a further US$ 30 forFebruary and by no less than US$ 60for March. And steel giants ArcelorMittal and A-K Steel are asking an-other US$ 80 per short ton for spotApril deliveries. This adds up to an

increase of US$ 190 per short ton inthe space of four months.

For plate, prices of more thanUS$ 900 per tonne have been quotedalready for March/April deliveries.However, the upward trend in scrapprices appears to have been halted.

In the USA, hot rolled coil pricesstood at a record level of well overUS$ 700 per tonne in February. Andcustomers are being told to ‘take itor leave it’ by US mills claiming tobe fully booked following the morethan 27% decline in imports fromChina over the last 12 months to a



180

190

200

210

220

230

240

250

260

270

280

290

300

310

320

330

MayAprMar JanFeb FebJulyJun OctSep DecNovAug

223.33

252.83

289.11

271

240.83 240.83

253.50

265.50

258.50

287.50

329.17

322.50

Fob WestCoast price

Fob EastCoast price

270

280

290

300

310

320

330

340

350

360

370

380

230

240

250

260

MayAprMar JanFeb FebJun July OctSep DecNovAug

285

300

305

295

285

295

280275

270270

300

370375

265

260 260

285

355

360

275

265 265

285

290

280

275

260

270

280

290

300

310

320

Highest price

Lowest price330

340

350

360

370

380

390

400

410

MayAprMar JanFeb FebJun July OctSep DecNovAug

285

310

320

305300

290 290

310

400405

390

385

285

280

275

290

280

280

295

275280

295 295

315

295

280

170

180

190

200

210

220

230

240

250

260

270

280

290

300

310

320

MayAprMar JanFeb FebJun July Aug OctSep DecNov

225.50

243.0

251.80

252.80

245.80249

251.30

235

231.20 230.60228.70

260.90264.0

USA Export Prices (US$/GRT)HMS 1, heavy steel scrap (1/4 Inch)

Fob Rotterdam Export Prices (US$/t)HMS 80/20 heavy steel scrap

* Average German Scrap Prices (€/t)S2 / E2, steel scrap (3 mm)

Delivered at mills

USA Domestic Scrap Prices(US$/GRT)

HMS 1 heavy steel scrap (1/4 Inch) com pos ite price deliv ered at mills

Ferrous Scrap Prices (Reference date: 15 February, 2008)

>


AR_1933.indd 1 13-02-2008 09:39:46

four-year low. Total US steel im-ports fell from 41 million tonnes in2006 to 30 million tonne last year. InEurope, meanwhile, hot rolled coilprices rose to Euro 600 per tonne(US$ 900) cfr EU port and to Euro680 for cold rolled coil to be sold inthe third quarter.

With Turkey needing to importlarge volumes of steel billet in orderto satisfy long steel demand from the

Middle East and other countries, thecountry was forced to pay an absolutetop price for Russian billet of US$ 700per tonne for March delivery com-pared to less than US$ 600 in Decem-ber. And new offers in February werenearer US$ 730 per tonne.

In the EU, rebar reached Euro 580per tonne (US$ 845) for March deliv-ery. In the UK, for example, rebarprices have jumped around £100 per

tonne (US$ 200) since last November.Still, the consensus is that these

high prices will not hold as steeltraders and consumers - especiallythose in USA - are squeezed by thecredit crunch and struggle to pass onall of these increases to end users.Turkish rebar has been sold for US$800-820 per tonne cfr Asia.

Conclusion

Following the booming prices ofearlier in the year, the scrap marketnow finds itself in calmer waters asa result of somewhat lower shippingfreight rates and a renewed fallingvalue of the US dollar in relation tothe Euro. Now that the cold weatherhas ended and Europe is enjoying anearly spring, scrap will flow morefreely.

However, if recession truly strikesin the USA, mini-mills will requireless scrap to meet lower long con-struction steel demand.

Scrap prices had risen to a dan-gerously high level in February suchthat more scope exists for substitu-tion and much more money will be

required by exporters to financehigh stocks of scrap that make possi-ble bulk shipments of, say, 20 000 to50 000 tonnes at a time. However,the spectacular 65% jump in iron oreprices may leave room for scrapprices to remain at current levelsperhaps well into the second quar-ter.

The same argument is valid forsteel prices as the credit crunch inthe USA will make it difficult formills and wholesalers to pass onhigher prices to end users.

The scrap market seems to havereached something of a peak. And al-though steel mills are continuing toraise their new steel prices, thescrap community is wise enough torealise that what goes up too far andtoo fast is likely to suffer a steep de-cline sooner rather than later. Hope-fully, the steel world will also bewise enough to rein in steel price in-creases. However, it should not beforgotten that hot rolled coil prices,which stood at Euro 475 per tonne inDecember 2007, have now reachedEuro 600 per tonne.


g i v i n g e a r t h i t s s e c o n d n a t u r eg i v i n g e a r t h i t s s e c o n d n a t u r e

Wervikstraat 320 • B 8930 Menen • Belgium • Tel.0032 (0)56.52.13.00 Fax 0032 (0)56.52.13.10 • Email: [email protected] • Website: www.galloo.com

OUR GOAL: 100% RECYCLING

Group Galloo Recycling is one of the principal

recycling companies of ferrous and non-ferrous metals

in Europe. Group Galloo Recycling annually treats

1.000.000 tons of ferrous scrap, 60.000 tons of non-

ferrous metals, 20.000 tons of plastics and 100.000

tons of shredder residues. By investing permanently in

new technologies, the group aims at a 100 % recycling.

advertisement


AR_1917.indd 1 14-01-2008 12:00:31

The big four steel producing coun-tries of 2003 - China, Japan, theUSA and Russia - maintained theirranking over the ensuing four years,although only modest output in-creases were recorded by the latterthree. In fifth position, India postedsteel production growth of nearly70% while sixth-placed South Koreasaw its output increase 11% over thesame period.

As for the main scrap importers,China lost its position at the top ofthe league to Turkey, with the latterimporting 14.8 million tonnes in2006 in increasing its steel produc-tion by 7.5 million tonnes - or by noless than 41% - over the five-year period. Spain was the second largest

scrap importer on 7.44 milliontonnes, having increased its steelproduction by 2.8 million tonnes or15%. In third place came Italy, withscrap imports of 5.7 million tonnesand a steel production increase of 4.9million tonnes, or 14%. South Koreawas next with an import total of 5.6million tonnes and an upturn insteel production of 5.1 milliontonnes, or 11%.

Having held first place in 2003with scrap imports of more than 10 million tonnes, China droppedback to be the world’s sixth largestscrap importer on 5.4 million tonnesin 2006 and to 3.4 million tonnes in2007 - with the latter total beinglower than that of Germany, Taiwan

and India. But it should be remem-bered that China has one of the low-est proportions of EAF steel produc-tion in the world at 13%. This percentage is by far the smallest inAsia, and is also lower than thoserecorded by developed countries inthe Americas, the Middle East andOceania.

China operates very few EAFmills because of the country’s abun-dant iron ore and coal resources. Atthe same time, a shortage of energydoes not favour development of additional EAF capacity. Indeed,China is gradually approaching thepoint where it will harvest enoughdomestic scrap to become self-suffi-cient.

S T E E L


2007 2003China 489.0 222.4Japan 120.2 110.5USA 97.2 93.7Russia 72.2 61.5India 53.1 31.8South Korea 51.4 46.3Germany 48.5 44.8Ukraine 42.8 36.9Brazil 33.8 31.1Italy 32.0 27.1Turkey 25.8 18.3Taiwan 20.5 18.8France 19.3 19.8Spain 19.1 16.3Mexico 17.2 15.2Canada 16.4 15.9UK 14.3 13.3Belgium 10.7 11.1Poland 10.7 9.1Iran 10.1 7.9South Africa 9.1 9.5Australia 7.9 7.5Austria 7.6 6.3Netherlands 7.4 6.6Czech Republic 7.1 6.8Romania 6.3 5.7Egypt 6.2 4.4Malaysia 6.1 4.0Sweden 5.7 5.7Thailand 5.5 3.6Argentina 5.4 5.0Slovakia 5.1 4.6Venezuela 5.0 3.9Kazakhstan 4.8 4.9Saudi Arabia 4.6 3.9Finland 4.4 4.8Indonesia 3.9 2.0Luxembourg 2.9 2.7Greece 2.6 1.7Belarus 2.4 1.6Others 29.5 23.2World 1,343.5 970.0

Five years of world steel growthWorld steel production increased no less than 373.5 million tonnes or 27.8% in

the years from 2003 to 2007. The majority of this growth is attributable to

China, a country whose steel production more than doubled over the five-year

period in leaping 266.6 million tonnes.

Largest steel producingcountries 2003 - 2007Source: IISI

By Alfred Nijkerk

RI_007 World Steel 07:Opmaak 1 28-02-2008 11:38 Pagina 79


By Alfred Nijkerk et al

Nickel & Stainless

Weather hampers ChineseproductionHaving risen slowly in January, the LME nickel price fell

slightly in February and the market remains in contango.

Special alloy prices have made strong gains, with ferro-

vanadium almost doubling in price to attain its highest level

in almost three years.

Rotterdam prices for 304 stainless steel scrap have

increased to US$ 2650 per tonne, while 316 scrap has been

stable at US$ 4050. Ferritic 430 scrap (17% chromium) has

advanced to US$ 450 per tonne while 409 scrap (13%

chromium) has improved to US$ 400.


The nickel market has not movedmuch in the early weeks of 2008,with negative and positive influ-ences cancelling each other out. Thehighest price achieved in Januaryfor LME three-month metal wasUS$ 29 800 per tonne whereas thelowest was US$ 26 700. On Febru-ary 1, the price touched US$ 28 000per tonne before dropping to US$ 26800 a week later.

Nickel stocks in LME-licensedwarehouses remain at high levelsdespite slight falls from the seven-year peak of 48 000 tonnes achieved

at the end of December - a figure tentimes higher than the levels of Au-gust last year.

LME nickel prices had increasedin January to push stainless scrapprices somewhat higher. Prices inEurope for cold rolled 304 stainlesssteel sheet are still above the magi-cal Euro 1000 per tonne mark (US$1500). However, the credit squeezein the USA is adversely affectingstainless prices because of the met-al’s ever-increasing use in construc-tion applications.

Special alloys

Virtually all ferro alloys haverecorded significant price increasesin the first two months of this year,partly as a result of Chinese exporttaxes which came into effect on Jan-uary 1. Amounting to between 10and 20% for the various ferro alloys,these led to some panic buying - es-pecially as poor weather in China se-verely curtailed mining activity forfive or six weeks.

Ferro-molybdenum prices sur-passed the US$ 75 per kg level inrising to US$ 80.

Ferro-vanadium prices leapt totheir highest level in nearly threeyears in attaining US$ 93 per kg for70-80% material; in our previous is-sue, we reported that prices hadclimbed from US$ 35 to US$ 40 perkg in January. Traders expect theUS$ 100 per kg threshold to bebreached shortly although this wouldstill be short of the all-time high ofUS$ 125 per kg recorded in 2005. De-mand has been overwhelming butsupply has faltered owing to powershortages in South Africa and weath-er-related problems in China. Theprice of 70% ferro-titanium reachedUS$ 8.50 per kg in January and in-creased to US$ 8.70 in February.

Ferro-tungsten climbed to overUS$ 40 per kg fob on rumours thatChinese tungsten mines were so bad-ly affected by flooding that plants

faced possible closure into March.As expected, cobalt prices have

broken through the magical US$ 50per lb barrier owing to, among otherfactors, power disruptions in Zambia.

Ferro-chrome prices have beensparked into life by power problemsin South Africa. Bids for high-carbonferro-chrome have been well aboveUS$ 2 per lb while low-carbon mate-rial jumped to US$ 3. per lb in mid-February.

Europe

During February, there was barelyany change in nickel market condi-tions. According to traders, nickel de-mand has been stable and buyershave been ordering against onlyshort-term needs rather than forstock. Analysts differ in their views ofhow the nickel market will developover the coming months whereasmany traders believe the price hasreached its base and will begin to rise.

In Germany, nickel cathodes wererecently trading at around US$ 27 500 per tonne. Slight falls have alsobeen recorded in alloyed scrap prices.

China and elsewhere in Asia

Stainless steel output in China -the world’s largest producer - washit by very bad weather conditionsin January which cut energy sup-


RI_042 MA Stainless:MA Nickel&Stainless 28-02-2008 11:52 Pagina 80


plies as coal mines became inaccessi-ble or even flooded. Conditions hadimproved towards the middle of Feb-ruary.

Despite the high nickel price anda 6.8% drop in imports during De-cember, Chinese imports jumped8.2% to 105 300 tonnes in 2007 as

relatively stable on the ShanghaiYangtze market at Yuan 246 500 pertonne (US$ 34 331).

North America

According to US Census Bureaustatistics, the country’s exports of

stainless steel scrap slid 35% lowerlast year - from 1.354 million tonnesin 2006 to 881 577 tonnes. However,experts have rejected the 2006 totaland some have even suggested that2007 was a record year for overseasshipments. Overseas shipments ofalloy steel are said to have dropped21% from 2.345 million tonnes to1.849 million tonnes over the samecomparative period.

Basemetals.com believes higherprimary nickel production and rela-tively high stock levels will more thanneutralise the improvement in stain-less steel demand. But while this par-ticular analyst puts LME cash in arange of US$ 26 450-28 650 per tonnefor this year, Societe Generale (SG)reckons the upturn in demand fromthe stainless steel sector could sus-tain a nickel price up to US$ 30 000.However, SG acknowledges that theprice could decline below US$ 25 000per tonne by late 2008.

A Reuters poll of more than 40 an-alysts came up with a 2008 price av-erage for nickel of US$ 12.93 per lb,falling to US$ 11.36 next year.

advertisement

domestic stainless steel productionreached 7 million tonnes - equiva-lent to around a quarter of worldoutput. China’s stainless steel con-sumption leapt 11% to 6.7 milliontonnes last year.

Around the middle of February,nickel for immediate delivery was

RI_042 MA Stainless:MA Nickel&Stainless 28-02-2008 15:49 Pagina 81

The only scrap shear for small and medium volumes manufactured with the ex-

pertise of the world market leader • Fastest scrap shear in its class at up to 25 t/h •

The only scrap shear with control unit/hydraulics in a container and with the piston

rod of the pusher cylinder fully covered • Also available with on-board diesel drive •

Also semi-mobile: no crane required for assembly and disassembly • Your contact:

[email protected], phone: +49 211 2 10 56 47.

The LIS, the fastest scrap shear in its class.

In other industries, it certainly

wouldn’t be worth striving

to produce scrap quicker

than the competition.

Lindem

ann

ww

w.m

etso

min

era

ls.com

It is a Lindemann

AR_1584 24-10-2006 10:12 Pagina 1

EXPERIENCE AND INNOVATIONBHS-Sonthofen GmbHHans-Böckler-Str. 7D-87527 Sonthofen

Tel.: +49 8321 802-200Fax:+49 8321 [email protected]

Type RSRecyclingtechnology

…disintegration and separation!

The universal BHS Rotorshredder RS and the BHS Rotor ImpactMill RPMV, which both can be used for manifold applications,are distinctive features of the BHS recycling technology. In theRotorshredder all kinds of composite materials are selectivelydisintegrated and separated. In the Rotor Impact Mill RPMVprecrushed materials are disintegrated in a non-destructive andselective way and metals are shaped to small balls. The workingprinciple of both machines is a combination of impact, frictionand shear forces. As a result, marketable secondary productsof high purity are obtained.

Further advantages:- continuous operation- low energy consumption- easy maintainability- heavy-duty design- service

Typical applications:- electric and electronic scrap- shredder light fractions- shredder heavy fractions- slags- aluminium composites- and much more

For further information about our recycling program- and also for recycling tests - please contact us.Our qualified staff is always pleased to give expert advice focusedon your individual needs.

RS

-030

7

Ventilatorenfabrik Oelde GmbHP.O. Box 37 09D-59286 OeldePhone: +49 25 2275-0Fax: +49 25 22 75-2 [email protected]

“Everyone in our line of workknows this problem: the sepa-ration of ferrous and non-ferrousmetals, plastics and rubber istricky. Or more precisely: used to be tricky. These days, we usetechnology supplied by Venti Oeldeand separate all these materialscleanly. And it is more eco-nomical, too. Better andcleaner separation and a more efficientprocess: a doubleadvantage!”

Innovative solutionsby Venti Oelde.

We look forward to

seeing you at the

IFAT in Munich

05. - 09.05.2008

Hall C3,

Stand 517

Dust collection plants

Secondary fuel technology

Industrial fans

Recycling and waste treatment plants

Ventilating and air-conditioning plants

Exhaust air treatment plants

P83.indd 1 26-02-2008 11:18:28


Non-Ferrous


Power, transport and severe weather issues in China have

intensified supply concerns surrounding some of the leading

non-ferrous metals. Aluminium in particular has recorded

significant price gains over recent weeks. On February 25,

closing LME cash prices were as fol lows (per tonne):

aluminium US$ 2857; copper US$ 8246; lead US$ 3265;

and zinc US$ 2465.

Aluminium scales nine-month peak

AluminiumThe heavy snowstorms that hit

the central and southern regions ofChina in late January may result inthe loss of 650 000 tonnes of alu-minium output, it has been estimat-ed. Meanwhile, tight railway capaci-ty during the Chinese New Year pe-riod led to supply delays that forcedsome of the country’s major alumini-um plants to halt production.

Aluminium for immediate deliv-ery on the Shanghai Yangtze mar-ket jumped to a three-month high ofYuan 19 350 per tonne (US$ 2695)after the nation’s largest producer

Aluminum Corp. of China declaredit would take months to restore fullproduction capacity after the recentsetback. On the Shanghai FuturesExchange, aluminium for April de-livery jumped 3.5% to Yuan 19 710per tonne (US$ 2742) - the steepestincrease since September 2006.

According to latest figures fromthe China Customs Office, the coun-try’s exports of primary aluminiumplunged 78.5% to 10 884 tonnes inDecember. Exports for the whole of2007 plummeted 80.8% to 160 793tonnes. Imports of primary metaldropped 5.8% to 12 260 tonnes.

The severe winter weather condi-tions in China may have induced thecountry’s processors to order morematerial from Europe, it is thought.The market in Germany has fol-lowed the upward trend on the LME:the price of high-grade primary alu-minium 99.7 has climbed from US$ 2735 to US$ 2762 per tonnewhile aluminium wire scrap (Achse)gained US$ 130 to stand recently atUS$ 2507. Meanwhile, aluminiumturnings (Autor) provided an excep-tion in falling to US$ 1490 per tonne.

In the UK, commercial pure cut-tings were recently yielding US$ 1812-1891 per tonne whilemixed alloy/old rolled cuttings weretrading at US$ 1418-1457. Prices ofcommercial turnings stood at US$ 1221-1280 per tonne. And inthe Netherlands, new pure alu-minium scrap prices jumped aroundUS$ 300 per tonne to US$ 2404while first-quality old rolled alumini-um scrap was fetching US$ 1748.

Aluminium scrap prices in theUSA have improved over recentweeks to around: 80 cents per lb forold sheet and 82 cents for cast deliv-ered to Midwest secondaries; 81 cents for painted siding; and 85cents for MLCs. The delivered pricefor used beverage containers, mean-while, broke through the US$ 1 perlb barrier. Overall US aluminiumscrap exports climbed 4% last yearto 1.546 million tonnes, althoughoverseas shipments of remelt scrapingot and used beverage containersfell 37% and 51% respectively to 24 353 and 7329 tonnes.

On the back of supply concernsand fund activity, LME aluminiumprices surged to a nine-month peakin late February. According to aReuters’ poll of more than 40 ana-lysts, the aluminium price is expect-ed to average US$ 1.14 per lb for2008 and US$ 1.146 for 2009.

Copper

The red metal is once again set-ting the pace among the non-ferrousmetals. The first week of Februarywitnessed the largest weekly in-crease in the LME copper quotationfor over nine months and reflected astaggering 15% price jump fromJanuary’s low. Analysts believe thecopper price may again breakthrough the US$ 8000 per tonne bar-rier by early March, not least be-cause of the dramatic recent declinein inventory levels.

The Reuters poll of experts antici-pates copper averaging US$ 3.075per lb this year, dropping to US$ 2.775 in 2009. Analysts at Bar-clay’s Capital believe that mine sup-ply of copper will struggle to keeppace with demand. With scrap andabove-ground stocks deemed unlike-ly to satisfy the shortfall, they expectthe red metal to test all-time highsin the first half of this year.

According to the International


RI_046 MA Non-Ferrous:MA Non-Ferrous 28-02-2008 14:03 Pagina 84

Copper Study Group, the globalmarket for refined copper was some218 000 tonnes in deficit betweenJanuary and October 2007, with out-put at 15.11 million tonnes and con-sumption at 15.328 million tons.World refined copper usage is be-lieved to have increased 7.2% in thefirst 10 months of last year com-pared with the corresponding periodof 2006 on the back of a massive 37%consumption growth in China.

China’s power crisis has impactedon production at a number ofsmelters including Daye NonferrousMetals, Tongling Nonferrous Metalsand Jiangxi Copper, forcing them toreduce concentrate deliveries sinceearly February. Meanwhile, figuresfrom the China Customs Office indi-cate that the country’s imports of re-fined copper soared 80.6% to 1.49 mil-lion tonnes in 2007, including a De-cember jump of 16.5% to 111 685tonnes. In addition to strong domesticdemand, the weakness of the US dol-lar in relation to the yuan also bol-stered Chinese buyers’ enthusiasmfor imported material. However, Chi-na’s refined copper imports and cop-per product exports are expected todrop this year, partly in response tothe economic downturn anticipatedfor some parts of the world.

Copper on the Shanghai Yangtzespot market reached Yuan 63 600per tonne (US$ 8858) on February15. On the same day, copper for Aprildelivery fell 1.2% to Yuan 63 500 pertonne (US$ 8838).

Scrap prices in Germany mir-rored the upward trend on the LME,with bright wire scrap (Kabul) trad-ing recently at US$ 7195 per tonne -almost US$ 200 above its level of amonth earlier. Copper granules 1A(Kasus) have increased to US$ 7268and non-alloyed bright wire scrap(Kader) to US$ 6905. In the Nether-lands, bright wire scrap prices havejumped to US$ 7577 per tonne andmixed scrap prices to US$ 6703. De-spite these high levels, the copperbusiness in Europe has been rela-tively calm. Buyers appear to bewaiting for prices to fall, provingonce again that high prices do notnecessarily mean high turnoversand wider profit margins.

In the USA, quiet conditions arereported in the domestic copper


scrap market. Meanwhile, latest sta-tistics show that US copper scrap ex-ports advanced 13% last year from803 120 tonnes in 2006 to 906 511tonnes, with China taking 620 085tonnes or 68% of the 2007 total.

Lead

Although demand has been rathersluggish, LME lead prices have im-proved considerably in recent weeks.Analysts attribute the improvementnot so much to market fundamentalsbut to speculative hedge fund activi-ty. However, experts believe the leadprice will soften in the medium term,with the Reuters poll of over 40 ana-lysts suggesting an average of US$ 1.14 per lb for 2008 falling to 90cents per lb in 2009.

In Europe, there is certainlyenough primary and secondary ma-terial available to satisfy currentmarket needs. In Germany, newsoft lead prices have made signifi-cant gains to reach US$ 3278 pertonne while new soft lead scrap(Paket) has been yielding US$ 2144.In the Netherlands, old lead scrapprices have increased from US$ 1910 to US$ 2185 per tonne.

Refined lead exports from Chinaplummeted 77% to 13 152 tonnes inDecember last year while shipmentsfor 2007 as a whole tumbled 56.1%to 235 758 tonnes, according to theChina Customs Office. Metal im-ports slid 25% last year to 25 048tonnes. There was a jump in theprice of lead on the Shanghai spotmarket ahead of the traditional Chi-nese holiday season, and the mo-mentum was maintained after thelong break. Backed by tight supply,the metal gained Yuan 1100 pertonne (US$ 153.20) on February 15to reach Yuan 23 000 (US$ 2303.30).

According to figures from the In-ternational Lead & Zinc StudyGroup, the lead market recorded itsfifth successive annual shortfall in2007 in posting a deficit of around 70 000 tonnes.

Zinc

The global zinc deficit in 2007 was15 000 tonnes compared to a 352 000-tonne shortfall in 2006, ithas been revealed by the Interna-

tional Lead & Zinc Study Group.However, experts are divided onwhether the current year will pro-duce yet another deficit.

Experts asked by Reuters to ven-ture an average zinc price for 2008came up with US$ US$ 1.125 per lb,sliding to US$ 1.03 for 2009. In

recent weeks, the zinc market haswitnessed relatively calm LMEprices, with orders for primary met-al largely restricted to satisfying im-mediate demand requirements. Sup-ply of zinc scrap has been sufficientto meet current conditions. In Ger-many, special high-grade zinc prices


Aluminium

LME

stoc

ks (x

100

0 m

etric

tonn

es)

500

300

700

900

1100

1300

1700

2000

2300

2600

2900

3200

LME

pric

es (i

n U.

S. d

olla

rs/M

T)

FEBR FEBRAUG DEC JANSEPT NOVOCTAPR JUNEMAY

Copper

LME

stoc

ks (x

100

0 m

etric

tonn

es)

50

100

150

200

250

300

4000

3000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

LME

pric

es (i

n U.

S. d

olla

rs/M

T)


Lead

LME

stoc

ks (x

100

0 m

etric

tonn

es)

20

40

60

80

100

120

1600

1800

2200

2000

1400

2400

2600

2800

3000

3200

3400

3600

3800

LME

pric

es (i

n U.

S. d

olla

rs/M

T)



P86.indd 1 26-02-2008 11:17:44

fell slightly to US$ 2711 per tonnewhile old zinc scrap slipped to US$ 1729.

Imports of zinc into China fell15.2% to 275 649 tonnes in Decem-ber, says the China Customs Office,while exports nose-dived 88.7% to149 490 tonnes. For 2007 as a whole,zinc imports slid 53% to 149 490tonnes. The Chinese government’scancellation of the export rebate

production since November last year. The zinc price dropped Yuan 600

per tonne (US$ 83.60) to Yuan 19 450(US$ 2708.9) on February 15 on theShanghai Yangtze spot marketwhile metal for April delivery sus-tained a 2.4% dip to Yuan 19 560(US$ 2724) on the same day. Stocksin Shanghai, Guangdong andHangzhou have jumped 8181 tonnesto 65 718 tonnes.

The severe weather experiencedin parts of China towards the end ofJanuary affected a number of majorzinc operators such as ZhuzhouSmelter, Hunan Sanli Smelter andShoukoushan Smelter. Production isgradually being restored but has yetto return to normal.

Tin

Along with the majority of the oth-er mainstream non-ferrous metals,leading experts participating in aReuters survey predicted that the tinprice average would be lower in 2009at US$ 5.855 per lb compared to US$ 6.98 in 2008. Analysts at Natix-is are forecasting a tight tin marketthis year with supply falling 2000tonnes short of demand. As a result,they are forecasting LME cash tin toaverage 7.26 per lb this year.

Precious metals

A Reuters poll of leading analystshas indicated expectations of a morethan 20% increase in average goldprices this year, with most of thesegains thought likely to be retainedin 2009. Key factors, they argued,are the weakness of the US dollar,turmoil in the markets and fearsabout inflation. The experts’ guessti-mates produced a median price forgold of US$ 850 per ounce for 2008compared to US$ 696.95 for 2007.The spot market has already spenta significant period of 2008 wellabove the US$ 900 per ounce level.

Meanwhile, silver has achievedyet another 27-year high over thelast month. At the time of writing,platinum was heading towards US$ 2200 per ounce while palladiumreached a 20-month peak.


87

slowed the pace of overseas ship-ments while gloomy zinc marketconditions cooled domestic smelters’passion for expanding their capaci-ties. Zhuzhou Smelter, China’slargest operator, saw its net profitscrash 75% lower in 2007 mainly asa result of the steep third-quarterdecline in the zinc price. Some smalland medium-sized zinc smeltershave reduced or even halted

China maintains scrap importmomentum

China’s scrap imports surged 13.7% last year to 7.712 million tonnes,according to figures from the China Customs Office (CCO). The totalincludes: 2.09 tonnes of aluminium (+12.9%); 5.58 million tonnes of cop-per (+18%); and 420 000 tonnes of zinc (-41.6%). Actual imports arethought to be even higher than those declared by the CCO.

The volume of scrap recycled domestically in China climbed 10.1% to2.28 million tonnes last year, with the total incorporating 1.06 milliontonnes of aluminium, 700 000 tonnes of copper, 450 000 tonnes of leadand 65 000 tonnes of zinc.

Meanwhile, statistics from the China Nonferrous Metals IndustryAssociation Recycling Branch (CMRA) indicate that domestic secondarymetals production jumped 16.9% last year to 5.3 million tonnes. Thetotal includes: 2.75 million tonnes of aluminium (+17%); 2 milliontonnes of copper (+19%); 450 000 tonnes of lead (+15.3%); and 97 000tonnes of zinc (+11.8%).

� Non-ferrous metal scrap, AL, Zinc, Cu, Brass, Honey…

� Mixed metal scraps, motors, transformer, cable, meters …

� Shredded AL, Zorba, heavy metals …

Trader & processor in China(Plants in Shanghai, Guangdong)

Specialized in

advertisement

Con trib ut ing to the Non-Fer rous Met als Mar ket Anal y sis:

* Ralf Schmitz, German non-ferrous trade association VDM (Europe)* Lili Shi, journalist and consultant, China

Zinc

LME

stoc

ks (x

100

0 m

etric

tonn

es)

0

500

400

300

200

100

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

LME

pric

es (i

n U.

S. d

olla

rs/M

T)


LME

stoc

ks (x

100

0 m

etric

tonn

es)

0

10

20

30

40

50LM

E pr

ices

(in

U.S.

dol

lars

/MT)

Nickel

15.000

25.000

35.000

20.000

40.000

45.000

50.000

55.000

30.000



EuropeSlower supply flow

There was a reduced flow of bulkgrades entering merchant proces-sors’ yards during the second half ofJanuary, and the pace slowed evenfurther in February. European millsincreased their prices by Euro 5 to10 per tonne in February and havebeen demanding healthy volumeswhile Asian buyers kept their pricesstable in direct response to the Chi-nese New Year holiday period.

Exports out of the USA are cur-rently difficult and so demand hasremained strong. Shipping ratesfrom the USA have increased where-as easier and cheaper options havebeen available to European ex-porters. Price trends out of Europeand Asia are undoubtedly upwards.

As regards deinking material, in-coming volumes were very slow in

February. Export prices available inwider export markets are broadlythe same as those prevailing in Europe where demand is at normallevels for the time of year. Prices inEurope improved between Euro 5and 10 per tonne during February.

Demand for all of the middlegrades of recovered paper has beenhealthy in both Europe and Asia at,once again, roughly similar price lev-els. Volumes entering recovered pa-per processing facilities were sea-sonally normal in January but veryslow in February.

The high grades market remainsvery solid with prices either stableor tending upwards, notably for best whites. As for all grades of re-covered paper, the volume of highgrades arriving at merchant proces-sors’ depots has been somewhat

below average for the time of year.For shipments between Europe

and Asia, core freight rates havebeen relatively stable since the startof the final quarter of last year.However, the bunker adjustmentfactor (BAF) has been the focus ofsignificant fluctuations: having in-creased US$ 170 in January, theBAF retreated US$ 50 in February.

North AmericaNo let-up in demand

Conditions in the North Americanpaper recycling markets can best bedescribed as hectic, especially in thecase of bulk grades such as OCC.Prices are continuing to increase,not least for material destined forChina. Even during the recent Chi-nese New Year celebrations whenmills took holidays, there was noslow-down in purchasing activity.


Paper

US exporters hit by dearth of containersThe recent Chinese New Year celebrations barely impacted on surging demand for many

grades of recovered paper. Consumers in Europe felt impelled to increase their prices in

February while exporters in many parts of North America have been struggling to over-

come a shortage of vessels and containers.



RI_056 MA Paper:MA Paper 28-02-2008 11:57 Pagina 88

Some experts fear that OCC pricesare in danger of becoming excessivefor the smaller Chinese paper mills.

Another worrying issue in NorthAmerica concerns container logis-tics. In the Pacific North West regionof the USA - for instance, in thestates of Washington and Oregon -there is a severe lack of containersavailable to exporters. As a result,more OCC is going into the domesticmarket which, in turn, has led to aslight weakening in domestic prices.In other parts of the USA, such asCalifornia and New York, there arestill sufficient containers availablefor export; however, ports are facingcongestion and vessels are having tobe loaded much more quickly thanin the past. In addition, oceanfreight rates have been on the in-crease to every part of the world.

Woodfree deinking grades of re-covered paper are moving very wellboth domestically and for export, al-though here too overseas trade hasbeen hampered by a shortage of con-tainers and vessels. The same situa-tion applies to pulp substitutes. Onetrader said in summary: ‘It’s highseason in the North American paperexport market - but there are prob-lems.’ Current market conditions areexpected to persist during March.

AsiaSturdy order files

Demand for the bulk qualities ofrecovered paper - and particularlyfor OCC - has been very strong in re-cent weeks, with China the most ac-tive player in the market. Owing tothese sturdy order files, prices havegained ground and are showing nosigns of taking a backwards step.Meanwhile, freight rates have beenfalling slowly but steadily.

Demand has also been strong forthe middle grades of recovered pa-per such as coloured ledger, coatedbook stock and office pack. Thesequalities are also attracting heavyorders from Europe at a time whenavailability of material from theUSA has been reduced by severewinter weather in many parts of thecountry.

According to latest projections,Chinese papermaking capacity couldincrease by around 4.6 milliontonnes this year. While the country’srecovered paper import require-ments have been strong in the earlypart of the year, some experts be-lieve that the pace of orders mayslow into the second half of the yearonce the effect of Olympics-relateddemand has disappeared from themarket.


Contributing to the Recovered Paper Market Analysis:* Dick de Groot (Van Gelder Recycling, the Netherlands)* Marielle Gommans (Bel Fibres, Belgium)* Steve Vento (Tidewater Fibre Corp., USA)


UK exports soar to new highThe UK reinforced its position as Europe’s leading exporter of recov-

ered paper in 2007. The nation’s overseas shipments increased morethan 600 000 tonnes - or almost 18% - to 4.658 million tonnes, accordingto statistics from the Confederation of Paper Industries.

The platform for the UK’s unprecedented export performance in 2007was a 75.6% leap in overseas shipments of corrugated & kraft materialfrom 1.09 million tonnes in 2006 to 1.913 million tonnes last year. Whencomparing the same two years, exports of newspapers & magazines andhigh grades climbed to, respectively, 1.652 million tonnes and 176 690tonnes. These totals represented increases of, in turn, 7.5% and 7%.

UK shipments to China leapt almost exactly half a million tonnes -from 1.969 million tonnes in 2006 to 2.47 million tonnes last year, whiledeliveries to Indonesia climbed from 318 000 tonnes to 340 000 tonnes. Tothe surprise of several industry experts, the statistics show that UKexports to India edged only slightly higher - from 312 000 tonnes in 2006to 326 000 tonnes last year. Also worthy of note was an increase in SouthKorean imports of UK recovered paper from 87 000 tonnes to 122 000tonnes.

UK shipments to the Netherlands surged from 350 000 tonnes in2006 to 454 000 tonnes last year, although it should be noted that alarge proportion of this volume was probably trans-shipped and endedup in deep-sea destinations. Following particularly heavy buyingtowards the end of last year, German imports of UK recovered paperleapt from 106 000 tonnes in 2006 to 182 000 tonnes for 2007 as a whole.UK exports to Sweden fell from 188 000 tonnes to 174 000 tonnes lastyear, while deliveries to France slid 19 000 tonnes to 167 000 tonnes.

Norske Skog to close branchesOwing to cost increases and problems associated with excess capaci-

ty, leading Norwegian paper producer Norske Skog is closing facilitiesin a bid to improve profitability. Production capacity in Europe andKorea will be reduced, and several sites will be sold.

Current proposals call for the permanent closure of 450 000 tonnes ofannual production capacity - a figure which equates to around 7% of thecompany’s global production capability.

‘We cannot just sit and watch excess capacity and increasingly highercosts push the company’s margins down to an unacceptable level,’ insistsNorske Skog’s CEO Rynning-Tønnesen. ‘We therefore recommend shut-ting down the least profitable paper machines, and concentrating ourproduction and assets on the most profitable and modern plants.’

The group plans to shut down the 130 000 tonnes-per-annumnewsprint production facility at Steti in the Czech Republic and a papermachine with a similar capacity at Norske Skog Follum in Norway. It isalso proposing to shut down its Cheongwon mill in South Korea whichhas an annual capacity of 190 000 tonnes.

The company will also make fundamental changes to its manage-ment structure, including the removal of head office functions. The pro-posed shuts will mean write-downs of around US$ 200 million and willsave approximately US$ 73 million each year in costs.

RI_056 MA Paper:MA Paper 28-02-2008 11:57 Pagina 89

Bel Fibres SARue de Monte en Peine 27022 HYONBelgium

Phone (+32) 65.760.960Fax (+32) 65.760.965E-mail [email protected]

Experienced specialists inCollecting and recycling of

• Paper• Board

• Plastics• Archives destruction

eijermanAssociates B.V.

Our company provides theindustry with woodfree andwoodcontaining paper, kraftand testliner board, bleachedand unbleached pulp. We have specialised peoplewho can make the differencefor you.

Weijerman Associates B.V. Rapenburg 9, 2311 GD Leiden, The NetherlandsTelephone: +31 71 5160 050 Telefax: +31 71 5160 051E-mail: [email protected]: www.wass.nl

Specialists in pulp and paperW

Address:

P90.indd 1 26-02-2008 11:18:35


In Europe, a spell of generally mild weather

has ensured adequate collection volumes as

well as relatively stable prices. In the USA, mean-

while, sorting companies and exporters of used

clothing are worried about profit margins.

Fears of a shortagecome to nought


Textiles

Europe

Conditions in the European usedclothing markets have shown hardlyany changes during February. De-spite earlier fears of a shortage, thegenerally mild winter weather con-ditions have meant that sorting com-panies have encountered no prob-lems with the supply of original ma-terial reaching their facilities. As aresult of this relative abundance oforiginals, prices paid for materialfrom collections have remained quitestable.

Market experts do not expectprices of original material to rise inthe short term because initial springcollections were due to start in lateFebruary, resulting in additionalvolumes coming to the market. Someplayers are rumoured to be antici-pating an oversupply in the spring.

As price negotiations for springcollections took place some time ago,at a time when a shortage of origi-nal material was still regarded as apossibility, contracts have been con-cluded at very high prices in someinstances. However, it remains to beseen whether these high purchasingprices can be passed on with sur-charges to the sorting companiesnow that it has become clear thatmore than sufficient material isavailable to the marketplace.

Demand for well-sorted usedclothing is described as ‘satisfacto-ry’, especially when taking into ac-count seasonal factors. This appliesto both Crème and No1 qualities forEastern Europe, as well as to export

qualities for Africa and Asia. How-ever, it is proving extremely difficultto pass on price increases becausethe Euro has remained very strong.As a result, Europe’s sorting compa-nies are counting on purchasingprices not going significantly higher.

Demand for wiping cloths has re-mained very strong at rather firmprices. Meanwhile, recycling gradesare being sold at stable prices al-though there appears little hope of ob-taining higher returns while the USdollar continues to show weakness.Conditions in the bed feathers marketremain very worrying: over the last 12months, prices have been cut in halfand this has had a devastating effecton sorting companies’ margins.

North America

The domestic textiles recycling in-dustry remained strong during Feb-ruary and goods have been relativelyeasy to sell. However, both sortingcompanies and exporters of usedclothing are complaining of unsatis-factory profit margins.

Following the start of spring collec-tions, there is currently an adequateavailability of original material.

The low value of the US dollar inrelation to the Euro is continuing tohand an advantage to American ex-porters whereas Canadian sortingcompanies are encountering prob-lems as a direct result of thestrength of their domestic currencyin comparison to the greenback.

African demand for used clothinghas remained strong for the time ofyear and sales of high-quality used

clothing are very smooth. However,in common with their counterpartsin Europe, US exporters are alsocomplaining that they are unable topass on price increases to customersin Africa. Meanwhile, exports to Asiahave been good but at low prices.

The prices of some of the wipinggrades have improved but dealersare also worried about their profitmargins.

In general, current market condi-

tions in North America are expectedto persist until well into March andearly April.


advertisement

Contributing to the Textiles Market Analysis:

* Günther Krippendorf, FWS Alta-West, Germany

* Jerry Usatch, Dumont ExportCorp., Philadelphia, USA

RI_060 MA Textiles:MA Textiles 28-02-2008 16:00 Pagina 91

C L A S S I F I E D A D S

m a c h i n e r y

MANY MORE MACHINES ON WEBSITE

Tel: +44 (0) 8700 100 097 • Fax: +44 (0) 121 355 [email protected] • www.adrecyclingsolutions.com

SEE IMAGESON OUR

WEBSITE

• (1992) Lindemann LU800/8 PA60 Shear• (1998) Lindemann LU800/6 PA60 Shear• (1995) Lindemann LT600 Shear• (1997) Taurus 500DT Shear – diesel• Moros GB-C-15 Non ferrous Baler• Super Stripper 170• LMS Armoured cable stripper• Mcintyre 200 Alligator Shear• Mcintyre Drum Crusher

For

Sale

See images on our web

site follow the link to

the news page.

www.sackers.co.uk

Contact

Adrian Dodds: +44 1473 834876, E-mail: [email protected]

* Linderman LT606 Scrap shear(1995)* Eldan SC2118- Super Chop* Eldan Heavy rasper HR162 c/w buffer silo* Eldan air seperation table* Eldan Filter* Alpine 80/100 cutting mill- granulator* Lefort 240 Texas scrap shear* Sennebogen 825 scrao handler c/w grab* Wilfley- Holeman water table

Iron Industries, LLC.

WWW.SCRAPIRON.COM

www.recycledirect.com

Tel +44 (0)1656 724111 Fax +44 (0)1656 729777 [email protected]

New, used and reconditioned recycling machinery Service spares and emergency repairs Europe-wide.

Specialists in Lindemann equipment

REGULATOR - CETRISARegulación de Motores, S.A.

YOUR BETTER CHOICE

Eddy Currents SeparatorsCans-Bricks SeparatorsStainless Steel SeparatorsOverbelt SeparatorsDrums SeparatorsRollers Separators

TFN: +34 93 370 58 00FAX: +34 93 370 12 [email protected]

Poligono Industrial El Regas C/Vapor 8 – Sector Barnasud08850 Gava – (Barcelona)SPAIN

· Metal shredder plants: from 1000 upto 4000 HP

· Full turn-key projects:- Design, manufacturing and installation

· Mobile shredder units also available.

Tel. +34 91 872 09 42 • Fax +34 91 872 90 91E-mail: [email protected] • www.tallereszb.com

round magnet drum magnet headroll magnet rectangular magnet overband magnet

Ruhrorter Strasse 112, D-45478 Mülheim-Ruhr. Postfach 100837, D-45408 Mülheim-Ruhr, Tel. +49 208 423020 Fax +49 208 423780

Own reparationworkshop

Guarantee: 24 months

Used:• Shear/baler, LOURITEX 650 tons, 6 meter box. Year 2001• Shear MBH BRONNEBERG SV 375 tons, 6 Meter box.

Reconditioned• Shear baler LEFORT 500. Box 6 m. 75 kW. Needs repairs.• Lid baler BECKER GS-2. Bale 40 x 40 cm. Auto.• Lid baler MBH, bale 30 x 30 cm. Box 1600 x 1000. Auto.• Lid baler MBH, bale 60 x 40 cm. Box 1250 x 600 mm.• Lid baler COSMO bale 30 x 30 cm. Box 1200 x 1500 • Baler LINDEMANN Sobod automatic, bale 40 x 40 cm.

Box 2000 x 1250.• Baler MOROS GC/F 40. Bale 50 x 30 cm.• LINDEMANN Shredder 600 kW• MOROS metal cleaning shear HH 10. • MOROS metal alligator shear. 320 mm blades• ALPINE Pre-Chopper with pusher, 90 kW• ELDAN Heavy Rasper 1200, 90 kW. • ELDAN Super Chopper 1408, hydr. Drive. • PALLMANN Hammermill 90 kW• SATRIND Rotor shear K 8/50, hydr. drive, 37 kW.• RAPID Twin Granulator 2 x 650 mm, 2 x 37 kW• BOA Shredder for Papier. Rotor 1250 mm• Cable Recycling Plant Eldan for approx 1500 kg input / h• Grabs, different sizes new and used• EDDY CURRENT separation system. New condition.

FROM STOCK: NEW MBH CABLE STRIPPERS / MBH ALLIGATORS 400 - 500 - 600

MBH Bronneberg & Jegerings BVPhone: +31 492 591 900Fax: +31 492 543 045Email: [email protected]: www.bronneberg.nl

New machines• Mobile, portable and stationary guillotine

shears 420-1000 tonnes• Mobile car-, steel and metal scrap balers

60 x 80/50 x 25/60 x 30/40 x 40/30 x 30 bales• Alligator shears 400 / 500 / 600 / 750 mm blades• Cable strippers for plastic and armoured cable• Car flatteners, cable granulation plants• Roll splitters for paper and aluminium

The best choice


RI_032 Class ads:opmaak 28-02-2008 11:50 Pagina 92

If you’re reading this, thenwe don’t have to explain toyou the power of advertising. Reach more than 33.000 recyclingprofessionals around the world with an advertisement in RecyclingInternational.

Carl-Benz-Str. 24 – 77871 Renchen – GermanyPhone: +49 7843 / 99169-20

Fax: +49 7843 / 99169-23eMail: [email protected] Homepage: www.terec.de

For sale:� original clothing� sorted secondhand clothing� original shoes� also all grades of uncut wiping rags

KRITZER * RECYCLING

Dealers in Used Clothing

Kritzer Recycling GmbH76133 Karlsruhe/GermanyPhone: +49 (0) 721 982 3390Fax: +49 (0) 721 982 [email protected]

C L A S S I F I E D A D S

t e x t i l e s

For advertisements please contact:Jan Willem Ypma (Sales Manager)

P.O. Box 20986802 CB ArnhemThe NetherlandsPhone: +31 343.517.488Fax: +31 343.510.253E-mail:[email protected]

Advertiser IndexA-1 Specialized Services 51 A-Ward Attachments 4Adam, John R. & Sons 20Alusil 94Andrin Industrial Magnetism 34ATM Recycling systems 32Bel Fibres 90BHS Sonthofen 83BIR 44Deltax/Gensco 34DMS Powders 7 Duesmann 32Fuchs Terex 12Galloo 77Global Metals 18Hagglunds Drives 95 Harris Waste Management 76ICM 56Innov-X 14JMC Recycling Machinery 35Lancaster 21Lefort 16 Levand 13LiqPack 18 Ludlum Measurements 20 M&J Industries 64

Macaulay 20MacPresse 20Magtrade 32Mantsinen 42 Messe Munchen/IFAT 2008 36Metso Lindemann 22+82+96Moros (Industrias Hidráulicas) 56MTB 86Niton Europe 36Osborn Engineering 40Peperzeel, W.A. van 30 RadComm Europe 18 RecycleNet 90RecySystems 45RIISA 32Sennebogen 24SGM Magnetics 18+81Shredder Company 60+74Sierra Europe Recycling 2 Sinomet 19Spectro Analytica Instruments 30Stahlwerke Bochum 78Toratec 86Venti Oelde 83Vezzani 10Weyermann Associates 90


m a c h i n e r y

Lekon Ltd

26 Ventspils Str, LV-1002 • Riga, Letland

Tel: +371 7610 054 • Fax: +371 7612 136

email: [email protected] • http://www.lekon.lv

Autokatalysator Ankauf & RecyclingBuying Scrap Car Catalytic Converters for Recycling

RI_032 Class ads:opmaak 28-02-2008 15:46 Pagina 93

Editorial closing date: March 27 2008

Contact Manfred Beckphone: +31 26 3120-994

fax: +31 26 3120-630e-mail:

[email protected]

Advertisement closing date: March 31 2008

Contact Jan-Willem Ypmaphone: +31 343 517-488

fax: +31 343 510-253e-mail: [email protected]

I N T

HE

NE

XT

I SS

UE

If you want to get your messageacross to more than 6000 leading recycling companies in127 countries worldwide, thencall/fax/e-mail us about editorialfeatures or advertising in theApril 2008 issue of RecyclingInternational.

The April issue of Recycling International will feature:

And, of course, our regulars:* News * Product News * Magazine Round Up * In-depthMarket Analy ses covering ferrous and non-ferrous metals,nickel & stainless, paper and textiles * Viewpoint *

Extra circulation!!Additional copies ofthe April issue of RecyclingInternational will be on display at:

* World car recycling update

* Oil and energy from plastics

* Supplier: Metso Lindemann

* Disappearing cars in Europe

* Profile: Norsk Metallretur of Norway

China Intl. Recycling Conference& Exhibition18-19 May Guangzhou (China)www.chinairc.org

advertisement

IFAT 2008

5-9 May

Munich

(Germany)

www.ifat.de

RI_038 Next Issue:next issue 28-02-2008 15:41 Pagina 94

Our drive is your performance.

Hägglunds Drives AB, SE-890 42 Mellansel, Sweden. Tel: +46 (0)660-870 00. E-mail, Business Area Manager: [email protected], www.hagglunds.com

With a drive system from Hägglunds you get compact, durable power - without foundations or gearboxes. Our wide range of heavy duty motors with variable speed and shock load protection provide reliable drives and total assurance. Even in the most demanding applications. We meet your demands.

Demanding applications?We’ve seen them all.


Lind

eman

n

We are going mobile.

ww

w.m

etso

min

era

ls.com

Recycling excellence. Wherever you want.

Mobility with Metso Lindemann: profit by sturdy and long-life Lindemann machines.

Recycle easily wherever you want. With our new mobile machines you will be very flexible and your

work will be more efficient. It is our desire to better meet the requirements of our customers.

Interested? Then visit us at Ifat, hall C2, stand 413/512.

We will be pleased to meet you.

Metso Lindemann GmbH • Erkrather Straße 401 • D-40231 Düsseldorf • Tel.: +49 (0)211 2105-0 • Fax: +49 (0)211 2105-376 • E-Mail: [email protected]

MunichMay 5th-9th, 2008

IFAT2008

March 2

00

8, N

o. 2

March 2008, No. 2

E-waste regulations: calls for stronger enforcement E-waste regulations: calls for stronger enforcement

Bumper plastics crop harvested

for recycling

GMS aims forresponsible

vessel tradingwith India


Opmaak 1 - Recycling International

Documents

Transcript of Opmaak 1 - Recycling International