Newsworthy

> METALS

BIR to Address Fraud, Theft from Export Containers
The Bureau of International Recycling, (BIR) Brussels, has announced that it has subscribed to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), one of three bureaus that form Commercial Crime Services, an anti-crime unit of the International Chamber of Commerce. The recycling association will test out the service for a trial period until June 2013.

The BIR has taken the step in an effort to reduce losses from container shipments, primarily from exports to China, that association members are seeing. The theft and fraud issue has been growing in concern, culminating in discussions held during BIR’s spring convention in Rome by the association’s International Trade Council and the Non Ferrous Metals Division.

Under the arrangement with BIR, the IMB will collate incidents in regard to container shipments, in particular fraud and theft. According to BIR, sharing of information has been effective in reducing risk in other membership sectors of the IMB. Once reports have been verified and recorded, details will be available to BIR members upon checking. Any information passed to the IMB will be treated in strict confidence and the anonymity of the BIR member maintained. In some cases IMB will circulate warnings or alerts.

To make sure the service is as effective as possible, BIR’s secretariat is requesting all BIR members forward reports of fraud and theft from container shipments to the IMB, marked for the attention of the director, identifying themselves as BIR members, with a copy sent to the BIR office.

Reports to the IMB should consist of a short summary and supporting documentation. Those wishing to reach the IMB can visit www.icc-ccs.org. The BIR notes that the service does not replace the BIR Arbitration Service, which BIR members may still use in cases of commercial disputes.

> PAPER

Spanish Firm Acquires European Assets from the Newark Group
The United States-based Newark Group has announced the sale of its minority stake in three recycling companies in Spain and the south of France to the majority shareowner, Spain-based SAICA.

“The sale is a step in Newark’s plans to monetize assets in order to invest in its core businesses,” the company states in an August 2012 news release. “The long-standing and excellent relationship between Newark and SAICA Natur will continue, as the parties have agreed to [honor] recovered paper supply contracts that will provide Newark’s Spanish paper mills with recovered paper under the same conditions as before the sale,” the news release continues.

The European Operations division of The Newark Group had held the minority stakes in the three plants. SAICA Natur S.L., the recovered fiber subsidiary of SAICA, the large Spanish containerboard producer and packaging company, is the new sole shareowner.

> PLASTICS

Growing Demand for PVC Attributed to Asian Markets
According to a new report by the research group GBI Research, global demand for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) has seen a steady increase over the last decade. The report adds that increased demand for energy efficiency will drive demand.

The August 2012 report, “Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Global Market to 2020 – Growth From Asia-Pacific Construction, Packaging and Electrical Sectors Continues to Drive Demand,” also finds that demand for PVC is growing fastest in Asia, which accounts for more than 65% of global PVC demand.

According to the report, demand in developed countries has largely stabilized, but the growing economies and large populations of developing countries such as India and China creates significant PVC consumption potential.

Global PVC demand stood at 22.181 million tons in 2000, increasing to 32.3 million tons in 2011. Global demand is expected to grow at an annual rate of 4.9 % per year between 2011 and 2020, to reach 49.5 million tons in 2020.

The construction, packaging and electrical sectors were the leading end-use segments for PVC in 2011, with slightly less than 18 million tons, 3.66 million tons and 2.721 million tons of demand, respectively, accounting for around 75% of global PVC demand altogether.

> ELECTRONICS

EC Releases Guidelines on Electronics Recycling
The European Commission (EC) has released new rules for the collection and treatment of obsolete electronics. In a statement, Janez Potocnik, the EC’s commissioner, says, “In these times of economic turmoil and rising prices for raw materials, resource efficiency is where environmental benefits and innovative growth opportunities come together. We now need to open new collection channels for electronic waste and improve the effectiveness of existing ones.”

The directive introduces a collection target of 45% of electronic equipment sold that will apply from 2016 and, as a second step from 2019, a target of 65% of equipment sold or 85% of electronic scrap generated. Member states will be able to choose one of the two equivalent ways to measure the target they wish to report. From 2018, the directive will be extended to all categories of electronic equipment, subject to an impact assessment beforehand.

The directive also will require exporters to test whether the equipment works and provide documents on shipments that could be deemed illegal.

Currently only one-third of electrical and electronic scrap in the European Union (EU) is separately collected within the documented system. The existing EU collection target represents about 2 million tonnes per year, out of around 10 million tonnes of WEEE generated annually in the EU. By 2020, it is estimated that the volume of WEEE will increase to 12 million tonnes. The final target of the new directive, 85% of all WEEE generated, is designed to ensure that in 2020 around 10 million tonnes, or roughly 20 kg per capita, will be separately collected in the EU, says the EC. For more information, visit http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/weee/index_en.htm.

> PLASTICS

Teijin to Establish Polyester Recycling Joint Venture in China
The Japanese company Teijin Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, has announced plans to establish a joint venture with the Chinese company Jinggong Holding Group to create a new company called Zhejiang Jiaren New Materials Co. Ltd., in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, China. Shaoxing is one of China’s largest production bases for fibre products. The joint venture is expected to begin in September of 2012.

From left to right, Fang Zhaoyang, chairman, Jinggong Holding Group; Duan Xiaoping, chairman, China Chemical Fibers Association; and Shigeo Ohyagi, president and CEO, Teijin Limited.

The companies plan to chemically recycle polyester and manufacture and sell the resulting fibres, with the aim of establishing a closed-loop recycling system in China similar to Teijin’s Eco Circle program in Japan. Teijin will take a 49% stake in the JV, with Jinggong Holding Group, a Shaoxing-based multinational enterprise, contributing the remaining 51%.

Around 6 billion yen (US$72.4 million) will be invested to build facilities for DMT (dimethyl terephthalate) production, polymerization and fibre spinning. Construction will begin in November 2012, with operations scheduled to begin by the end of March 2014. The plant will recycle used polyester into DMT, which will be used to produce polyester resin and value-added fibre.

> METALS

Spain’s Befesa Announces Plan to Develop Recycling Programs in Turkey
Abengoa, based in Spain, has announced that its Befesa Industrial Residue Recycling Division is planning to construct two recycling-related projects in Turkey. The projects target steel dust recycling efforts and are scheduled to be built in Izmir and Adana, Turkey.

Befesa, also based in Spain, operates in Turkey through a joint venture with the Canadian company Silvermet Inc. The joint venture will invest around $120 million to build the two plants. Each of the facilities is expected to treat around 110,000 tons of steel dust per year and will produce more than 80,000 tons of washed Waelz oxide, a zinc-rich final product, which will be exported.

M. Ilker Ayci, president of Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey (ISPAT), notes, “This investment is very important, not only for bringing technology, creating employment and contribution to Turkey’s export, but also contributing to the environment. Befesa has added Turkey to its existing operations in Germany, France, U.K., Spain and Sweden.”

Javier Molina, Befesa CEO, says, “We are very glad to contribute to Turkey’s sustainable development in the field of recycling and recovery of industrial waste with this investment.”

> PLASTICS

Closed Loop Recycling to Expand UK Plastics Recycling Operation
The United Kingdom’s Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has signaled approval of U.K.-based Closed Loop Recycling’s plan to double capacity at its East London plastics recycling facility. The company will invest around £12 million (US$18.745 million) on the facility. Additionally, the expansion will result in adding or safeguarding more than 100 jobs at Closed Loop’s facility in Dagenham, England.

The expansion will double the plant’s capacity to around 85,000 tonnes per year. Construction on the site is expected to begin by 2013. When finished, the expanded plant will be able to increase food-grade HDPE output, improve sorting facilities and improve the plant’s economies of scale.

“I congratulate Closed Loop Recycling on its success in plastics purification,” says U.K. Trade and Investment Minister Lord Green. “I warmly welcome its expansion plans, which are an excellent reflection of the strength of the U.K. market for low-carbon and environmental goods and services.”

> ELECTRONICS

Quebec Names Call2Recycle Official Battery Collector
Quebec’s recycling and environmental agency RECYC-Quebec has named Call2Recycle the province’s official All-Battery Collection program operator. Through the program, Quebec residents can drop off batteries weighing up to 5 kilograms (11 pounds) at Call2Recycle’s more than 900 battery collection locations and at participating municipalities.

“Quebec residents have enthusiastically used Call2Recycle collection boxes for rechargeable batteries, so we know that they will embrace the all-battery program,” says Joe Zenobio, executive director of Call2Recycle Canada.

> PAPER

Smurfit Kappa Promotes UK Paper Recycling Efforts
Representatives from Smurfit Kappa Recycling will attend the RWM conference Sept. 11-13, 2012, in Birmingham, U.K., to discuss efforts the company is taking to boost revenue from paper and cardboard recycling, while supporting U.K. manufacturing and improving the carbon efficiency of waste management operations.

With a national collection infrastructure and a market for 500,000 tonnes of recovered paper per year, Smurfit Kappa Recycling provides U.K.-based recycling for councils, businesses and organisations of all sizes. The company says it offers full audit trails and guaranteed collections. Recovered fibre is reprocessed at Smurfit Kappa’s two U.K. paper mills in Birmingham and Kent and then converted into cardboard boxes and containers.

This year the Smurfit Kappa Group announced a three-year £98M investment in its Townsend Hook, Kent, paper-making facility, securing a supply of recovered paper for Smurfit Kappa’s packaging operations in the U.K. and Ireland.

> PLASTICS

German Plastics Recycler Applauds European Certification Standard
Michael Scriba, an executive with the German plastics recycling company mtm plastics, has applauded the creation of the EuCertPlast standard recently implemented in Europe for post-consumer plastics recyclers.

“Until now companies like mtm, who work with various domestic and foreign suppliers, had to allow themselves to be audited several times a year according to varying inspection requirements,” says Scriba. “The Europe-wide uniform certification system EuCertPlast should put an end to this costly and time-consuming practice.