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SC Johnson says it has found an application for Ziploc bags recycled curbside

SC Johnson, headquartered in Racine, Wisconsin, has announced that it has reached a milestone in its quest to recycle Ziploc brand bags collected via curbside bins, avoiding millions of pounds of plastic from ending up in landfills. The company says it is converting flexible film that includes grocery store and Ziploc bags collected from curbside bins into full-size garbage bags.

Developing a way to reuse Ziploc bags and other types of plastic film is a key step in the process to make recycling for these materials available at the curb, SC Johnson says. While 18,000-plus stores accept Ziploc bags for recycling, those efforts capture only about 0.2 percent of Ziploc bags sold, the company says. Finding a way to allow Ziploc bags to be collected curbside and then recycled will make the practice more convenient and will boost recycling numbers, as only about one-third of U.S. residents currently recycle them at drop-off locations, SC Johnson adds.

“For decades we have worked to lighten our environmental footprint,” says Fisk Johnson, chairman and CEO of SC Johnson. “It’s who we are. It’s how we operate. And recycling Ziploc bags is just one more example.”

The search took the company to Europe, which has the equipment needed to wash soiled plastic film to prepare it for reuse and recycling, SC Johnson says. After converting the rinsed plastic film into pellets, another European company melted down the pellets and converted them into garbage bags.

SC Johnson says it is testing the same process in the U.S. with a recycling facility and garbage bag manufacturer. The company says it also is considering additional uses for the collected material, such as pallets and construction beams. SC Johnson says it has no plans to mass produce or sell garbage bags made from recycled Ziploc brand bags, though it will sell limited quantities on its Green Choices website, www.scjohnson.com/en/green-choices/overview.aspx, by the end of the year.

APR announces pharmacy stock bottle recycling resources

The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), Washington, has developed resources for pharmacies to recycle stock bottles. In support of APR’s primary goals to increase the supply and enhance the quality of recycled plastics, it has identified pharmacy stock bottles as a highly marketable, quality stream of high-density polyethylene (HDPE), the organization says.

“Pharmacies offer a unique grocery store waste reduction opportunity,” says Liz Bedard, APR rigid plastics recycling director. “Many pharmacies are making the switch from disposing of large volumes of stock bottles to setting up dedicated pharmacy stock bottle recycling collection bins.”

Pharmacy waste is divided evenly between stock bottles and paper, the APR says. Through the combination of a pharmacy stock bottle recycling program and a paper recycling program, grocery stores and pharmacies can achieve zero waste with no incremental increase in labor costs and with waste hauling and disposal savings, as well as with potential revenue.

“As we have seen the Recycling Grocery Rigid Plastics program grow to include 32 states, 10 national chains and 4,500 stores, a Pharmacy Stock Bottle Recycling program was the next logical step,” says Steve Alexander, APR executive director.

The APR has added its pharmacy resources to the “How to Recycle Grocery Rigid Plastics Guidebook,” They include steps for a recommended approach to starting the recycling program, photos, potential revenue figures, sample signage, frequently asked questions and a case study of a Stop & Shop pharmacy.

More information is available at http://recyclegroceryplastics.org.

Big River Steel considers southern Texas mill

A newspaper based in Brownsville, Texas, has reported that Arkansas-based Big River Steel is considering locating a $1.5 billion steelmaking facility in the Brownsville area.

The online article from the Brownsville Herald quotes an individual involved in transportation support and economic activities for the Port of Brownsville as saying Brownsville is competing with Osceola, Arkansas, (the site of Big River’s current mill) for the investment. The two southern cities are competing to host a second scrap-fed electric arc furnace (EAF) “flex steel mill” line similar to Big River’s existing one in Osceola. 

The logistics company official quoted said economic development agencies in Texas are working to assemble tax deferrals and other incentives to convince Big River to build the mill at the Port of Brownsville. Steel products made by the mill would in part “supply the automotive and vehicle component industries in Texas and Mexico,” according to the newspaper.

The newspaper’s source says Big River may be several months away from its decision, and that politicians and economic development agencies in both locations are assembling their incentive packages to compete for the mill.

Hilco and MCM purchase ship recycling and scrap processing complex in Texas

Hilco Redevelopment Partners, Northbrook, Illinois, a unit of Hilco Global (Hilco), and MCM Marine Services, an affiliate of MCM Management Corp. (MCM), Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, have announced that they completed a transaction to purchase the assets of one of the largest and busiest ship recycling and scrap processing companies in the world, formerly known as ESCO Marine.

The new company will open under the name SteelCoast, with a new management and operations team to begin running the business immediately. SteelCoast’s headquarters are in Brownsville, Texas.

The joint venture deal closed May 1, 2017, following U.S. Bankruptcy Court proceedings presided over by Judge David R. Jones. Hilco and MCM acquired the assets from the previous ship recycling and scrapping operation, which were sold following a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding filed in 2015. Financial details and purchase price were not disclosed.

Hilco Redevelopment Partners Executive Vice President and SteelCoast board member Roberto Perez says, “Putting a deal together to acquire and relaunch this unique ship recycling and scrap processing business was complex, especially given the nature of the assets and our goal of maintaining key U.S. government client relationships. Following a lengthy diligence process, we are confident that SteelCoast has a very substantial growth path.”

Rob Mardigian, CEO of MCM and a SteelCoast board member, says, “Hilco and MCM have become very proficient at identifying new opportunities for industrial facilities that many have viewed as too challenging to tackle.”

MCM and Hilco have collaborated on industrial real estate remediation and redevelopment projects in recent years, including major automobile original equipment manufacturer (OEM) sites, energy-generating facilities and, recently, the 3,100-acre redevelopment project called Tradepoint Atlantic, the former site of Bethlehem Steel in Baltimore.

The companies say SteelCoast is expected to be one of the largest and most technologically advanced reclamation, remediation and recycling firms in North America. The Brownsville facility, which has undergone more than $1 million in renovations and improvements already, will provide a complete solution, including the recycling of huge oceangoing vessels (military and nonmilitary) from around the world, the partners say.

SteelCoast also will dismantle decommissioned, idled or underused oil rigs, locomotives, railcars and other industrial and commercial sources of recyclable metals. Additionally, SteelCoast will process automobiles and other light metal products in its 4,500-horsepower shredder. These reclamation and recycling projects allow for the scrap processing of ferrous and nonferrous metals during the dismantling process. SteelCoast will work to process and resell the scrap to be used in various manufacturing industries.

Hilco and MCM also have announced the hiring of Kris Wood as CEO at SteelCoast and say they are in the process of adding an experienced operations and management team. Working with Wood over many months, SteelCoast has developed a detailed business plan that includes an investment in sales support to build upon its client base, which includes contracts with the U.S. Navy and marketing and reselling of recyclables. SteelCoast also has immediate plans to invest millions of dollars more into infrastructure, berths, technology and equipment to ensure the facility is a leading ship recycling and scrap processing facility, the companies say.

Wood has experience within the ship recycling and scrap processing industry. As a lifelong south Texas resident, he worked at the former company for more than 12 years, having touched almost every operational and administrative aspect of the business as he added new management responsibilities throughout his career.

SteelCoast immediately will commence the work of dismantling the decommissioned aircraft carrier USS Saratoga and former MARAD (United States Maritime Administration) vessels Shenandoah and Yellowstone.

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Virginia recycled newsprint mill idles indefinitely

White Birch Paper Co., a Connecticut-based company that owns the Bear Island recycled newsprint mill in northern Hanover County, Virginia, has announced it plans to idle the papermaking plant indefinitely, according to a report in the Richmond (Virginia) Times-Dispatch.

The company says it will supply customers, which include the Richmond Times-Dispatch and other Virginia publications, from its three other paper mills in Canada, the newspaper reports.

The Bear Island mill produces about 240,000 metric tons of newsprint annually. After opening in 1979, the mill underwent an expansion in 1994 that added a recycling plant that turns old newspapers into pulp to make newsprint, the newspaper reports.

White Birch Paper says the 165 employees of its Bear Island mill were notified May 17 of the pending closure. The final date of operations was unknown as of press time.

Employees will be given severance payments as well as job placement services, a company spokesman told the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

White Birch Paper says it blames the mill’s closure on “difficult market pricing, challenging cost fundamentals and declining demand.”

Christopher Brant, the company’s president and chief operating officer, says in a statement, “It is truly unfortunate to have to make this difficult decision, and we will be forever grateful to the employees at Bear Island for their tireless efforts and service.”

White Birch says it also will explore “alternative industrial options” for the site, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The company did not indicate whether it plans to sell the plant, which sits on 250 acres.

Nestlé Waters North America invests in Closed Loop Fund

Stamford, Connecticut-based Nestle Waters North America has announced it is investing $6 million in the Closed Loop Fund, an investment fund that finances recycling infrastructure and sustainable manufacturing technologies to advance the circular economy.

Nestlé Waters joins the ranks of some of the world’s largest companies, including 3M Co., Coca-Cola Co., Colgate-Palmolive Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Keurig Green Mountain, PepsiCo Inc. and the PespiCo Foundation, Procter & Gamble Co., Unilever and Wal-Mart and the Wal-Mart Foundation, as part of Closed Loop Fund. Nestlé Waters says its investment is part of a shared effort among business, government and community partners to fund comprehensive recycling infrastructure and programs in cities across the United States.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that 75 percent of the waste stream in the U.S. is recyclable, but only 30 percent is recycled. Aside from the environmental impacts, municipalities and businesses in the U.S. spent more than $5 billion in 2015 disposing of materials in landfills. Much of these materials, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), is in demand among manufacturers as raw material for everything from textiles to packaging, Nestlé Waters says.

“The United States has one of the lowest recycling rates of any industrialized country, but it doesn’t have to stay that way,” Nelson Switzer, chief sustainability officer at Nestlé Waters North America, says. “The U.S. has an opportunity to lead the way in recycling while creating jobs, economic growth and a more sustainable future.”

He continues, “As a company, we are on a very deliberate journey toward zero landfill waste in our products and operations, so I can think of no better opportunity than working collectively to ensure these recyclable materials are transformed from garbage to the valuable resources that they are.”

To date, Closed Loop Fund says it has diverted more than 100,000 tons of recyclables from landfills and the 11 projects it currently has funded are poised to divert 4 million tons by 2025. In that same time frame, the fund aims to:

• eliminate more than 40 million tons of greenhouse gas;
• divert more than 20 million cumulative tons of waste from landfills;
• provide a $40 million economic benefit to municipalities; and
• prove replicable models that will help unlock additional investment in recycling.

“Nestlé Waters’ commitment to Closed Loop Fund is a significant investment in creating shared value across the recycling supply chain,” says Rob Kaplan, managing director of Closed Loop Fund. “The investment will enable people to recycle more, and efficiently turn those packages into new products. It will save taxpayer dollars and improve the recycling system.”

Nestlé Waters says its investment in Closed Loop Fund is its latest effort to help shape products and systems that contribute toward sustainable consumption and help the company achieve zero environmental impact by 2030. The company says it has reduced the plastic content of its bottles by more than 60 percent since 1994. In April 2017, Nestlé Waters reached a milestone in its use of recycled plastic, announcing that 9 out of 10 of its California-born Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water bottles incorporate 50 percent postconsumer recycled plastic. As a result, 1.8 billion bottles have been kept from landfills, and the 86 million pounds of recycled plastic have saved 69,660 tons of carbon emissions—the equivalent of 39,000 round-trip flights from New York to L.A.—the company says.