Contract talks continue at West Coast ports, while BIR officials warn of a threat to "major international flows of recovered fiber."
As contract talks between the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union continued at West Coast ports through late-June, export concerns among recyclers in the United States and overseas had not eased.
Negotiations began May 12 between the PMA and the union, with the current contract set to expire July 1. The contract covers 29 ports across California, Oregon and Washington and includes more than 20,000 dockworkers.
Export concerns were highlighted at this year’s Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) Paper Division meeting May 23, where speakers reported that major international flows of recovered fiber were under “serious threat” from proposed changes to European Union waste shipment legislation, despite current figures underlining the pivotal role recovered fiber plays in the production of paper and paperboard globally.
Francisco Donoso of Spain-based Dolar Servicios Verdes SL and divisional president of the BIR Paper Division board said worldwide consumption of recovered fiber in 2020 totaled more than 208 million metric tons, with 182 million metric tons absorbed by packaging alone. He noted that Asian countries remain “keen customers” for Europe’s substantial recovered fiber surplus, but he warned “exports to Asia are going to be much more difficult than [they are] at the moment.”
In the U.S. market, Bill Moore of Atlanta-based Moore & Associates tells Recycling Today, “The export business went up dramatically, now it’s slowly coming down.”
He adds, “If you have a good domestic mill that pays on time and doesn’t give you quality claims that aren’t true, you’re better off selling there. I think that’s the mantra that’s playing out now as this new domestic demand comes out.”
During the BIR session, Donoso pointed to the volatility of old corrugated container (OCC) prices in recent years and noted the recovered paper sector “had every right to feel exposed and a little nervous,” but suggested hedging via futures contracts offers more stability and predictability.
According to Fasmarkets RISI’s June 6 edition of Pulp & Paper Week, U.S. OCC pricing ended its eight-month decline with a $5-per-ton increase in the Los Angeles and San Francisco regions and holding steady across the rest of the country.
Mixed paper pricing remained steady into June, as did pricing for the high grades, while sorted residential papers and news (SRPN) saw a $5 per ton increase across the board. RISI’s report also notes that generation of OCC and mixed paper is down midyear—particularly from material recovery facilities.
Despite generation at U.S. MRFs being down, the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA), Washington, announced the 2021 paper recycling rate, which reached 68 percent—the highest rate achieved since 2018. It also noted that U.S. mills used 80 percent recycled paper in 2021 to make new paper and paperboard products, and that one-third of U.S. mills exclusively use recycled paper.
According to the AF&PA, the recycling rate for OCC increased to 91.4 percent from 88.8 percent in 2020. Terry Weber, vice president of industry affairs for AF&PA, in a late-May news conference, said the paper industry has planned or announced $5 billion in manufacturing infrastructure investments through 2021 to help increase the amount of recovered paper used by U.S. paper and paperboard mills.
Kevin Duncombe, president of Western Pacific Pulp & Paper, says, “I think any new capacity is a bright spot, and there seems to be a steady list of new projects in the works."
One of the major projects announced last year is Atlanta-based Pratt Industries’ paper mill and box factory in Henderson, Kentucky. The $500-million project was announced in July 2021 and, after breaking ground in December, is on track to come online in the fall of 2023.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear calls the Henderson project “the largest jobs announcement … in Western Kentucky in 25 years." In May, The Gleaner reported the city of Henderson secured a $125 million building permit on behalf of Pratt for the 372,000-square-foot facility.
Recycling equipment maker adds 24,000 square feet of manufacturing space in Jesup, Georgia.
Bakersfield, California-based Sierra International Machinery is citing “the overwhelming demand for the Sierra REB line of two-ram balers and conveyors” as having prompted an expansion project at its manufacturing facility in Jesup, Georgia.
What Sierra says is its fourth expansion project since the plant in Jesup opened in 2008 will add 24,000 square feet of space to its manufacturing facility there. The expansion will allow Sierra to increase its production capacity and meet steady demand for the Sierra product line, says the company.
“I’m incredibly excited to be able to expand for our fourth time in Jesup, Georgia,” says Sierra President and co-owner John Sacco. “The market acceptance of our machines has been so great that we need to increase our capacity to move more equipment through to be able to deliver on a more timely basis.”
Sacco continues, “The team at Sierra in Georgia has done incredible work of delivering quality products, top engineering, and it’s time we expand again. We are blessed beyond.”
Every machine in the Sierra product line passes through the Georgia facility, according to the company. Additionally, every Sierra two-ram baler and conveyor is fully engineered, manufactured and assembled in Georgia.
The company calls the Jesup plant “truly the birthplace of the Sierra two-ram balers,” referring to a product line that offers three different two-ram models and numerous conveyor models.
Once the phase-four expansion is completed, Sierra’s Georgia manufacturing facility will be 96,000 square feet in size.
View a four-minute video tour of the plant conducted with Emory Olds and Jose Pereyra of Sierra below.
European company’s 2030 strategic plan includes focus on battery materials and precious metals recycling.
Belgium-based metals and recycling company Umicore is hinting at further investments in recycling as part of its “Umicore 2030 – RISE” strategic plan, which it is fully unveiling this week at its Capital Markets Day.
Referring to itself as “a frontrunner in battery recycling” in part because of its pyro-hydro technology, Umicore says its Battery Recycling Solutions business “will be scaled up significantly in Europe, while an expansion in North America is being analyzed.”
Umicore adds, “The strategic plan assumes an investment of approximately $525 million in a large-scale battery recycling greenfield plant with a name-plate capacity of 150,000 metric tons, deploying the newest evolution in Umicore’s pyro-hydro flowsheet.
“Upon commissioning of the plant in 2026, Umicore is expected to be the first company in Europe covering the full cathode active materials (CAM) value chain at large scale, thereby strongly contributing to the European Union’s objective to establish a sustainable and circular electric vehicle (EV) battery ecosystem in Europe," the company continues.
Regarding its Precious Metals Refining unit, which operates a smelter in Belgium fed in part with scrap materials, the firm says its “leadership in sustainable and complex recycling is seen to continue to create sustainable value with EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization] margins above 35 percent and to continue to generate substantial cash flows, at normalized platinum group metals prices.
The company says it sees electronics and EV recycling aspects of its business as a critical part of its 2030 plan, calling it a “strategy driven by powerful mega-trends, in particular the rapid acceleration towards cleaner mobility, which is anticipated to result in a tripling of Umicore’s addressable mobility market by 2030.”
Umicore CEO Mathias Miedreich says, “Our Umicore 2030 – RISE strategy builds on our proven ability to embrace megatrends, our strong market positions, technology leadership and organizational excellence and will allow us to accelerate sustainable and profitable growth and to be a net beneficiary of the changing world, particularly of the rapidly accelerating mobility transformation.”
He adds, “In line with our vision for sustainable growth, we continue to build on our clear purpose to produce ‘materials for a better life’ through businesses that will help shape a more healthy planet and society while delivering sustainable value to our stakeholders.”
The new shredder and downstream system are scheduled to come online in the summer and fall of 2022, respectively.
Norfolk, Virginia-based Greenwave Technology Solutions Inc. says its second auto shredder and downstream system are scheduled to begin operations during the third quarter of 2022. Greenwave’s subsidiary, Empire Services Inc., will operate the shredder.
Greenwave says the second shredder will process cars, household appliances and industrial products, while the downstream system will increase recovery yields of copper, aluminum, brass, steel and other metals. According to a previous report from the company, the system will allow it “to double its processing capacity, which could result in its dealer scrap product line generating an additional $8 million to $15 million in revenue over the next 18 months.”
The shredder and downstream system are scheduled to come online in the summer and fall of 2022, respectively, and are expected to double the company’s processing capacity while increasing its profit margins.
“We have made significant investments in our infrastructure this year to support the planned expansion of the number of scrap metal yards we operate through both organic growth and potentially acquiring independent, profitable facilities,” says Danny Meeks, chief executive officer of Greenwave. “Since founding Empire in 2004, we have successfully navigated several economic climates and believe Greenwave is positioned to continue generating positive operating cashflows while growing its revenues through a likely recession. We’d like to thank all of Greenwave’s shareholders for their continued trust in our company and look forward to keeping you updated on our progress.”
Greenwave has not mentioned where its planned second shredder will be. Empire currently operates 11 metal recycling facilities in Virginia and North Carolina.
Mobile shears and material handler maintenance among topics at September event in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Scrap Expo event, to take place in mid-September in Louisville, Kentucky, will include technical training sessions designed to help scrap processing machinery owners prevent equipment downtime.
Representatives from dealerships and equipment firms will offer insight into maintaining mobile shears, material handlers (including the hydraulic system), two-ram balers and loggers and flatteners that crush auto hulks and pre-treated appliances.
According to the Recycling Today Media Group, organizer of the event, “Each session will be delivered by some of the industry’s top maintenance technicians.”
Scrap Expo, which is billed as an equipment live demonstration event, will be held Sept. 13-14 at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville. Those interested in attending can find more information on this web page.