The COVID-19 pandemic has grounded holiday travel plans for many Americans, but it has contributed to high-flying ferrous scrap prices in the late 2020 holiday season, as overseas and domestic demand outstripped supply.
In late November, overseas demand began putting upward price pressure on U.S. ferrous scrap supplies as governments around the world funded steel-intensive infrastructure plans. By the time domestic mills started making offers in early December, they encountered a loftier market that began rising some more.
“The export market is on fire, and it even caught me by surprise a little bit,” Nathan Fruchter of New York-based Idoru Trading tells Recycling Today in late November. Fruchter says in addition to the usual purchases from Turkey, buyers in Latin America and the Indian subcontinent were bidding aggressively for American scrap.
“Business has really slowed down the last month or so. It’s definitely not because of pricing.” – Midwestern scrap processor
Fruchter says many Turkish buyers have shifted their attention to the lower priced European and Black Sea markets, but those options are not available to Central and South American mills. Buyers for these mills have been willing to pay up to $20 or $30 more per ton to secure supplies from U.S. shippers to feed furnaces in their rebounding steel sectors.
“Buyers from Mexico, Peru, Ecuador and Brazil are all out there buying en masse,” Fruchter says of the late November market. “Over the years, we have seen all these countries buying scrap, some on a regular basis, others on and off, and some even—like Brazil—often off. But I cannot recall seeing so many [Latin American] buyers converging simultaneously on the market during the same month,” he adds.
Mills in those nations, Fruchter says, were “buying domestic scrap in their own markets, but there simply isn’t enough to go around. So, they look to the U.S. and are offering figures considerably higher than what the Turks are able to pay.”
He says that while East Coast and Gulf Coast shippers entertain the higher Latin American offers, for West Coast exporters, “Prices in Asia, from nations including Bangladesh and Vietnam, are strong enough, so they keep looking in that direction.”
A Dec. 3 report from the United Kingdom-based Seatrade Maritime News describes a “bull market in Bangladesh,” with prices there nearing $400 per long ton for containerized scrap. The surging market was likely to mean “recycling yards in both India and Pakistan will have to raise their price ideas.”
The ripple effect of the overseas demand was clear by the time Fastmarkets AMM settled its Midwest Index prices Dec. 10. Pricing for two of the three Midwest Index grades (No. 1 busheling and No. 1 heavy melting steel, or HMS) rose by more than $80 per ton, while the price of the third (shredded scrap) rose by nearly $76 per ton.
That outpaced the average export prices as tracked by Fastmarkets AMM. The publication had early December East Coast export prices settling at just under $340 per ton (about a $75 per ton increase over November) and West Coast prices averaging $316—only about $20 higher than November.
While the rising prices created the potential for a healthy margin for scrap processors, the bad news is that seasonal and public health factors limited the amount of scrap flowing into yards.
“We expect our flows to settle in at or return to 70 percent of pre-COVID levels,” says a processor on the East Coast about his company’s volume levels heading into the new year.
A processor in the Midwest says, “Business has really slowed down the last month or so. It’s definitely not because of pricing; I just don’t think there is as much scrap out there. I’m hoping for an uptick soon, but it might be a few months.”
The East Coast processor continues, “Domestic bids kept rising as mills couldn’t get their fill. We sold domestic plate and structural at up $65 early in December but could get another $20 now.”
Export demand, likewise, seems poised to continue, the processor says. “Container shred prices started November at less than $300 per metric ton but are now at $365 per metric ton.”
Regarding containerized ferrous scrap shipments, Fruchter says a constraint has taken shape as container and booking shortages are factors affecting several U.S. and Canadian port regions on the East and West coasts.
Winter weather, seasonal factory retooling programs and virus-related restrictions in economic activity contributed to the late 2020 spike in ferrous prices. “We have been fortunate to have been involved in some good demolition projects in November, but some of that is slowing down,” the East Coast processor says as of mid-December.
Standards for securement
Features - Safety Focus
After several years of planning and several rounds of testing, new standards now apply for lugger container securement throughout North America.
Industry groups including the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), Washington, and the National Waste & Recycling Association, Arlington, Virginia, as well as lugger manufacturers and other organizations, have been meeting for years to develop a set of standards for lugger container securement that could be accepted by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA). The CVSA, based in Greenbelt, Maryland, seeks “to achieve uniformity, compatibility and reciprocity of commercial motor vehicle (CMV) inspections and enforcement by certified inspectors dedicated to driver and vehicle safety,” according to a description on its website.
The standards are the first of their kind to meet the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) 49CFR 393.102(c) regulations regarding the minimum performance criteria for cargo securement devices and systems.
ISRI says the standards will simplify cargo securement procedures for CMV drivers and provide equivalent means to other standards for lugger truck cargo securement.
The new standards
The new cargo securement standards require operators to chain or strap the lugger container to the body of the CMV. In some cases, as many as eight winch straps are needed per container.
According to the CVSA Inspection Bulletin dated Sept. 28, 2020, the requirements only apply when the CMV isn’t equipped with an integral securement system, which is a system on certain roll-on/roll-off and hooklift containers and their related transport vehicles that mates compatible front and rear hold-down devices to secure the complete vehicle and its cargo. Lugger container vehicles do not have these integrated securement systems.
Because the United States and Canada did not specify in their standards how that securement needed to be done, the industry created several different types of securement to prevent forward, rearward and upward movement. Without an integral securement system, other ways of securement are needed for lugger container vehicles, according to the CVSA bulletin.
Put to the test
Industry tests helped to determine the equivalent methods for securing lugger boxes.
In August 2020, Cleveland-based roll-off trailer and lugger hoist manufacturer Ace Brother’s Equipment Inc.; ISRI; Fond du Lac, Wisconsin-based Sadoff Iron and Metal Co.; Fond du Lac-based Whealon Towing & Service Inc.; and the Wisconsin State Patrol worked together to test securement methods for lugger trucks that would be approved by CVSA.
“Our initial testing was done in July, and it passed two of the three tasks,” Andy Coates, fleet operations manager at Sadoff Iron and Metal Co., says. “The third one had failed, so I had to go back and come up with a couple of different ideas to look at the forward acceleration of the container. We tested those, and we were able to get positive results.”
Coates says the change to this standard was important because it made the process more efficient and saved money, but it also improved safety. The old method of securement took around 10 minutes, while with the new standard it can be completed in about 90 seconds to two minutes.
“Our initial testing was done in July, and it passed two of the three tasks.” – Andy Coates, fleet operations manager, Sadoff Iron and Metal Co.
So far, he says, the feedback from his drivers has been good.
“Most of the guys have embraced it and actually had some positive comments,” he says of the new standards. “Previously, the containers would kind of wiggle around on the trucks, and now they don’t anymore. Not that they were in danger of going anywhere, but they keep it a bit more steady on the truck,” he says of the new securement method.
Coates adds that his company’s trucks are black and red. When searching for new chains to meet the securement regulations, he found bright yellow ones, which, while unintentional, have been helpful.
“My contact with the state patrol actually texted me in the last week, and he saw one of our trucks going down the other side of the highway,” Coates says in early December 2020. “He saw that yellow chain, and it just leaves no doubt that it’s secure, it’s visible,” he adds.
Know your options
Two different options prevent forward movement when securing the lugger box through equivalent means.
Option 1: With this option, the pin must be extended within 4 inches of the channel on the lugger box (if so designed) to prevent forward movement, CVSA’s Inspection Bulletin notes. (The channel on the box must be placed on the rear side of the pin.)
Option 2: With the second option, at least two securement devices are required, each with a minimum working load limit (WLL) of 9,200 pounds (4,173 kilograms), according to the CVSA. A minimum of one tiedown on each side going directly from the power unit hoist body to the container lift lugs or lifting keys is required. (Half-inch grade 80 chain is required, with a WLL of 12,000 pounds.)
Only one option is provided when it comes to securing against rearward and lateral movement.
With rearward movement, the pin must be extended, and the dump hook or dump key must be forward of the pin and attached to the container.
With lateral movement, the pin must be extended, and a space of up to 4 inches (10 centimeters) can be between the pin and the container on either side of the box.
When securing front and rear lifting chains, the lift chains can be loose during transit. This is not a violation, according to the bulletin, as the chains are not considered tiedowns for the purposes of cargo securement. Rear lift chains can be used during transit/roadside inspection.
If the equivalent means cannot be used, general commodity requirements would apply.
The lugger box must be secured for length and weight and requires a number of tiedowns to satisfy both requirements (e.g., one tiedown for every 10 feet or portion thereof plus an additional tiedown in the first 10 feet if not against a front-end structure; the aggregate WLL of the tiedowns must meet half the weight of the container and load), the CVSA says. Lugger box securement should be at the fixed longitudinal midsection between the lugs on the side of the lugger container. Any method is acceptable, but this can be achieved by using a tightening device (chains or straps) connected directly to the sides or top of the container. The tightening device must be anchored to the vehicle on the other end, according to CVSA.
Coates says the next step in this process is to get these standards written into regulation. “Currently, this only exists as an inspection bullet with CVSA. It’s not in regulation yet. So, the next step would be to take it to the FMCSA,” he says.
The author is the digital editor for the Recycling Today Media Group and can be reached at kcunningham@gie.net.
Feels like family
Features - Cover Profile
Family-owned CompuCycle says keeping people close and strengthening relationships has helped the business thrive for nearly 25 years.
Pictured are CompuCycle’s co-owners, Kelly and Clive Hess.
Since CompuCycle was founded in 1996, the Houston-based electronics refurbisher and recycler has expanded, both physically and in terms of the services it offers. Though it has tripled the size of its operating facility and changed ownership since that time, CompuCycle’s co-owners say the goal always has been the same for the family-owned business: making clients feel like much more than just clients.
Before CompuCycle, there was Complex Metals Inc. Back in 1986, Clive Hess and his father, John, emigrated from South Africa to the United States, settling in Houston. John purchased a share of a local metal alloy distribution company. He had been in the scrap metal recycling business in South Africa, and that company was focused on recycling electronics to recover the precious and nonferrous metals they contained.
After Clive graduated from the University of Houston in 1992, he joined his father’s company, Complex Metals Inc.
The father and son saw a void in the city when it came to electronics recycling services. To fill that void, they formed CompuCycle.
“Together, they built a company focused on recycling scrap electronics into raw materials for feedstock to mills, smelters and refineries and refurbishing reusable electronics to extend their useful life as an alternative to purchasing new product,” says CompuCycle President and CEO Kelly Hess of the work the men did to establish the electronics recycling firm. “John and Clive really created a company that has been an industry leader in Houston as an electronics recycler.”
Kelly says she’s been a part of the business since she married Clive 19 years ago. When their kids started school, she brought her public relations and marketing skills to the company as a full-time employee.
During the last 24 years, CompuCycle grew and moved to a larger facility. In 2013 Kelly stepped into the role of president and CEO. She and Clive also bought the business from John. Kelly purchased 51 percent of CompuCycle, making it a woman-owned enterprise, though she and Clive share ownership responsibilities. They say they believe the change in ownership allowed the business to grow and offer even more to clients.
Focusing on all aspects of information technology asset disposition (ITAD), including data center decommissioning, on-site IT asset inventory/validation services and on-site hard-drive shredding, CompuCycle executives say it’s important to offer clients what they need from a single facility.
Transitioning ownership
After joining CompuCycle full time, Kelly says, “I was able to grow the company and saw a need for us to become a woman-owned business. And it really has been a growth opportunity.”
As she and Clive brought on more corporate clients, Kelly says they often were asked if they were woman-owned. So, about eight years ago, they bought the company from John, and Kelly became the majority owner.
Its woman-owned status doesn’t guarantee CompuCycle new clients, Kelly says, but it does open the door for potential success and opportunity as such companies could benefit from government or private grants, local bank and other loan programs and government contracts.
While the business has always been family-owned, she says the dynamic is different between spouses compared with a father-and-son team.
“You know, a husband-and-wife team I wouldn’t say is always ideal, but we definitely use both of our strengths and are able to make it grow and work to our advantage and have really built quite a phenomenal business,” she says.
“[John] got the business to a certain level and was able to really run an efficient company, but Clive and I saw the ability to grow this company,” Kelly says, adding that female ownership helped to fuel that growth.
Under Kelly’s majority ownership, CompuCycle has worked to help corporate clients with diversity goals meet their objectives, setting itself apart from its competition.
“We are the only company in Texas and [the] only woman-owned company capable of shredding electronics and separating them into raw materials,” Kelly says. She adds that the reasons she is able to succeed in the male-dominated electronics recycling industry are “[l]istening and providing tailored solutions to our clients’ needs,” which include “secure recycling, brand protection, responsible processing, refurbishing product for reuse and elimination of the middleman.”
Everything’s bigger in Texas
CompuCycle doesn’t just service customers locally—the business also serves companies around the world through partnerships with other service providers. Five years ago, it brought on a new client that needed international services. “We have serviced this client and others in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Central America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia successfully,” Kelly says.
“There’s nothing that we really can’t handle when it comes to our customers,” Clive says.
When Kelly and Clive took over the business in 2013, they planned to expand but needed more operating space. In 2018, the opportunity became available for CompuCycle to purchase a new building.
“We went from 40,000 square feet to 80,000 square feet,” she says. “That following October, we purchased the building next door, or an additional 40,000 square feet.”
That expansion allowed CompuCycle to add a processing plant with a shredding system.
“We have a processing plant next door that’s [a] state-of-the-art, fully automated electronic shredding system,” Clive says. “If materials can’t be recycled and reused, it’s going through that processor, and it is going to its bare components,” he adds.
Kelly says it was important for CompuCycle to have everything it needed in one facility so no middleman was needed, adding that “it comes to us [and] ends with us.
“Our variety of services include responsible recycling, data center decommissioning, on-site IT asset validation/inventory, on-site hard-drive shredding, IT asset relocation and deployment and IT lease return management,” she continues.
Set apart by service
Clive says CompuCycle focuses on the level of service and security it offers clients. Using propriety software for hard-drive sanitization, he says drives are linked to the device that once contained them to enable thorough reporting to clients.
“When we provide the reports for their hard drives, not only can we give them the make, model and serial number of the drive, but we also can link them—the serial number and the machine that drive belongs to,” Clive says. “From a compliance standpoint, or if these companies are ever audited, our information that we provided to them is extremely detailed.”
The company also provides secure shredding services to some of its competitors using two shredders manufactured by SSI Shredding Systems of Wilsonville, Oregon.
“We work with a lot of other electronics recyclers,” Clive adds. “We have essentially competitors that are shipping their scrap to us because of our processing plants.”
Kelly says she believes that having equipment on-site is a big advantage, making clients feel safe that whatever materials they turn over will be safely destroyed on-site.
It’s also about making clients feel like more than just clients.
“Clive and I, being the owners of the company, when we get new customers, they become part of our CompuCycle family and team,” Kelly says.
She adds that while each customer has an account manager, she and Clive give clients their cellphone numbers, so they know they are always a priority.
“There is no cookie-cutter approach. Every customer is different, and we want to tailor a solution to make them able to save time and, of course, to be a cost savings and to give them value back from material that we can remarket and reuse.” – Kelly Hess, president and CEO, CompuCycle
“There is no cookie-cutter approach. Every customer is different, and we want to tailor a solution to make them able to save time and, of course, to be a cost savings and to give them value back from material that we can remarket and reuse,” Kelly says.
Clive and Kelly say they pride themselves on their no-nonsense approach, doing what it takes to ensure clients are happy.
“As all small companies, it is very difficult to compete with the likes of Dell, HP, Lenovo and others in selling electronics recycling services to Fortune 1000 companies,” Kelly says. “In 2010 we committed to becoming R2 (Responsible Recycling) certified, and in January 2011 became Houston’s first certified electronics recycling company,” she adds.
As a result, Kelly says CompuCycle has been able to educate clients and prospective clients on certification as well as to improve its processes and procedures.
What’s next
With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it’s hard to make predictions on growth and change, but the Hesses say they believe CompuCycle will get through this challenging time.
“Most of our clients’ offices are closed or either have restricted access right now, so to be able to go in and get equipment is not happening at this time,” Kelly says.
CompuCycle had a drop-off program for residents, but that also has been put on hold during the pandemic.
Kelly says CompuCycle has received calls about companies going bankrupt and needing to liquidate their IT assets. While that means CompuCycle will gain a customer, she says it means someone else is losing a business.
“The stability of what we had is definitely being challenged,” she says of the pandemic’s effect on the firm.
During the pandemic, she says CompuCycle’s management has taken “significant salary reductions,” and their hours have been reduced to 32 per week. Additionally, the company’s refurbishing plant remains at 50 to 60 percent capacity, and its recycling plant is at 60 percent capacity.
Kelly adds, “With news of the COVID-19 vaccinations, we are optimistic about 2021 and getting our working hours back to 40 hours per week ASAP.”
Once business levels out and returns to prepandemic levels, Clive says he hopes the future of electronics recycling will be brighter.
“We do support a no-landfill policy for electronics; however, Texas does allow electronics to be landfilled,” Clive says. “We would support a bill to end landfilling electronics because we don’t think that’s a good thing.”
When it comes to being a better business, Clive says it’s not just about recovering materials and helping the environment—it’s also about helping people, from its employees to its clients. Continuous improvement factors into CompuCycle’s philosophy.
Kelly says most clients know the business and that it’s never been anything but family-owned and operated.
For CompuCycle and its co-owners, whether it’s communicating to clients about industry standards or sharing information that can benefit them, it all comes back to one goal: making them feel like family.
The author is the digital editor for the Recycling Today Media Group and can be contacted at kcunningham@gie.net.
Personnel Notes
Departments - Personnel Notes
New hires and promotions in the recycling industry
Charlie Ingram, the former executive vice president and chief marketing officer at Eriez, retired from the Erie, Pennsylvania-based manufacturer of separation technologies at the end of last year.
“After 26 years of significant contributions to Eriez, our industry and the Erie community, Charlie has decided to retire and bring to an end his very successful career,” Eriez CEO Lukas Guenthardt says in a news release on Ingram’s retirement.
He joined Eriez in 1994 as national sales manager, rising to vice president of sales and marketing in 2004. Guenthardt says Ingram was one of the architects of Eriez’s three-fold growth while he directed the sales organization in the Americas.
“Ingram’s approaches to field sales, market-focused strategies, aftermarket initiatives, training and customer education significantly helped position Eriez as the world authority in separation technologies,” he adds. “Charlie has been a valued mentor and leader during his tenure.”
Eriez says Ingram fostered the professional growth of Eriez’s sales and marketing teams, enhancing customer satisfaction through improved sales structures and processes.
As executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Ingram oversaw Eriez’s global marketing operations and the introduction of new products to target countries, managing product line realignment and standardization, the company says.
While at Eriez, Ingram served in numerous volunteer roles. He was president of several community and industry boards, including the Erie Philharmonic, the Sight Center of Northwest PA, the Process Equipment Manufacturers’ Association and the Kahkwa Club. He serves as a trustee fellow of Denison University and is on the board of directors of Sterling Technologies Inc. and as the Manufacturers’ Agents National Association.
“We at Eriez value the many contributions Charlie has made over the span of his career,” Guenthardt says. “We appreciate the foundation Charlie has built over the last 26 years, which positions Eriez to be successful for many years to come.”
Vehik
Balcones Resources appoints president
Balcones Resources’ board of directors elected Adam Vehik as president of the Austin, Texas-based corporation Aug. 25, 2020. His appointment to the post was effective immediately.
In his new position, Vehik is leading the company in its continued growth following its acquisition of Sarasota, Florida-based Single Stream Recyclers.
Balcones Resources is an environmental services company that is backed by Closed Loop Partners, which is a circular economy investment firm based in New York City. Closed Loop Partners acquired a majority stake in Balcones Resources in October 2019.
According to a news release from Closed Loop Partners, Vehik served as Balcones’ chief financial officer since February 2011. Prior to that, Closed Loop Partners says Vehik had a career in finance, law, marketing and strategy and technology commercialization. He spent four years in private equity and worked in the White House during the Clinton administration. He also held positions in Johannesburg and in Granada, Nicaragua, and he helped to conduct expeditions of the Arctic Circle and Australian Outback, studying applications of closed-loop ecosystems in a variety of contexts.
For the last five years, Vehik has served as a board member for Hill Country Conservancy, a land trust in central Texas.
He received a Juris Doctor and an MBA from the University of Arkansas and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Vanderbilt University.
Macpresse adds Randy Gibson to North American team
Randy Gibson has been named vice president of MP North America LLC, which will distribute balers and equipment from Milan-based Macpresse.
MP North America LLC was formed in 2020 as a business unit designed to provide Macpresse factory representation to customers in the United States and Canada, Gibson says.
“My main goal is to build the dealer network in North America for Macpresse, whose equipment is highly regarded for its innovation, productivity and reliability. Right now, I am looking to continue growing our partnerships with the extensive list of dealers already in the Macpresse family in the U.S. and Canada,” he says.
Gibson has been involved in the design and sale of balers and other recycling equipment since 1989 and has had previous roles with Harris and International Baler Corp.
WestRock’s Porter retires
WestRock Co., Atlanta, has announced that Jim Porter, president of business development and Latin America, retired Dec. 31, 2020. Porter continues to contribute to WestRock by serving as one of its representatives on the board of managers for Gondi S. de R.L. de C.V., the company’s Grupo Gondi joint venture, and an advisor to the company.
According to a news release from WestRock, Porter has worked in the paper and packaging industry for most of his 46-year career. After earning his degree in forest management from the University of Missouri, he began his career with Menasha. In 1993, he joined Southern Container and was president and chief operating officer when WestRock acquired Southern Container in 2008. He has helped to lead the development of the company’s corrugated packaging business and its growth in Latin America, including the company’s operations in Brazil and joint venture with Grupo Gondi in Mexico.
In 2018, Porter also received the RISI Lifetime Achievement Award.
His industry involvement includes serving on the board of the American Forest Foundation and the Forest History Society.
Porter recently was inducted into the International Corrugated Foundation’s Circle of Distinguished Leaders.
Reiter
Mark Reiter, Sam Gershowitz receive ISRI Lifetime Achievement Awards
The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), Washington, has honored Mark Reiter and Sam Gershowitz as its 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award recipients.
Reiter, who died in 2020, posthumously was recognized for his efforts to advance the scrap recycling industry, the association states in a news release.
Politics and the political process defined Reiter, ISRI states. He started in politics at age 10, working to help various candidates in his hometown of the Bronx, New York. He attended Stuyvesant High School and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Temple University.
Reiter worked for New York Mayor John Lindsay before moving to Washington to work for Rep. Bella Abzug of New York. He also spent 10 years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and then returned to Capitol Hill as a senior staff member on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. In 1992, he left government and joined ISRI as manager of legislative and international affairs. As Reiter once said, “Being connected to politics keeps my engine going.”
Reiter established ISRI’s first grassroots advocacy network to provide support for the Superfund Recycling Equity Act (SREA), lobbying for it in a decadelong process that culminated in its passage in 1999. According to ISRI, that law saved the recycling industry hundreds of millions of dollars and created the precedent for recognizing recycling operations as distinct from disposal operations.
Although he was a lifelong member of the Democratic Party, Reiter worked across party lines to help ISRI achieve its policy goals.
Reiter served as ISRI’s vice president of government relations until his death in January 2020.
“Having had the pleasure and honor of working beside Mark for his entire ISRI career, I can honestly say that doing right for the membership was always at the top of his mind and doing it with integrity was always his first priority,” says ISRI President Robin Wiener.
Gershowitz, who founded New York-based Gershow Recycling, received the award for his commitment to the industry, his employees and his philanthropic work. ISRI says the award honors his vision and tenacity in creating one of Long Island’s best-known and largest environmental and manufacturing companies.
“Sam’s commitment to the industry and drive to better the lives of his employees is truly unmatched,” Wiener says. “From his work ethic to the many ways he benefits his community through numerous philanthropic efforts, Sam and Gershow truly embody the best of all our industry has to offer. ISRI is proud to recognize Sam with its 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award.”
The son of Polish and Russian immigrants, Gershowitz quit school at age 17 to support his family in Brooklyn, New York. On his days off from work, he would travel to the Hamptons on Long Island, where he noticed abandoned cars and scrap metal on the side of the road along the way. To address this problem, he founded Gershow Auto Parts & Wreckers in 1964. In 1981, he changed the company’s name to Gershow Recycling to reflect its growth and overall commitment to recycling and conservation, later adding the motto “Conserving the Future by Recycling the Past.”
From its start as a two-person operation with a tractor-trailer, a boom truck and a portable car flattener, Gershow has grown to nine facilities employing more than 750 people, processing ferrous and nonferrous metal, paper and plastics.
“I want to thank ISRI for this wonderful honor,” Gershowitz says. “Being recognized by one’s peers is the highest honor one could receive.”
In memoriam: Joseph M. Stover
Joseph M. Stover died Nov. 3, 2020, at the age of 62. He was the founder of First Capital Fibers in York, Pennsylvania, which he sold to his son, Joey Stover, when he retired in 2019.
Joseph Stover began his career in the scrap industry in 1978 when he started hauling mufflers and junk with his pickup truck, Jerry T. Kellner of First Capital Fibers tells Recycling Today. In 1988, he purchased his first scrap yard in York, naming it First Capital Recycling. Ten years later, in 1998, Joseph Stover started First Capital Fibers.
According to the company’s website, First Capital Fibers now operates out of two locations with more than 60,000 square feet of processing and warehousing space combined. It offers scrap management services, including material processing, document and product destruction, plastic recycling, metals recycling and brokerage services.
Joseph Stover was born Oct. 18, 1958, in York to Jane (Peterman) Stover and the late Jesse Stover. He had been married to Lisa A. (Herman) Stover since Jan. 10, 2009.
According to his obituary on the Heffner Funeral Chapel & Crematory Inc. website, he enjoyed golfing and traveling in his RV in his free time.
Kellner says Joseph Stover also enjoyed spending time with his family and friends.
“He was known locally and in the industry as being a generous man,” Kellner says. “He used his companies to support mission trips, local charities and giving many, many employees a second chance and continued enrichment in their lives.”
Along with his wife, Lisa, and his son, Joey, he is survived by his daughter-in-law, Alli; his daughter, Rebecca Kunkle, and her husband, John; three stepchildren—Brittany Honaker and her husband, Jack; Zachary Herman and his wife, Cassandra; and Steven Herman Jr.—granddaughters, Emily Stover and Hannah Stover; stepgrandson, AJ Herman; his sister, Kathy Price, and her husband, Tim; and his half-brother, Bill Stover, and his wife, Carrie.
Extracting value
Features - Mill Services
Harsco Environmental offers sustainable solutions to steel and aluminum producers that are designed to maximize environmental benefits and return raw materials to production.
Harsco is a well-known company in the steelmaking and ferrous scrap sectors. What might be less well-known is that the company’s history extends back to 1853 and the Harrisburg Car Manufacturing Co., a manufacturer of rail cars. Camp Hill, Pennsylvania-based Harsco Corp. has continually reinvented itself through diversification and acquisition. Its divisions are Clean Earth, which is dedicated to managing specialty hazardous and nonhazardous waste, contaminated soil and dredged material; Harsco Environmental, which has on-site mill and resource recovery services; and Harsco Rail, which focuses on railway track maintenance.
Harsco Environmental is the new name of what was previously the Metals and Minerals division. Bruce Barker, the U.K.-based director of global resource recovery at Harsco Environmental, says, “The new name is really who we have been for a number of years and is more closely aligned with our transformation into a global, market-leading environmental solutions provider. The team at Harsco Environmental is really set on expanding our industrial reach through the application of new environmental technologies and developing eco-friendly products to drive growth for our company and importantly, for our customers.”
The division says it offers solutions that are designed to maximize environmental benefits and return raw materials to production. It has developed a range of byproducts for specialized applications across industry, construction and agriculture using its expertise in minerals.
Barker says Harsco provides scrap management services at more than 150 sites in more than 30 countries. “Our primary involvement within the scrap management sector is directly with the steel mills,” he says. “Scrap management is fundamental to what we do. If somebody already has purchased scrap, we can help them optimize the value they get from it. When a customer generates scrap, we can maximize the conversion of their material into products for reuse internally or externally, depending on the customer’s preference. Importantly, we are not dumping these byproducts into landfills but rather recycling or reusing more than 70 percent of them,” Barker adds.
Barker is a metallurgical engineer with more than 30 years of global experience in the iron, steel and aluminum industries, according to the company. He shares how Harsco Environmental has evolved and where the business segment is heading.
Recycling Today (RT): How has Harsco Environmental evolved over time? How much of the company’s overall business does this segment represent and how does that compare historically?
Bruce Barker (BB): Our service portfolio at Harsco Environmental has expanded over time, with an emphasis on positive environmental impact. Currently, well over 70 percent of our services have a direct or indirect environmental benefit compared to less than 60 percent two years ago. Our business platform helps to reuse and repurpose heavy industries’ residues and minimize the amount of material going to landfills.
Historically, we were known for our “steel mill services,” and our evolution has included pioneering many byproduct recycling technologies that are now regularly used in the industry. Our division within Harsco used to be known for extracting metal from steelmaking slags and then finding solutions for the remaining mineral byproducts.
Previously, our customers’ main requirement was maximized metal recovery; but, today, we are very much focused on increasing the reuse of all metal and mineral units available for recovery. This reflects a general change to improve the efficiency of materials utilization while minimizing the environmental impact of industrial processes. We’ve made significant improvements within our original services portfolio by improving our on-site logistics and base processes. Harsco Environmental offers the widest range of on-site recycling services for the metals industry to maximize their production efficiency while minimizing the environmental impact on their own site and the surrounding communities.
In the past few decades, we’ve used the services business as a springboard to address other byproduct challenges faced by our customers. It’s opened our eyes to the need for new technologies that will address our customers’ desire to improve material utilization while minimizing the environmental impact of industrial operations. Our mission to provide environmental benefits through cost- and material-efficient process enhancements is reflective of the ongoing need by both society and industry for constant improvement in these areas.
RT:How much of your Environmental business does scrap management represent? What services does it include?
BB: While we can’t break out the percentage of our business segments for competitive reasons, we can share that there are seven main services that fall under the traditional scrap management umbrella:
overall scrap management, which includes scrap quality analysis, loading and tracking;
baling and shearing;
coolant scrap production;
shredding services;
internal scrap collection;
oxy cutting and lancing; and
scrap turnings briquetting.
Harsco is involved in all aspects of scrap handling, processing, usage and tracking. There are two fundamental sources for scrap: external and internal. External scrap is material that a customer buys and brings in via road, rail and water that we help with on their site.
We use our ScrapMaster program on many sites to manage inventory and maximize the cost benefits to our customers when melting these purchased materials. Then there’s internal scrap that requires the collection of different materials from the steel plant site and their preparation for reuse, either internally or externally. This again generates the greatest economic benefit for the steel plant customer from maximizing the use of materials already in their possession.
Harsco Environmental is especially involved with preparing all forms of scrap for reuse, including the recovery of metal from slag. Also, our oxy-cutting and lancing processes allow us to recycle a wide variety of metallics by using fuel gases and oxygen to cut scrap metal of all dimensions and profiles. If there are large, off-spec steel products that are to be recycled, they must be cut into manageable sizes for remelting in the furnace.
Our metal recovery activities even involve breaking the refractory coating off used gas injection lances to recover the embedded steel pipe before cutting it to size for remelting.
All types of internally generated scrap are potential candidates for collection, upgrading and remelting.
A major environmental benefit of on-site scrap recycling is the reduced need to bring in scrap from external sources. This provides an overall cost reduction while decreasing the carbon footprint of the process as less transportation is required.
RT: Can you tell me more about your proprietary software, ScrapMaster, and how mills can benefit from this service?
BB: For steelmakers, better scrap process visibility will optimize scrap usage for benefits in cost and process control. Whether the scrap is sourced externally or internally, our ScrapMaster software system helps us monitor and control the flow of scrap from original receipt through to melting with complete traceability for quality control and cost reduction.
Incoming scrap inspection is used to record any noncompliance for automatic invoicing adjustment. Spectrographic chemical analysis is used to identify scrap contaminants as well as any valuable contained elements for optimization during scrap selection for melting.
All scrap is logged at the weighbridge prior to unloading and storage. The system is used to record the internal scrap generation points for accurate inventory control and yield monitoring within the steel- making process. It also contains records of the material weights handled at each stage and, through GPS satellite tracking, the exact location of the scrap charge basket with submeter accuracy.
Each scrap charge basket is prepared according to a recipe generated from the furnace operations personnel, and every detail of the scrap selected is recorded through each basket layer loaded. GPS tracking monitors the crane operations and exact movements of each scrap basket charged into the furnace. The program allows for monitoring and recording the entire scrap handling history.
Management reports ... help maximize process control and cost savings that are realized through lower purchase costs, improved metal purity and yield and reduced secondary metallurgy treatment costs downstream of melting.
“Least-cost” scrap charge blends facilitate an optimized scrap allocation over the entire melting schedule. Improved quality control in steel melting and decreased furnace power costs are the result. Additional benefits include reduced scrap handling and [operations and maintenance] costs, reduced assets required and improved on-site traffic management and safety conditions. ScrapMaster has been widely deployed at steel mills worldwide and is a valuable part of Harsco’s total scrap management service.
RT: Tell me more about how Harsco is helping mills manage their byproducts. How have your clients been able to benefit from these services?
BB: Our byproduct blending, pelletizing and briquetting processes enable previously landfilled, yet still valuable byproducts, to be recycled into metal production. Most metal, mineral and carbon fines can be reused when properly prepared within our engineered material recovery processes.
Although many granular byproducts can be fed directly into the sinter plant, some cannot be used “as is,” such as extremely fine baghouse dusts or materials high in residual oil or moisture. These materials have traditionally been landfilled as they are difficult to handle and cause high losses during recycling, problematic environmental emissions or inconsistencies in the sinter feed leading to inefficiencies in the sintering process. Increased sinter plant operating costs are the result.
Our blending and micropelletizing process converts the individual byproducts into a single homogenized product for sinter plant use, which eliminates these problems. As individual byproducts are blended together in designed and controlled proportions, the process ensures that a homogenous and consistent feed material is produced. The previously encountered problems associated with sintering these difficult materials are consequently eliminated. Micropelletizing essentially provides six key benefits for iron and steelmakers:
1. minimized amounts of material going to landfill;
2. conversion of multiple byproduct streams into a single homogeneous product for easy use;
3. recovery of previously lost iron, lime, magnesia and carbon units;
4. replacement of new raw material purchases by using recycled byproduct materials;
5. improvement in sinter plant productivity and thereby lowered sinter plant costs; and
6. upgraded environmental operating status of the sinter plant.
The micropelletizing process starts with a detailed physical and chemical characterization of all materials. Blast furnace (BF) and basic oxygen furnace (BOF) slurry dewatering and micron-sized dust handling technologies are combined with engineered product recipes to blend and micropelletize the byproducts into a homogeneous mix for sinter plant feed. The finished product is supplied according to the customer’s strict physical and chemical specifications. The entire micropelletizing process is controlled to minimize the variation in product quality and chemical analysis and maximize the value captured from the recycled materials.
While micropelletizing is used to consume a variety of mineral, metal and carbon-containing byproducts, on-site briquetting is mainly used to recover metals in the steelmaking process. When high iron content byproducts are briquetted for use in the BOF, they are converted directly into liquid steel thereby bypassing the sinter plant and blast furnace processes. This naturally leads to significant savings in the overall steelmaking cycle. By working directly with the steel plant operations technology personnel, each Harsco briquetting plant generates a unique, customized briquette chemistry that we manufacture on-site.
When using these briquettes as a coolant in the BOF or as a source of iron and carbon in the blast furnace, each steel plant generates significant raw material savings and environmental improvements. This is in addition to avoiding disposal of materials that still contain the valuable chemical units needed in the iron and steelmaking process.
Harsco Environmental has designed and built numerous agglomeration plants around the world for byproduct processing, using either the micropelletizing or briquetting processes according to the end-use requirements of the customer. A recent contract included both on-site micropelletizing and briquetting plants that were designed, installed and operated by Harsco Environmental. We have since been asked to increase the production capacity as these plants continue to provide significant operational savings to the customer.
These on-site byproduct processing plants improve the material utilization efficiency in the steel plant and the environmental impact of the operation. By providing specialized byproduct material handling techniques, along with our extensive history and expertise in engineered material recovery product and process designs, Harsco maximizes the conversion of our steel customer’s byproducts into process savings within a sustainable approach to environmental stewardship.
RT: How does Harsco’s acquisition of Clean Earth and Stericycle’s Environmental Solutions Business complement its Environmental service portfolio? What other areas of Harsco Environmental is the company looking to shore up through M&A activity? What organic growth opportunities exist for Harsco Environmental?
BB: Harsco’s acquisition of Stericycle’s Environmental Solutions business (ESOL) earlier [in 2020] was a significant step forward in Harsco’s ongoing transformation into a global, single-thesis environmental solutions platform. As a result of that acquisition, as well as the earlier acquisition of Clean Earth, more than 85 percent of the company’s total revenue is now expected to come from environmental solutions and services. The addition of ESOL added a highly complementary, market-leading waste management portfolio to our already strong business, significantly expanding our scale and reach.
We are focused on resuming our growth within Harsco Environmental and on integrating our recent ESOL acquisition into Clean Earth. With more than $1 billion invested in two transactions [since late 2019], we have said that we most likely will hit the “pause button” on any additional M&A in 2021.
That said, our Altek acquisition [in 2018] continues to provide synergistic opportunities for Harsco between the steel and aluminum sectors. (Altek is a U.K.-based manufacturer of products that enable aluminum producers and recyclers to manage and extract value from waste streams, reduce waste generation and improve operating productivity.)
As we improve our traditional processes and expand our global footprint, we continue to find opportunities for organic growth. In the meantime, we are proving to investors that with our single thesis platform, we remain steadfast in our commitment to deliver enhanced value to all parties.
Edited by DeAnne Toto
