Dodge Center, Minnesota-based McNeilus Truck & Manufacturing Inc., an Oshkosh Corp. company, has introduced a refurbishment program for Curotto-Can™ branded automated carry cans through Street Smart Service designed to extend the lifespan of the product. 

The refurbishment program delivers new-equipment reliability at a far lower cost than purchasing new, according to the company. It also includes several options that meet or exceed original equipment manufacturer (OEM) specifications, ranging from minor repair work to major refurbishments that can improve the structure of the can.

“The challenge of maintaining refuse equipment requires capable partners with innovative solutions,” says Darryl Ash, McNeilus vice president of operations and aftermarket development. “We’re excited to have another program to help our customers in this effort, saving them money and reducing downtime.”

McNeilus also offers a Curotto-Can rental option that allows the customer to rent a replacement can while the refurbishment is being completed, virtually eliminating downtime. 

“When issues arise and equipment needs to be on the job, customers deserve unrivaled service, and our Street Smart Service brand can provide that,” Ash says. “As more of our customers are looking for ways to extend the life of their equipment and cut costs, this program provides the perfect solution.”

Refurbishment services are available through all 28 service centers strategically located throughout North America. Street Smart Parts also carries a variety of replacement parts on hand. All technical support and part services are networked through an integrated call center available around the clock at 888-686-7278.

More information about the Street Smart Service Curotto-Can automated carry can refurbishment program is available from McNeilus representatives and at http://mcneiluscompanies.com/Parts/refuse-service.html. 

A report posted to the website of the Beijing-based China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) spells out some of the difficult conditions facing steelmakers in that nation.

The report (in Chinese), presented in the form of a letter from CISA Chairman Zhang Guangning, spells out the “serious decline” of an industry sector facing “extremely difficult” conditions in the first 11 months of 2015. Zhang writes that “members of the [association] realized sales income of RMB 2.67 trillion ($405 billion), down 19.32%” from the same period in 2014.

Zhang also refers to reduced profits at some CISA member firms and to 10 steelmakers who lost a combined RMB 49.5 billion ($7.5 billion) during the time frame, “11.88 times the losses of the same period [in 2014].” Zhang said the “the degree of loss-making [at these] enterprises increased, [and] the overall situation has deteriorated further.”

The CISA chairman cited several reasons for the unprofitable conditions, with the foremost relating to a contradiction between a decline in demand and existing overcapacity. “As China's economic development has entered a new normal, steel consumption per unit of GDP intensity will decline further in the next longer period of time [and] consumption’s continued upward trend will end,” writes Zhang, adding that the industry, “overall [has] entered a downward spiral [and the] capacity/output/demand imbalance has become a prominent contradiction.”

An informational meeting about a trash-hauling-by-rail proposal brought out a roomful of people with concerns about the plan to ship New York City solid waste by rail to a landfill in upstate New York.

An early January 2016 meeting at a library in Seneca Falls, New York, attracted as many as 100 people, many with pointed questions about the proposal, according to an online report  by the Finger Lakes Times.

The proposed contract would allow the Seneca Meadows Landfill, operated by Canada-based Progressive Waste Solutions, to accept municipal solid waste (MSW) from New York City for 20 years with an option for 10 more years beyond that.

Among the concerns expressed by meeting attendees were that:

• adding a rail transloading facility would allow the landfill to accept MSW from even farther away than New York City;
• the landfill’s permit indicates it has enough airspace to operate only until 2023 at its current 6,000 tons per day permit limit—well before the contract expires; and
• the town of Seneca Falls, which already receives one-third of its revenue from landfill tip fees, would become even more dependent upon landfilling activities to fund itself.

Other attendees complained of odors emanating from the landfill and the concern that such nuisances would worsen with increased activity.

A meeting attendee who said she looked at the landfill’s current permit found that Seneca County contributes just 2.6 percent of the MSW heading into the landfill, while the Queens borough of New York and Nassau County on Long Island combine to send 27 percent of inbound volume.

The value of the contract could be as much as $3.3 billion, but three state legislators from Seneca County have written a letter claiming initial opposition to the deal because “there has been very little transparency or public discussion on this project,” according to the Finger Lakes Times.
 

While the United Kingdom and the rest of the European Union strive to meet ambitious recycling and landfill diversion goals, recent media reports are highlighting problems British authorities are having actually recycling what is already collected.

The Daily Mail news organisation in the U.K., saying it obtained information through a Freedom of Information request, says the volume of recyclables collected that have instead been sent to landfills or incinerators has doubled in the past four years.

A follow-up online report by The Telegraph says the materials in question are rejected by local authorities “because they contain a scrap of food waste, plastic or fabric.”

How badly contaminated the rejected materials actually are is not portrayed in detail, but in terms of the volume of rejected recyclables, “In 2012, 184,000 tonnes of recycling were thrown away, but [in 2015] that figure was 338,000—an 84% rise,” reports The Telegraph.

Among the geographic districts with some of the highest rejection rates were the three the London boroughs of Newham, Hammersmith and Fulham, reporting a 20% rejection rate, as well as the city of Manchester with an 18% rate.

The recycling difficulties are at odds with a European Commission mandate for EU member states to recycle 65% of their household solid waste by 2030. The U.K. is currently reporting a 44% household waste recycling or diversion rate.