United Parcel Service (UPS), Atlanta, has joined the coalition of international recycling leader TerraCycle, Trenton, New Jersey, to unveil a new reusable and returnable system for managing consumer product packaging. The system, called Loop, will be tested in Paris and New York as a first step toward full implementation in consumer markets, UPS says in a press release.

UPS says the Loop system breaks through the reliance on single-use packaging for consumer goods. Consumers will be offered a variety of products in customized, brand-specific durable packaging that is delivered directly to customers, then collected, cleaned, refilled and redelivered.

“Loop will not just eliminate the idea of packaging waste, but greatly improve the product experience and shopping convenience,” says TerraCycle CEO Tom Szaky.

Loop products will be delivered and picked up via a system designed by TerraCycle and UPS, representing the latest advances in TerraCycle’s long-standing partnership with UPS, the company says.

“Innovation is key to everything we do at UPS, and we are thrilled to support TerraCycle with packaging design for the Loop tote, as well as pickup and delivery services for Loop customers,” says UPS Chief Sales and Solutions Officer Kate Gutmann. “As a leader in environmental sustainability, and a champion and catalyst for a circular economy, UPS looks forward to helping to bring Loop to life.”

Loop customers will receive durable, reusable or fully recyclable packaging made from materials such as alloys, glass and engineered plastics. Even the outer shipping container is part of the revamped design; a shipping tote will eliminate the need for single-use boxes and offer consumers an attractive solution that reduces waste.

The UPS Package Design and Test Lab

UPS and TerraCycle collaborated to design outer packaging with protective dividers inside that can handle liquids, dry goods and personal care products. The tote is made with materials that offer easy cleaning for reuse. The UPS Package Design and Test Lab helped to custom-design and test packaging to be appealing to consumers, yet durable enough to be used time and again. UPS says its lab is certified by the International Safe Transit Association (ISTA) to conduct ISTA package integrity testing procedures.  During the design and testing, UPS says it identified solutions to mitigate the following:

• Materials breakdowns
• Product leaks
• Exterior packaging design that showed signs of fatigue after limited use
• Scratches on metal containers caused by metal closures

Recommendations provided by the UPS lab to TerraCycle included multi-threaded closures for product containers, a modified capping approach to reduce the risk of leaking products and custom dividers within the Loop tote to better hold products in place during transit, among others.

Additionally, UPS says its Package Design and Test Lab implemented rigorous real-world shipment tests to gather insights into how the durable and reusable Loop tote could withstand high-volume shipping through UPS’s network of global distribution facilities. “UPS helped TerraCycle to design the exterior and interior of the Loop tote container in ways we could never have done ourselves. Expert UPS testing also helped us to provide feedback to Loop consumer packaged goods partners regarding the primary packaging of products within the tote,” says Tiffany Threadgould of TerraCycle.

UPS says the pilot tests planned for Paris and New York in 2019 will help refine the process, with additional feedback from consumer experience data.

Decades of packaging design

UPS Package Engineering Manager Quint Marini oversees the UPS Package Design and Test Lab in Addison, Illinois, and the team of packaging engineers who help UPS customers optimize and protect their goods and reduce waste by implementing better packaging solutions. Marini and the UPS Lab team hold five packaging design patents and have established test practices and solutions to address an array of needs, including cold-chain packaging for food and pharmaceutical companies.

UPS says its Package Design and Test Lab’s specialized equipment mimics the “shake, rattle and roll” effect of high-speed conveyors found in transportation hubs and on commercial delivery vehicles. In addition to evaluating for durability, the lab engineers also evaluate packaging materials to identify stable, efficient, environmentally-conscious solutions.

To use Loop, customers must go to the Loop website, https://loopstore.com, or Loop partner retailer’s websites to shop.

At the BMW Group’s light metal aluminum alloy foundry in Landshut, Germany, scrap such as punchings and sprues are recycled and then re-melted.

Previously, die-cast scrap was collected in containers without being shredded and was removed from the basement of the foundry with considerable use of manpower.

In the course of a renovation of the foundry, Igling, Germany-based Erdwich Zerkleinerungs-Systeme GmbH was awarded a contract to design a plant that enabled the collection and shredding of the foundry’s aluminum scrap directly from punching presses. Erdwich recommended its RM 1350 preshredder as part of the system.

Onsite shredding means containers with scrap parts and punchings can be transported far less frequently to a large container, creating an operational efficiency. Working with the technical department of the BMW Group, Erdwich also developed a safety system for monitoring the condition of the machine.

BMW Group bills its light alloy foundry in Landshut as one of the most modern foundries in the world. Every year, around 5 million aluminum castings weighing a combined 84,000 tons are produced there using five different casting processes. The castings include engine components and structural components for vehicle bodies.

The cast aluminum parts to be shredded have dimensions of up to 2,000 millimeters (mm) by 1,400 mm (78 inches by 55 inches), and therefore had taken up a lot of space in the collection containers. This, in turn, meant the containers had to be emptied frequently, which required a great deal of time and manpower.

Erdwich, which has decades of experience in the construction of recycling plants, got the order to plan and commission the metal shredder. “When we visited the site, it quickly became clear that the solution required in the tender would not have the desired effect,” says Richard Adelwarth, an Erdwich project manager. “We therefore carried out many trials and consulted another company in the industry, with whom we regularly work on larger projects in order to be able to offer an optimum solution.”

The company subsequently designed a machine based on its RM 1350 preshredder. That model is characterized by what the company calls fast and easy maintenance, a long service life, optimum shredding and high throughput.

To date, seven systems with soundproof enclosures have been installed for the eight casting cells and punch presses in the BMW plant. “Loading takes place in free fall; that means the molds, which are to be returned to the melting process, now fall from the pressing plant directly into the hopper of the preshredder and then into a container measuring 1,400 millimeters by 1,400 millimeters by 900 millimeters (55 inches by 55 inches by 35 inches),” says Adelwarth.

When the container is full, it is taken outside and emptied into a larger container which in turn is brought to the smelter. The shredding process has reduced the volume of cast parts by 50 to 60 percent, which means the disposal containers have to be emptied far less frequently, and thus require less time and manpower, according to Erdwich.

The preshredders were adapted to operating conditions present on-site. The drives of the machines, for example, had to be mounted on one side instead of the usual two. This was because the building includes columns located near the installation site, necessitating a narrower design.

The standard version of the RM 1350 already has a safety system that includes a process logic control (PLC) system with automatic reverse and cut-out control, so the machine is protected from damage in case of overload or the introduction of a bulky solid part. Additionally, each shaft is equipped with an energy-optimized frequency converter designed to ensure the two cutting gear shafts are driven separately. This enables optimum adaptation to the shredding process, says Erdwich.

“Both the filling level of the removal box located in the basement and the monitoring of the shredder itself are now displayed transparently, so that a quick response can be made if necessary,” adds Adelwarth. referring to additional safety measures taken in cooperation with the BMW Group.

As the casting house renovation continues, a conveyor belt system is being planned to further optimize the disposal process. With the belt,  shredded rejects would no longer be collected in the initial containers that have to be removed and emptied by hand. Instead, the rejects would be transported directly into the large container via a conveyor belt. In this way, scrap from all casting cells can be disposed of simultaneously and without additional logistical effort.

Erdwich says in the current expansion stage it has been able to meet the requirements placed on its system, helping the BMW Group to “considerably accelerate” its work processes.

Erdwich Zerkleinerungs-Systeme GmbH was founded in 1972 and has 42 employees. The company supplies recycling, reprocessing and volume reduction equipment, including specialized recycling plants for refrigerating devices.

An explosion in a melting furnace at the Hydro aluminum remelt and recycling plant in Henderson, Kentucky, Tuesday, Jan. 22, has rendered the plant “temporarily unable to produce cast house products,” according to the firm. A news release from Norway-based Hydro says no workers were injured in the explosion, but the melting furnace has been damaged.

The company has stated that customer disruption “will be very limited” in the short term, “However, it is still unclear how many weeks the plant will remain out of operation.”

Hydro cites what it calls a large production network in the United States that is working to secure metal from other sources so the impact on its customers “will be as limited as possible.” The company also says it does not yet know the cause of the explosion, but it is “mobilizing internal resources to form an investigation team.”

Hydro’s remelt and recycling plant in Henderson has a production capacity of 90,000 metric tons per year (about 185 million pounds). The plant produces extrusion ingot from extrusion process scrap and from postconsumer scrap, selling its remelt product mainly to the aluminum extrusion sector in the U.S. Midwest.

Halifax, Nova Scotia-based John Ross & Sons, which recently purchased A&S Scrap Metal’s facility in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (PEI), is planning to install an auto shredder and downstream equipment at the PEI location, according to a news release issued by the PEI Ministry of Economic Development and Tourism.

“I commend the new owners for improving the efficiency of their operations and significantly reducing their environmental impact and waste,” states Richard Brown, a member of PEI’s Cabinet Committee on Priorities. “We are working closely with businesses across Prince Edward Island to protect and enhance the environment.”

PEI’s provincial government has approved a loan of $3 million to John Ross & Sons for the purchase of the new equipment, including the shredder.

“It is essential that we support businesses that are using new technologies to reduce their environmental impact and improve their bottom line,” says Chris Palmer, PEI economic development and tourism minister. “Our lending portfolios support close to 1,000 Island businesses and make a significant contribution to employment and economic growth.”

Another auto shredder operator has recently run into difficulties in the same Maritime region of Canada. Montreal-based American Iron & Metal has been facing regulatory scrutiny regarding noise levels at the auto shredding plant it operates at the port of Saint John, New Brunswick.