The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), Washington, reports that for the month of May, U.S. steel mills shipped about 8.14 million net tons, a 0.8 percent decrease from about 8.21 million net tons shipped this April. However, AISI reports that steel shipments for May increased 1.1 percent compared with about 8.06 million net tons shipped in May 2018.

Year-to-date shipments are at 40.5 million net tons, a 3 percent increase compared with 2018 shipments for the first five months of the year. 

A comparison of May shipments to previous month April also indicates a for several steel products, including hot-rolled sheets (down 1 percent), hot-dipped galvanized sheets (down 2 percent) and cold-rolled sheets (down 4 percent).

Gershman, Brickner & Bratton Inc. (GBB), McLean, Virginia, announced July 9 that Jennifer Porter has been promoted to vice president. Porter, who joined GBB as senior project manager in 2017, has more than 17 years of experience working on sustainability initiatives for both governments and the private sector, with extensive expertise in solid waste management, recycling and composting program evaluation and development.

“Jennifer has successfully tackled high-visibility, strategic and ambitious projects which involved multi-disciplinary teams and a wide range of stakeholders. She has proven she is up to the challenge,” GBB President Steve Simmons says. “The combination of her passion for the environment, business acumen and expertise make her a great addition to GBB’s leadership team.”  

At GBB, Porter has managed multiple key projects, including leading the team tasked with planning and implementing the development of a sustainable business park in Kent County, Michigan, that aims to achieve 90 percent waste reduction by 2030 with an emphasis on implementing a circular economy model. Porter also led the strategic review of solid waste management services, contracts and service providers for the city of Taunton, Massachusetts, and is now heading the procurement efforts for waste collection and processing services. She was also project manager for public sector assignments in Deschutes County, Oregon; the Chittenden Solid Waste District of Vermont; the city of Baton Rouge/Parish of East Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Charles County, Maryland; and the city of Columbus, Ohio. Additionally, Porter led a comprehensive waste audit/assessment at Boston’s Logan Airport as part of a sustainability plan implementation for the Massachusetts Port Authority.

Prior to her work with GBB, Porter was conservation program coordinator for more than six years with the city of Portland Oregon’s Office of Sustainable Development, where she managed citywide recycling change, led multifamily recycling projects resulting in a 21 percent rise in volume and a 90 percent decrease in contamination, headed the renewal of the 10-year franchise for the city’s 23 residential waste haulers, coordinated the annual residential rate setting for the $43 million annual enterprise fund, established strong working relationships with multiple stakeholders, and developed a statistical model for a commercial food composting program.

She has also worked as COO at Tarrytown, New York-based Rivertown Composting, manager of corporate sustainability for Fairfax, Virginia-based Healthy Buildings, and director of workforce initiatives at the Honesdale, Pennsylvania-based Wayne Pike Workforce Alliance. She has also volunteered and held board positions with many organizations, including the Association of Oregon Recyclers, the Columbia-Willamette Clean Cities Coalition, the Hollywood Farmers Market and the Sunnyside Gardens Community Association.

“I am thrilled for this leadership opportunity at GBB,” Porter says. “I’m eager to contribute to GBB’s growth while continuing to work closely with clients and project teams on paradigm-shifting projects that create customized, sustainable and technically sound solutions for complex solid waste management challenges.”

Porter earned a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from Portland State University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Wells College in New York.

Cascades, Kingsey Falls, Ontario, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire assets from Orchids Paper Products, Pryor, Oklahoma, following the approval thereof by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (subject to completion of definitive documentation). The company will pay a cash consideration of $207 million, financed by its credit facilities, Cascades reports in a news release announcing the acquisition. Cascades is a leader in the recovery and manufacturing of packaging and tissue products. 

The assets to be acquired include Orchids Paper Products’ Barnwell, South Carolina, and Pryor, Oklahoma, operations, as well as certain assets, the supply and other commercial agreements with Fabrica de Papel San Francisco S.A., Mexicali, Mexico, and certain affiliates to that operation. Cascades reports that this transaction is expected to close in August or September, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

The acquired assets are expected to generate annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of approximately $45 million beginning in 2021, implying an acquisition multiple of approximately five times, driven by the maximization of capacity utilization of the acquired facilities, company asset rationalization and important reductions of corporate, subcontracting and logistics costs, Cascades reports in a news release.

Orchids Paper’s integrated plants have an estimated parent roll capacity of up to 114,000 tons and up to an estimated 114,500 tons of converting capacity. Orchids Paper also has an agreement with Fabrica to provide access for up to an additional 20,000 tons of converted products for the Western U.S. market, according to a news release from Cascades. More than $240 million has been invested in the plants’ strategic partnership, modern production and converting equipment over the last five years. In the coming months, Cascades plans to invest about $5 million to add swing functionality to expand the range of products that can be manufactured from ultra-premium structured tissue to high-quality conventional.

The acquisition accelerates the modernization of Cascades’ U.S. tissue platform while strengthening the geographic and operational positioning of the company's retail tissue segment in the Southern and Western U.S. In the coming months, Cascades will maximize the profitability of the Barnwell and Pryor plants, which operated at approximately 30 percent and 70 percent of their total converting capacity in 2018, by transferring volumes that are currently outsourced to third parties or produced at the Company's other U.S. plants to these facilities. The operational optimization of the new assets, lower transportation and subcontracting costs, reduction of Orchids Paper’s corporate costs, and the rationalization of Cascades’ current platform are expected to generate full-year annual EBITDA run-rate of approximately $45 million beginning in 2021.

Aqua Metals Inc., McCarran, Nevada, has appointed Feng Han to the new role of vice president of licensing and pricing, expanding its organizational capabilities and helping to deliver the first AquaRefining licensing package to Clarios and other potential licensees on a global basis.

The company is commercializing its proprietary AquaRefining electrochemical lead recycling technology, which, unlike smelting, is a room-temperature, water-based process that emits less pollution, according to the company.

Han has more than 30 years of experience executing global business strategies inclusive of business development, market and opportunity assessment, licensing, product valuations and delivery to achieve sustainable business growth and create long term value. He joins Aqua Metals from X-Cutag Therapeutics Inc., where he was chief business officer driving global business strategy and licensing. Prior to that, Han spent more than 10 years at DuPont building the framework for China’s first biofuels business development plan resulting in a strategic partnership with a leading Chinese refinery partner, Aqua Metals notes in a press release announcing his appointment. Han relocated to Chicago to lead DuPont’s global licensing packages for cellulosic ethanol and then moved to Dupont’s headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, to negotiate and sign the company’s initial process licenses and biocatalyst supply agreements.

“After seeing firsthand the maturity of the AquaRefining technologies, I knew that I could make a direct impact as the company executes on its growth plan to license these technologies on a global basis, beginning with delivering the world’s first licensing package to Clarios,” Han says.  “I am pleased to join this dynamic management team and become an integral part of executing their business plan. With key partnerships already in place, I look forward to engaging with additional global operators that have an interest in licensing this innovative, environmentally cleaner way to recycle.”

Steve Cotton, Aqua Metals president and chief executive officer, says, “Our plan, as we continue to scale the AquaRefinery is to build our capabilities and supplier partner network to deliver licensing packages globally. Our ability to do this is greatly enhanced with the benefit of Feng’s experience.”