Updated: AF&PA, NWRA oppose Colorado EPR legislation

The organizations urge Gov. Jared Polis to veto the bill, which targets paper and packaging. However, some local recycling organizations and the APR support the bill.

May 24, 2022

Marissa McNees

Legislation & Regulations Paper

The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA), Washington, and the National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA), Arlington, Virginia, have released statements opposing Colorado’s House Bill 1355—“Producer Responsibility Program for Recycling”—which is an extended producer responsibility (EPR) bill that targets paper and packaging, with the AF&PA urging Colorado Gov. Jared Polis to veto the bill.

“An EPR scheme is not the right policy approach for sustainable paper products,” the AF&PA says in a statement released Wednesday, May 11. “Colorado should instead focus on addressing underfunded and underdeveloped recycling programs.”

The NWRA says in a statement released May 2, “House Bill 1355 disadvantages Colorado businesses against out-of-state competition, punishes consumers and businesses, allows for speculation of recycling materials and doesn’t fix the problem.”

HB 1355 was introduced in March and states that companies that sell consumer-facing packaging and some printed paper join a producer responsibility organization which would then fund and manage a statewide recycling system. There are exceptions for small businesses and some highly regulated packaging, and an amendment would allow producers to submit an individual program plan as an alternative.

The bill passed the state House, the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Appropriations Committee and most recently passed its third reading on the Senate floor Wednesday, May 11. It has been sent to Polis for signature.

The AF&PA says EPR is not the right approach for paper as they are traditionally used for hard-to-dispose-of-items or products like mattresses or paint where a robust end-market does not exist. In a late-April briefing, the organization said there already is a robust end-market for paper, referencing a planned or announced approximately $5 billion in manufacturing infrastructure investments by 2024 “to continue the best use of recycled fiber in our products.”

“Colorado’s ‘Producer Responsibility Program for Recycling’ ignores the fact that paper recycling is a success,” the AF&PA says. “More paper by weight gets recycled from municipal waste streams each year than aluminum, glass, steel and plastic combined.”

It continues, “EPR could shift the economic burden of new recycling regulations from municipalities to Coloradans. These added costs would especially hurt small businesses and low-income households.”

According to the AF&PA, 61.1 percent of Coloradans have access to drop-off recycling while 49.8 percent of residents have access to residential curbside paper recycling. The group also says cities like Denver are utilizing innovative technologies to recycle more, including paper cups. The national paper recycling rate also remains high, meeting or exceeding 63 percent each year since 2009, the AF&PA says.

However, at least one MRF operator in the state has voiced its support for the legislation.

The Boston-based Product Stewardship Institute and Eco-Cycle, a Colorado-based nonprofit that operates a material recovery facility for Boulder County, have voiced their support for the legislation, referring to it as "a paradigm shift in the way paper and packaging are designed and managed in the United States."

“We worked for two decades with governments and producers to develop our packaging EPR policy model, which we provided to Recycle Colorado to support the drafting of this bill,” says Scott Cassel, CEO and Founder of the Product Stewardship Institute. “It will serve as an example to other states for years to come.”

Colorado’s combined recycling and composting rate is just 15 percent, less than half the national recycling and composting rate, according to an annual State of Recycling and Composting report by the Colorado Public Interest and Research Group and Eco-cycle.

“People believe we have a green state and are shocked to hear how low our diversion rates are,” state Rep. Lisa Cutter, one of the sponsors of HB22-1355. “This bill will protect our climate, create an easier and more consistent system of recycling throughout the state, and contribute to creating a circular economy. We've been laggards in this area and this gives us the opportunity to be leaders."

Kate Bailey, policy director at Eco-Cycle and lead author of the bill, says, “This policy will make it easy for all Coloradans to recycle more plastics, aluminum cans, glass bottles, cardboard, and printed paper. It will also help manufacturers and businesses by creating a more resilient domestic supply of recycled materials to make new products. Amid historic supply chain disruptions, rampant climate change, and pervasive plastic pollution, there has never been a more important time to invest in recycling."

Recycle Colorado, based in Longmont, worked to develop and pass the legislation, holding more than 70 meetings with state and national representatives from all sectors of industry, government and nonprofits. The bill puts responsibility for managing and educating consumers about packaging and paper waste on consumer brands and creates financial incentives for brands to use less packaging and paper overall and increases access to recycling across the state, the organizations that support the bill say.

Also voicing support for the Colorado legislation is the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), Washington, which describes it as "the strongest producer responsibility policy in the nation."

The APR says it "strongly support[s] HB22-1355 being signed into law to create a producer responsibility program to enhance the recycling of packaging and printed paper in Colorado. The producer responsibility program would require consumer brands to finance the recycling of their packaging and printed paper and invest in expanding and modernizing local recycling infrastructure so that programs can handle new packaging materials as well as those not currently recycled."

The association says not enough plastic is collected to meet the growing regulatory and corporate commitments to use more recycled plastics to make new products, adding, "APR recognizes producer responsibility as a crucial policy tool to increase the supply of recycled materials into the economy. Many plastic recyclers across the U.S. are not operating at full capacity and need more material to meet the demands for recycled resin. This policy is greatly needed to increase the supply of recycled plastics to meet existing and future manufacturing needs."

The APR adds, "We urge Gov. Pollis to sign HB22-1355 into law for EPR for packaging and paper products to reinvigorate recycling, reduce waste, and strengthen domestic supply chains."

As of the morning of May 24, the bill had not been signed into law.

Unlike Maine and Oregon’s packaging EPR laws, both passed last year, the bill's supporters say Colorado’s program would be fully funded and managed by producers.

*This article was updated May 24 to add comments from the organizations that supported the bill.

The price of No. 1 heavy melting steel suffered the steepest drop in May.

Photo by Recycling Today staff.

RMDAS transactions portray May ferrous plunge

Domestic steel mills paid from $65 to $85 less per ton, depending on the grade and region.

May 24, 2022

Brian Taylor

Ferrous Auto Shredding

Steel mill buyers of ferrous scrap in the United States were able to buy material for less in May compared with the high-priced April market, as revealed by transaction pricing collected by the Raw Material Data Aggregation Service (RMDAS) of Pittsburgh-based Management Science Associates Inc. (MSA).

Of the three largest grades tracked by RMDAS, No. 1 heavy melting steel (HMS), suffered the steepest drop. The national average price paid for No. 1 HMS by mills between April 20 and May 19 was $443 per ton. That means the grade lost 15.8 percent of its value during the trading period.

By suffering the steepest drop of the three major grades in May, No. 1 HMS now is priced significantly lower than both No. 2 shredded scrap and, especially, the RMDAS prompt industrial composite grade. Nationally, mills paid $87 per ton more for shred ($526 per ton) than for No. 1 HMS and a whopping $268 more per ton for prompt scrap ($711 per ton).

Regional differences paid for prompt scrap were minor, with the North Midwest and North Central/East regions paying $710 per ton while the RMDAS South region paid $713 per ton.

There was a little more variation with No. 1 HMS prices, with mills in the South paying $451 per ton and the North Central/East region paying $448 per ton. Meanwhile, mills in the North Midwest region were able to buy the grade for just $424 per ton.

Davis Index, which tracks ferrous scrap transactions around the world, including export purchases, reported earlier in May on the unwillingness of overseas buyers to offer April U.S. prices to American exporters.

In the early part of May, as domestic prices are being established in the U.S., Davis Index reported that mills in Turkey remained largely absent from the market, or they offered prices of at least $30 per ton compared with April pricing.

Turkey is the largest buyer of exported U.S. ferrous scrap.

The SRT plant in Wabash, Indiana, has the capacity to produce 75,000 tons of sow and ingot annually.

Photo by Recycling Today staff.

MetalX acquires Indiana aluminum furnace operator

Processing firm buys scrap-fed SRT Aluminum melt shop facility in Wabash, Indiana.

May 24, 2022

Posted by Brian Taylor

Financial Nonferrous

Fort Wayne, Indiana-based MetalX says it has agreed to acquire the assets and business of SRT Aluminum in Wabash, Indiana. SRT is a secondary aluminum melting operation that converts aluminum scrap into specification remelt scrap ingot (RSI) in sow and ingot form.

According to MetalX, the Wabash facility uses electric induction and reverb furnaces to produce 75,000 tons of sow and ingot annually. The SRT plant is located on a 40-acre site that also includes an aluminum shredder and turnings processing operation.

MetalX says SRT employs 120 people, “all of whom are expected to become MetalX employees post-closing.” The transaction is expected to close at the end of July, subject to due diligence and final approvals.

“Incorporating aluminum melting capabilities has been a key element of our overall strategy for some time,” says Danny Rifkin, CEO of MetalX. “This acquisition gets us immediately into the business in a meaningful way and is a solid platform for growth. Additionally, it secures our own production needs, broadens our service offerings for existing customers and supports our focus on developing new and sustainable methods to create high-quality scrap and secondary products.”

Neal Rifkin, executive vice president of MetalX, comments, “We’ve had an excellent commercial relationship with SRT over the years and look forward to the SRT employees joining the MetalX team. We view aluminum melting as a valuable and complementary addition to our scrap business and see tremendous potential to grow the business, including new projects to increase capacity.”

Bruce Warshauer, managing member of SRT, remarks, “We believe this transaction will be good for our customers, our employees and our ownership group, which has operated and grown SRT Aluminum since acquiring it in 2009.”

MetalX describes itself as an independent scrap metals recycling business engaged in nonferrous scrap processing and trading, consulting and management services for industrial generators and consumers. IT was founded in 2012 by Danny and Neal Rifkin, third- and fourth-generation members of the Rifkin family who previously co-owned and helped manage OmniSource Corp. Following this transaction, MetalX says it will handle more than 175,000 tons of nonferrous scrap annually.

Photo courtesy of Covanta

Covanta appoints chief sustainability officer

Tequila Smith has more than two decades of working in various roles with progressive scope and responsibility at Southern Co., Alabama Power Co. and Georgia Power Co.

May 23, 2022

Posted by Alex Kamczyc

Personnel

Covanta, a sustainable materials management and environmental solutions provider based in Morristown, New Jersey, has appointed Tequila Smith as the company’s chief sustainability officer. Smith succeeds Paul Gilman, who retired from Covanta in April after 14 years with the company. She will report to President and CEO Azeez Mohammed.

“We are very pleased to welcome Tequila to the Covanta team,” Mohammed says. “She is a dynamic leader whose expertise will be invaluable as we seek to advance our sustainability performance initiatives within our expanding suite of services. Tequila will serve as a guiding light for the company as we look to further anchor our strategies around innovation and social impact.”

According to a news release from Covanta, Smith joins the company after more than two decades of working in various roles with progressive scope and responsibility at Southern Co., Alabama Power Co. and Georgia Power Co. She has hands-on senior leadership experience in helping industrial companies engage on issues of sustainability at both a corporate and community level.

Most recently, she served as vice president of sustainability for Georgia Power Co., the largest subsidiary of Southern Co. There, she led the implementation of Southern Co.’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy. Before that, Smith was vice president of charitable giving and president of the Alabama Power Foundation and director of energy services for Alabama Power Co. She was also the general manager for renewable energy operations at Southern Power.

As Covanta’s new chief sustainability officer, Smith will be responsible for the repositioning and execution of its sustainability strategy in accordance with the company’s recent acquisition by EQT. Smith will be focused on amplifying the company’s sustainability achievements through the strategic coordination of programs and initiatives through the lens of ESG impacts.

“I am proud to bring my experience to Covanta at such a pivotal time in the company’s history,” Smith says. “I look forward to working with its talented and dedicated team to provide sustainable, socially responsible and environmentally innovative materials management solutions to businesses and communities."

Smith holds a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she sits on the board at the School of Engineering. She also holds board seats on the Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta, Stonehenge Capital Community Development and HudsonAlpha Foundation. She holds a Master of Arts in communication studies, specifically focused on organizational leadership from the University of Alabama.