United Kingdom-based Axion Polymers has made two new senior appointments at its automotive shredder waste processing plant (SWAPP) in Trafford Park, U.K.

Mike Bennett has been promoted to technical manager with wider responsibility for longer-term large-scale development projects at Axion, says the firm.

Peter Eastham has joined as SWAPP operations manager with responsibility for looking after the day-to-day operations and the introduction of further efficiency and engineering improvements. He has experience in the recycling and coal processing industries.

Axion says its SWAPP facility “already delivers the 2015 EU ELV 95% recycling and recovery target.” It produces recycled plastics, including a resin called Axpoly r-PP51, designed to go back into new automotive components, materials for the construction industry and into solid recovered fuel.

“We’re focusing on both efficiency improvements and development of new completely new processing operations as part of our investment plans over the coming years,” says Bennett.

“These two key appointments are part of a strategic approach to investment which will ensure the future development and success of our business,” says Axion Director Roger Morton.

Axion Polymers is part of the Axion Group, which says its mission is to develop and operate innovative resource recovery and processing solutions for recycling scrap materials. Axion Group works with a range of clients within the recycling and process industries on the development of new processing and collection methods. 

The CDE Mining division of United Kingdom-based CDE Global has announced a new project with Australia-based Arrium Mining to process and convert nearly 17 million short tons of low-grade iron ore fines currently stockpiled as tailings in waste dumps into a saleable product.

The investment involves the provision of two new processing plants in Australia, says CDE. The first new plant will be at Arrium Mining’s Iron Knob location, processing stockpiles of low-grade iron ore that have accumulated over the life of the mining of the Iron Monarch and Iron Princess deposits. Mining at Iron Monarch first began in 1899.

Following the Iron Monarch and Iron Princess project, the same processing plant will target the processing of local fallen rock deposits.

The second plant will be installed at the Iron Baron location, and then at the Iron Knob location, and will process low-grade iron ore stockpiled over the history of mining since 1930. It will then progress into the Iron Empress and Iron Baroness fallen rock deposits in this region.

The upgrading of the iron content from the low-grade material will be achieved by removing silica and alumina from the feed material. Silica levels in the feed material range from 14% to 20%, which is expected to be reduced to 6.4% after processing. Alumina levels range from 5.9% to 8.8% in the feed material and will be reduced to 2.8% after processing. The plant will also remove clays from the feed material and the combined effect will see the iron content increase from between 43.4% and 52.7% in the feed to nominally a 60% iron ore product, says CDE.

“There are several attrition stages built into the plants to ensure we are able to remove the silica, alumina and clay contamination effectively and deliver a final product to the specification required by Arrium Mining,” says Chris McKeown, a technical manager with CDE Mining. “A large part of this work is done by our AggMax modular log washer.”

The modular nature of the plant offered by CDE was a factor in its winning winning bid to equip the project, says Gavin Hobart, general manager of development with Arrium Mining. “We visited several CDE projects in Australia, Norway, the U.K. and Brazil and observed how the AggMax had been applied successfully on similar projects. This gave us confidence that it provided an innovative way to tackle clay-bound materials. We were also impressed by the fact that the time required for installation and commissioning of the plant is reduced as a result of the integration of several processing phases onto one machine.”

The processing plant includes a range of CDE Mining equipment, including an M-Series modular washing plant, AggMax modular log washer, EvoWash fine washing plant, spirals, jigs, ShearClean attrition cells, transfer conveyors and radial stockpile conveyors. The plant also includes a tailings management system that allows for the concentration of the 0-to-3-millimetre rejects into a sludge that is then pumped to the tailings dams. This tailings management system also facilitates the recycling of up to 90% of process water.

“The provision of a tried and tested tailings management system was a critical element of this project,” says Hobart. “It is essential that we are able to recycle and reuse large volumes of process water as access to fresh supplies are limited.”

According to CDE, the project represents a new approach to mining projects like this. “The modular nature of our equipment has a number of benefits,” remarks McKeown. “The time required for installation and commissioning is reduced, transfer point efficiency is improved and the overall environmental impact of the project is reduced. The plant can also be accommodated in much less space than is the case when the stick build approach is used.”

In addition to the processing plant the contract with CDE Mining also includes a preventive maintenance programme delivered by CDE CustomCare, designed to ensure the availability of spare parts on site and to provide for plant audits by CDE service engineers to ensure performance requirements are maintained.

The first plant at the Iron Monarch deposit will have an annual processing capacity of 1.8 million short tons. The feed rate for the plant is 250 short tons per hour and it will run for 24 hours each day, 365 days per year, says CDE. The second plant will be integrated into the front end of an existing gravity separation circuit and will be fed at a rate of 700 short tons per hour for an annual processing capacity of 6.1 million short tons.

The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm headquartered in Washington, has acquired Novolex, a company focused on packaging. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but the transaction is expected to close before year end, The Carlyle Group says.

Windpoint Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm, is the majority shareholder in Novolex; while TPG Growth, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, and in San Francisco, owns a minority stake in the company.

“This is the next big step for Novolex and we could not be more pleased to join The Carlyle Group,” says Stan Bikulege, chairman and CEO of Novolex. “We are deeply grateful to Wind Point Partners and TPG Growth for their steadfast support and leadership over the last four years. We would not be where we are today without them.”

Novolex will retain its name and become one of the companies in the Carlyle portfolio of investments. There will be no interruption of its operations and the Novolex management team will remain in place, the private equity group says. 

“Novolex is a great company with strong market positions and long-standing customer relationships,” says Wes Bieligk, a principal on Carlyle’s U.S. buyout team. “We are excited to partner with Stan (Bikulege) and the Novolex team to support the company’s growth initiatives.”

Alex Washington, Wind Point Partners’ managing director, says, “Since we acquired Novolex in 2012, together we have achieved our value creation plan for Novolex by growing revenue from $500 million to over $2 billion and increasing profitability through new products, conversion cost reduction and five transformative add-on acquisitions. This has been a great partnership and we wish all involved in this transaction continued success.”

Equity for the acquisition will come from Carlyle Partners VI, a $13 billion U.S. buyout fund.

Brands operating under the Novolex name include Hilex Poly, Fortune Plastics, Duro Bag, Bagcraft Packaging, De Luxe Packaging, General Packaging Products, International Converter, Novolex Custom Film & Bag (formerly AccuTech, Direct Plastics and Hilex Poly Garland) and Heritage Bag.

Liberty House Group (LHG), a U.K.-based business specialising in metals trading, steel manufacturing and distribution of steel and advanced engineering products, has entered into exclusive negotiations with Tata Steel UK  to acquire Tata’s Speciality Steels business for £100 million ($124 million).

The business, based primarily in the United Kingdom, includes service centers in the West Midlands and Lancashire parts of the U.K. The Speciality division manufactures a range of high-value specialty steel products for the automotive and aerospace sectors. The locations in the U.K. that LHG may acquire include Tata’s electric arc steel works in Rotherham, a steel purifying facility in Stocksbridge, a mill in Brinsworth and service centers in Wednesbury and Bolton. The deal includes Tata Steel’s service centers in Suzhou and Xi'an, China.

The Speciality Steels plants focus on manufacturing carbon, alloy and stainless steels for demanding applications. According to LHG, all of the output is derived from recycled steel, which is melted in electric arc furnaces.

In a news release announcing the possible deal, LHG says the acquisition would be a significant step in realising its Greensteel vision, which promotes widespread melting and upcycling of scrap metal generated in the U.K through the use of electric arc furnaces powered from renewable energy sources.

Sanjeev Gupta, executive chairman of the LHG, says, “We look forward to working with Tata Steel over the coming weeks to complete this hugely important milestone transaction. We recognize the world-class skills of the Speciality Steels workforce and are eager to join with them to develop the business and increase market share, both domestically and internationally using our global presence. As part of that process we will now engage fully with the trade unions and the local community. We are counting on their full support.”

Bimlendra Jha, CEO of Tata Steel UK, says, “The Speciality Steels business is independent of the Pan-European strip products supply chain, and today’s announcement is in line with the overall restructuring strategy of the U.K. portfolio. This is an important step forward in seeking a future for Speciality Steels, and we have reached this stage thanks to the efforts of employees, trade unions and management. We now look forward to working with Liberty on the due diligence and other work streams so that the sale can be successfully concluded. We will continue to work closely with trade unions and will communicate any material news on this issue to the employees on an ongoing basis."

Bimlendra adds, “We continue to actively seek solutions to the company’s structural challenges and work with all stakeholders. Among those challenges, there is the need to develop a more sustainable business in the U.K. as well as a self-sustaining future for the British Steel Pension Scheme.”

Liberty House and Tata Steel say they expect the acquisition to complete early in the first quarter of 2017.