Finland-based Metso Outotec says it has received an order for the engineering and delivery of equipment for the expansion of a precious metals recycling plant. The order includes delivery and installation of a direct current (DC) furnace with feeding equipment and a process control system, the equipment provider says.

Metso says neither the name and location of the customer nor the value of the contract will be disclosed. “Typically, this type of an order is in the range of 8 million euros to 15 million euros ($9.75 million to $18.3 million),” the company says.

“We are excited about this order, as it will strengthen our position in treatment of secondary raw materials,” Jyrki Makkonen, vice president of the smelting business line at Metso Outotec. “Our DC furnace technology is well suited for secondary smelting applications, including precious metal recycling. This delivery is well in line with our strategy to grow in circular economy.”

Precious metals can be recycled an infinite number of times, says Metso, which in its news release announcing the sale also points to the role of platinum group metals, or PGMs, in controlling automotive exhaust emissions.

Metso Outotec says its DC furnace is based on proprietary technology featuring advanced environmental performance and efficient slag and alloy separation providing high metal recoveries.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) issued a $1,032,354 penalty to Owens-Brockway as part of an enforcement action, citing the company for multiple, ongoing air quality violations at its Portland facility.

Owens-Brockway, a subsidiary of Perrysburg, Ohio-based glass manufacturing giant O-I Glass Inc., is the largest glass recycler in Oregon, according to The Oregonian.

DEQ is requiring Owens-Brockway to develop a plan to reduce emissions immediately and to submit an application to modify its permit to include pollution controls.

Owens-Brockway’s violations include exceeding the facility’s permitted amount of particulate matter emissions as well as the permitted opacity, which is the degree to which visibility is reduced by pollution. Particulate matter can affect the heart and lungs, causing serious health problems such as decreased lung function, irregular heartbeat and chronic bronchitis. These emissions contain toxic air contaminants, including a number of metals DEQ regulates because they have the potential to cause serious adverse human health effects.

“The best thing Owens-Brockway could do to come into compliance and protect the community is to install pollution controls,” DEQ Northwest Region Administrator Nina DeConcini says. “DEQ is concerned about this facility’s history of non-compliance and the impact it’s having on the community.”

An Interim Measures Plan to reduce emissions until the facility installs pollution control equipment is due to DEQ 15 days after the order becomes final. Owens-Brockway must consider the option of reducing production to comply with the pollution limits in its permit, DEQ says. A permit modification application is due 90 days after the order becomes final and the facility must install pollution controls within one year following permit issuance.

Owens-Brockway has the option to appeal the order within 20 calendar days of receiving the notice. The order becomes final either after the 20 days or once the appeal has been resolved via settlement or an administrative hearing.

In addition to this enforcement, Owens-Brockway is completing an air toxics risk assessment as part of DEQ’s Cleaner Air Oregon program and has identified cost-effective pollution controls as part of DEQ’s Regional Haze program. Both of these programs may require pollution controls. The company has installed pollution controls at other glass manufacturing facilities in the U.S.