The India-based Steel Mint Group is preparing for its second Coal, Steel and Raw Material Conference: Emerging Bangladesh, which will take place 14-15 November 2016 in Dhaka, Bangladesh, at the Hotel Radisson Blue.

Namrata Diwaker, group brand manager with the SteelMint Group, says the first edition of the Coal, Steel and Raw Material Conference: Emerging Bangladesh drew some 170 participants from more than 110 different companies.

Topics scheduled to be discussed at the November 2016 event include the growing ship recycling sector in Bangladesh.

“Bangladesh is among the top nations where ship dismantling happens over a large scale,” says Diwaker.

“The nation dismantled around 270 ships in 2012, 210 ships in 2013, 223 ships in 2014 and around 200 ships in 2015,” she adds.

Diwaker says that activity yielded some 7.86 million tonnes of ferrous scrap in 2014 and about 4.73 million tonnes in 2015.

According to SteelMint, “Bangladesh continues to be one of Asia’s most emerging markets in the steel, cement and power sectors, with a growing need for technologies and raw materials such as coal, billet, scrap, hot briquetted iron, pig iron and hot-rolled coil steel.”

Adds the firm, “The two-day international ConfEx (conference cum exhibition) will be attended by major raw material and technology suppliers from all over the world with an objective to network with steel, cement and power producers and traders in Bangladesh.”

More information on registering for the November event in Bangladesh can be found here.

Essen, Germany-based Trimet Aluminium SE says it increased its sales of aluminium products in the 2015/16 fiscal year, which ended 30 June 2016.

The company says its 3,000 employees at eight locations produced approximately 775,000 short tons of aluminium and cast iron products, 5% more than in the previous fiscal year. The Trimet Group closed the 2015/2016 fiscal year with sales of €1.7 billion ($1.9 billion). The company says “with an equity ratio of 60%, the independent family-owned company has a solid basis for action.”

Trimet says the capacities of its aluminium smelters, foundries and refineries "were fully utilized” in the 2015/2016 fiscal year. “The expansion of production capacity and plant modernization measures, in which the family-owned enterprise has invested a total of €84 million ($94.4 million), came to fruition,” Trimet says.

“Despite persistently low global market prices for aluminum, the Trimet Group achieved a slightly improved adjusted [profit] of €63 million ($70.8 million) compared to last year,” the company continues, adding that profitability “was driven in particular by higher production volumes at Trimet locations in France.”

“We will continue our policy of qualitative growth,” says Martin Iffert, CEO of Trimet Aluminium SE. “With continuous investments at all production locations, we are optimally positioning ourselves to face the rising demand for aluminium and are constantly improving our production efficiency. Through the further development of production facilities and the tighter integration of our locations, we can more flexibly serve the current demand, secure long-term jobs and maintain our position as a provider of high-quality aluminium products for all stages of the material chain,” adds Iffert.

He says a continuing trend toward weight reduction in automotive design continues to ensure new applications for aluminium. Trimet cites the drivetrain, engine blocks, transmission and clutch housings, specialty wires and battery casings as automotive growth areas.

Iffert says Trimet is focusing on continuity, even after the death of Heinz-Peter Schlüter, the founder and owner of Trimet, in November 2015. “His untimely death is a grievous loss for the company that he built and whose special spirit he forged,” says Iffert. “Schlüter himself ensured several years ago that the future of Trimet as an independent family-run company would be secure. This is also a value shared by the [family owners], which is very committed to and for Trimet.”

Trimet Aluminium SE describes itself as a company with 3,000 employees that develops, produces, recycles, casts and sells modern light metal products made out of aluminium at eight locations. 

Oxford Instruments is offering a three-year warranty to buyers of its model X-MET8000 handheld metal analyzers if they purchase the device before Nov. 30, 2016.

The United Kingdom-based company, which has a United States office in Concord, Massachusetts, says the metals analyzing device is easy to operate and offers “point and shoot” simplicity.

Oxford Instruments says the X-MET8000 offers up to 12 hours of battery life, is built to be water- and dust-resistant and is IP54 (Ingress Protection Rating 54) compliant.

The portable unit features a 4.3-inch touchscreen that can be used in many lighting conditions and by an operator wearing gloves, says Oxford Instruments.

More information about the X-MET8000 and the three-year warranty can be found here.

The Recycling Partnership, Falls Church, Virginia, has welcomed Target Corp., headquartered in Minneapolis, as its first retail company member. With the addition of Target, members of The Recycling Partnership now represent the entire recycling system for consumer packaging, including manufacturers, brands, retailers and the recycling industry. The nonprofit says this means that members across all sectors have committed to working together to make recycling stronger and to recover more materials for use in manufacturing.

Target serves guests at 1,888 stores—1,797 in the United States and 124 in Canada—and at Target.com. As part of its commitment to corporate responsibility, Target has given 5 percent of its profit away in the form of community grants and programs. Today, that giving equals more than $4 million a week. More information is at https://corporate.target.com/corporate-responsibility.

“Target joining signals a new era for our organization, as we are officially supported by the whole system,” says Keefe Harrison, executive director of The Recycling Partnership. “More than that, Target brings specific expertise in meeting the needs of the many guests to their stores, and through our work together that insight will translate into better recycling programs for more consumers across the country.”

According to The Recycling Partnership, the most successful recycling programs are convenient, enjoy high participation and produce quality recyclables; however, budget constraints and other barriers prevent many communities from achieving success in these areas. Using private funding from companies like Target, The Recycling Partnership says it brings grants, tools and specialized marketing and operations expertise to help underperforming programs transform into top performers.

The Recycling Partnership says opportunities exist to help communities advance curbside recycling. In the recent Sustainable Packaging Coalition access study, only 53 percent of the U.S. population receive recycling as a standard service, and even fewer have cart-based programs. Target’s investment will help extend curbside recycling to underserved communities, a proven method for increasing recycling and making more recycled raw materials available for packaging, The Recycling Partnership says.

“We are thrilled to partner with The Recycling Partnership to help make recycling an easy, accessible and seamless experience for our guests and communities,” says Jennifer Silberman, vice president of sustainability and wellness at Target. “At Target, sustainability is a principle that drives the decisions we make across the company to continuously improve the guest experience, and this partnership helps further our commitment to create long-term systemic changes in our communities.”

Since the start of 2015, The Recycling Partnership says it has helped to catalyze $21 million of new recycling infrastructure through grants and technical support, affecting more than 2 million households. Over the coming months, The Recycling Partnership says it expects to place more than 300,000 additional carts. Further, nonprofit has recently released free online open source tools and resources that have been downloaded by communities representing nearly 10 million households.

“At The Recycling Partnership, we believe that every community deserves a great recycling program, and the economic and environmental benefits that such programs bring,” Harrison says. “Together with Target, we will help underserved communities get the support they need to thrive.”