Recyclers and brokers of recovered fibre in Europe, North America and elsewhere are facing increased hurdles selling into their largest market in China.

In late winter and early spring, shippers of secondary commodities into China have slowly begun to learn about “Operation Green Fence,” an effort by Chinese environmental and customs officials to more vigorously inspect (and more willingly reject) what they consider to be sub-par container loads.

Paper Recycling Conference Asia, 30-31 May at the Hongta Hotel in Shanghai, represents an ideal opportunity for packers, merchants and brokers to get on-the-scene insight into this emerging issue.

Over the past several years, North America alone has sent from 570,000 to 695,000 containers filled with scrap materials to China—with recovered fibre being the largest commodity by volume. But carrying on with business as usual has not been an option for many in the recovered paper sector since Operation Green Fence was implemented in February 2013.

Numerous representatives from Chinese paper companies, government ministries and trade associations are on the roster at Paper Recycling Conference Asia. Find out from them—and have the opportunity ask them—details about the “green fence,” what it is trying to keep out and how long it will last. (See our topics and speakers listed here.)

Don’t miss out! Register and reserve a hotel room to attend Paper Recycling Conference Asia by going to https://www.smitherspira.com/Events/account-creation.aspx on the Web.



 

Mobile device buyback and recycling company e-Cycle LLC, New Albany, Ohio, has been selected as a top place to work in central Ohio by Columbus CEO magazine and 10TV.

The Top Workplaces are determined by two media outlets based on employee feedback on their workplace environment, according to an e-Cycle news release. E-Cycle was among 50 central Ohio companies to earn the honor. Recipients were recognized at an awards reception on in mid-April in Columbus.

“What makes us most proud of this recognition is the fact that it came from our employees, the very people who contribute to our success day in and day out,” says Christopher Irion, CEO of e-Cycle. “We’ve worked hard to create a culture in which our employees can thrive in their careers and feel empowered to provide solutions that help our customers address the challenges of responsible and cost-effective mobile recycling.”

The Top Workplaces Award comes at a time of growth and expansion for e-Cycle, according to the company. In late 2012 it moved its corporate offices from Hilliard, Ohio, to New Albany, enabling e-Cycle to expand recycling operations at its Hilliard location. The company presently has more than 100 employees.

E-Cycle provides wireless buyback, recycling and data deletion services for businesses and organizations. Through a recently launched online service, consumers also have the option to work with e-Cycle to recycle their devices.

 

The opening general session at the 2013 Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI) Convention & Exposition, held April 9-13 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla., addressed the issue of partisan politics. Former governors Ed Rendell, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, and Haley Barbour, a Republican from Mississippi, shared their views on the current political landscape in Washington, D.C.

Despite their differences of opinion, both men stressed their long-time friendship and mutual respect.
Barbour’s association with the scrap recycling industry dates back to the days of the Superfund battle, when his lobbying firm, Barbour Griffith & Rogers, assisted ISRI in “Operation Breakout,” which was the scrap recycling industry’s strategy to win Superfund relief for recyclers of metal, paper, plastics, glass and textiles.

Regarding today’s political climate, Barbour said the government is a reflection of divided politics. He added that President Barak Obama’s campaign during the 2012 general election sought successfully to make Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate, unacceptable to the electorate. While the majority of voters polled said they felt Romney would be better for the economy, 81 percent of those in exit polling said Obama cared for “people like me.”

The current electorate is the “most polarized” Barbour said he has “ever seen,” adding, “Washington magnifies that.”

However, he said this political division does not have to lead to gridlock, pointing to former presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton and what they were able to accomplish when control was split among the parties. “Reagan and Clinton thought like governors in that it was their job to get things done,” Barbour said.

Rendell said Obama’s track record as a leader has been mixed, as he has done well in some areas and not in others. “You know he is exercising leadership by the response to his proposed budget,” he said. “He is getting grief from both sides.”

Among the pressing issues Rendell said need to be addressed are the national debt, immigration, gun violence, energy, infrastructure, education and health care.

He pointed to the need to reform entitlement programs, saying, “Medicare and Social Security were never meant to cover 20 years.” Rendell also said that the federal government needed to start investing in the nation’s growth by ending subsidies for companies such as ExxonMobil, which records record profits year after year.

He closed by mentioning his book, A Nation of Wusses: How America’s Leaders Lost the Guts to Make Us Great, which encourages political leaders to stand and defend what they believe in, even if it means not winning re-election. “There are some things worth losing for,” he added.

The 2014 ISRI Convention & Exposition will be April 6-10 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.

In the early months of 2013 shippers of secondary commodities into China have slowly begun to learn about “Operation Green Fence,” an effort by Chinese environmental and customs officials to more vigorously inspect (and more willingly reject) what they consider to be sub-par container loads.

At a session called the “U.S.-China Scrap Trade Consult Meeting” at the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI) Convention & Exposition, held April 9-13 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla., those in attendance learned a little bit more.

Wang Jiwei, vice president and secretary-general of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association Recycling Metal Branch (CMRA), referred to Operation Green Fence as a 10-month effort by China’s national customs agency “to strengthen the supervision” of environmental standards.

According to Wang, the Green Fence initiative has a timeline running from February to November 2013 that will focus on random inspection of all forms of “imported waste,” meaning metallic, plastic, textiles, rubber and recovered paper materials.

Wang said the initiative did not involve new regulations, but that it “strengthens Article 12,” which was issued in April 2011. (That article states, “In the process of importing solid waste, measures shall be taken to prevent it from spread[ing] seepage and leakage or other measures to prevent pollution of [the] environment.”)

He said the intention of Operation Green Fence is in part “psychological,” to make shippers know China will “strictly examine the import application and [consider whether] to approve the import license” of shippers who are caught sending sub-standard material.

In his presentation, the CMRA’s Wang showed photos of inbound containers whose shortcomings went beyond liquid contamination. Problems presented in Wang’s photos included living mice, bullets and combustible flares included in a container load of juice boxes. “These prohibited materials are not allowed to enter China,” he stated.

Severe interruptions in scrap shipments to China are bound to have a significant effect. Speaking at a different ISRI Convention session, Liu Shengming of the China Certification & Inspection Group (CCIC) noted that the number of containers filled with scrap materials continued to grow from 2010 to 2012.

Liu said that North America sent 698,000 containers filled with scrap materials to China in 2012, up from 635,000 in 2011 and 570,000 in 2010. Only 0.04 percent of those containers were found to be “unqualified,” according to Liu. “The percentage is really low,” he commented.

By volume, recovered fiber was the foremost commodity shipped in 2012, followed by plastic scrap and then nonferrous metals.

The 2014 ISRI Convention & Exposition will be April 6-10 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.