Operadora de Ferrocarril y Manejo de Rellenos (OFMRS), Morelos, Mexico, has partnered with Germany-based Stadler to develop a municipal solid waste (MSW) plant in the city of Cuautla in Morelos. The plant will manage comprehensive waste treatment for 16 municipalities in Morelos and a small part of Mexico City.

“This project was born of the vision shared by OFMRS and Stadler on waste management,” says Natalya Duarte, sales manager for Mexico at Stadler. “This vision has led to a technological proposal and the development of a new operating model. The aim was to recover different types of recyclable packaging and materials and redistribute them back into various production chains as many times as possible. This innovative business and management model makes such projects feasible as well as making them more profitable due to the highly efficient sorting process and high purity levels of the materials.”

Crisóforo Arroyo, general manager for La Perseverancia landfill, says OFMRS’ partnership with Stadler was based on the project’s sustainability aspects. “This new plant fulfills our objectives on many levels—generating a purer biogas; reducing the carbon footprint; strategic alliances with firms that recycle and transform recycled input materials into green packaging; redistribution of recycled input materials within a circular economy; and the creation of shared value based on sustainability and quality,” he says.

According to a news release from Stadler on this project, some points that set OFMRS apart from other businesses are its high degree of automation, its ability to sort by type of polymer and color and its management model. With facilities spanning 3,800 square meters (or about 41,000 square feet) and providing a maximum output of 640 to 700 metric tons per day, OFMRS sorts, classifies, compacts and commercializes MSW, recovering materials including cardboard, paper, carton packaging, plastic, glass, ferrous and nonferrous materials. Biogas is also recovered from organic waste and is fed to two Guascorde 1-megawatt power generators with a power output of 2 megawatts. According to Stadler, that energy generated is supplied to two companies in the state through the power supply network owned by state-owned power utility CFE.

Stadler
OFMRS' new Stadler plant in Morelos, Mexico.

The plant’s automated closed-loop system has 10 machines and 35 recirculating conveyor belts. Stadler reports that the facility’s process starts with receiving the MSW, which then goes through several processing stages, including the removal of nonrecoverable waste. The material is then sorted into three groups: fine, metal and organic waste, which is sent to a reject container; flat or 2D waste (such as cardboard, paper, plastic wrap and carton packaging); and bottled or 3D waste (such as polyethylene terephthalate, high-density polyethylene, polypropylene, carton packaging and aluminum). The conveyor belt feeds the material into the compactor and the final product is prepared: recoverable waste bundles of cardboard, paper, plastic wrap, carton packaging, PET, HDPE, PP and aluminum.

Stadler reports that OFMRS has been operating to international ISO 9001 quality, ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) and ISO 1400 environmental standards.

“This is the first project in Mexico that involves different parties in the recycling chain with the aim of protecting the environment,” Duarte says. “It is also the first national project that sets out to industrialize and professionalize the process, seeking the highest efficiency and purity levels and adhering to the strictest quality standards, including ISO.”

OFMRS says the adoption of Stadler’s technology has helped it to have more sustainable operations. “By recovering waste in this way, the consumption of natural resources, water and energy is reduced,” the company says.

Steel mill buying prices for ferrous scrap have remained relatively flat from late September to late November, according to the most recent transaction figure averages calculated by the Raw Material Data Aggregation Service (RMDAS) of Pittsburgh-based Management Science Associates Inc. (MSA).

In its November prices, released on the 20^th of this month, national averages for the three major grades published by MSA rose by either $3 or $4 per ton. That followed an October RMDAS price report that showed no fluctuation in any of the three grades—something had never before occurred since RMDAS was established in 2006, according to MSA Inc.’s Jeralyn Brown.

The November RMDAS figures show No. 1 heavy melting steel (HMS) and the RMDAS prompt industrial composite of prime grades gaining $4 per ton as a national average, with shredded scrap lagging only slightly with a $3 per ton rise.

There were slight regional variances to these averages—most notably in the North Midwest region, where prompt grades gained $14 in value, likely because of the slowdown in some manufacturing activities caused by a rising COVID-19 caseload.

While no grades in any region posted a November price decline, in the RMDAS South region shredded scrap did not add to its value, remaining at $305 per ton for the second month in a row.

Luxembourg-based steelmaker Ternium S.A., which has most of its operations in Latin America, has reported third-quarter 2020 results that show the firm’s shipments fell compared with the year before, but it managed a 54.6 percent rise in profitability compared with a year earlier.

In the quarter ending Sept. 30, Ternium has reported net income of $173 million, more than 50 percent higher than the year-ago figure of slightly less than $112 million. The firm earned higher profits despite shipping out 6.9 percent less steel by volume in the third quarter of 2020 compared with one year earlier.

Year to date after three quarters, the steelmaker has shipped out 14 percent less steel compared with the first nine months of 2019, demonstrating the impact of both COVID-19 and subsequent restrictions.

Because of losses in the second quarter of 2020, the $197 million earned by Ternium in the first nine months of the year is down 63.5 percent compared with the prior year.

In operations news, Ternium CEO Maximo Vedoya has announced the steelmaker has started producing steel rebar at the plant it is building in Palmar de Varela, Colombia.

In an earnings conference call transcript posted to the Motley Fool website, Vedoya comments, “We also resumed the final commissioning of a greenfield rebar facility in Colombia. In this regard, I am very glad to announce that on Monday [November 16], we produced the first bar out of these new facilities."

Adds Vedoya, “The new mill will enable us to substitute imports of reinforcing bars in Colombia with total capacity equivalent to approximately a third of the market. With this facility, we will be the only producer of rebar in the north of the country.”

France-based Mecalac, a designer, manufacturer and distributor of compact construction equipment for urban environments, has introduced the AS900tele to the North American market. The 22.2 gallons per minute (84 liters per minute) auxiliary hydraulics on the machine further increase flexibility, allowing use with a range of attachments, including mowers, road sweepers and earth augers. Functioning as a loader, telehandler or landscaping tool, the AS900tele reduces the need for additional equipment and optimizes job site logistics.

“When you rely on one machine for each task, a job site can end up looking more like a parking lot,” says Peter Bigwood, general manager for Mecalac North America. “Reducing the need for additional equipment and streamlining the job site is at the heart of Mecalac’s design philosophy, including the AS900tele. It’s good for the contractor, the client and the environment.”

Like other AS Series units, Mecalac reports that the 8-ton (7,250-kilogram) AS900tele features Mecalac’s innovative swing design. Operators can swivel the fully loaded bucket 90 degrees on either side, transforming space management. With the rotating bucket, filling trenches or carrying pipes requires minimum operating space. On a road project, this rotation limits necessary space, requiring only a single-lane closure rather than the two-lane closure needed for traditional loaders. For a congested urban job site, this flexibility allows for optimal equipment positioning in confined spaces.

Additionally, the unit’s telescoping capabilities pair reach with power for unparalleled flexibility, the company states in a press release on the AS900tele. With a lifting height of 15.5 feet (4.72 meters) and outreach of 11.5 feet (3.5 meters), the AS900tele allows operators to minimize repositioning while maximizing reach. The AS900tele has a carrying capacity of 5,004 pounds (2,270 kilograms) at full extension, providing ample power for applications such as loading walking floor trailers or waste handling. Paired with a range of attachments — including pallet forks, buckets, brushes, snowplows and hedge trimmers — the telescoping allows the unit to replace traditional backhoe loaders, wheel loaders and telehandlers.

For even more versatility, the AS900tele features three steering options — two-wheel, four-wheel and crab. This flexibility allows operators to simultaneously drive, pivot and maneuver, regardless of ground conditions. Combined with the swivel arm, Mecalac says it results in a 20 percent smaller turning radius compared to traditional wheel loaders and increases productivity and safety for a range of common tasks like loading a trailer and material handling as well as municipal jobs. 

“All the AS Series units were designed around a single idea — how do we improve the articulated loader to provide better efficiency and streamline the worksite,” Bigwood adds. “The AS900tele takes that innovation a step further, replacing two or even three other machines without sacrificing the productivity or safety of Mecalac’s swing loader.”