According to MEPs, which cites its monthly "Stainless Steel Review," global crude stainless steel production this year is expected to be 47.2 million metric tons, which would represent a 10 percent decrease compared with 2019. COVID-19 control measures are responsible for the decline, according to the U.K.-based supplier of steel market data and information, which would be in contrast to four consecutive years of growth.

Worldwide stainless steel production declined nearly 6 percent, year on year, in the first quarter, with MEPS saying that restrictions applied by national and local governments were most strict from April to June. The firm says it estimates that global production was nearly 20 percent lower than for the same three months in 2019.

Following shutdowns for the traditional summer holidays, MEPS says a gradual increase in activity is expected in Europe among stainless steelmakers.

“In the United States, output is estimated to have fallen substantially in the second trimester of 2020,” according to MEPS. “A slow recovery is expected, but this may be hampered by the continuing spread of the coronavirus in that country.”

India also likely will see a substantial decrease in its stainless steel production in the second and third quarters in light of its severe lockdown measures, according to MEPS analysis.

In areas of the world that contended with the pandemic earlier this year, MEPS predicts production recovering before year-end. It expects China’s output to reach near prepandemic levels by that time, while South Korea and Taiwan also are expected to produce at rates similar to those seen in 2019.

Commentary from members of the Stainless Steel and Specialty Alloys Committee of the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), Brussels, also point to ongoing COVID-19-related issues that are affecting the stainless steel supply chain.  

In the July edition of the BIR’s “World Mirror: Stainless Steel and Specialty Alloys,” Joost Van Kleef of Oryx Stainless B.V., based in the Netherlands, and chairman of the BIR Stainless Steel & Special Alloys Committee, writes, “The European stainless steel industry is continuing to suffer under the impact of COVID-19.”

He writes that while demand has recovered from its lowest levels in March and April, “overall European demand is not expected to exceed perhaps 70 percent of prepandemic levels and any recovery will take significantly longer than many anticipate--with some leading market analysts forecasting this to be 2023.”

Ruggero Ricco of Italy’s Nichel Leghe S.p.a., also writing in the “World Mirror,” states, “Italy’s three main stainless steel mills have suffered a significant loss of sales volumes and, as a consequence, there has been an equally steep drop in their demand for stainless steel scrap. Tension in the domestic scrap market can also be ascribed to reduced production owing to the crisis and the resulting drop in generation; increases in the prices of raw materials that are not valued in the scrap price, encouraging speculative behavior among those holding the scrap; demand for some types of scrap (AISI 304 and 316) but not others (AISI 430); and a flattening of prices in Europe which prevents scrap imports into Italy.”

Van Kleef mentions concerns about the effect of stainless steel imports on the European market. “An increasing volume of stainless is being produced outside the EU and imported into this market. The latest development within Taiwan should be seen as a warning sign whereby some market participants have just shut down their furnaces and are importing stainless slab instead from Indonesia; in other words, an environmentally friendly product made from stainless scrap is replaced by one which entails a significantly higher volume—perhaps around five times higher—of carbon dioxide emissions.”

Van Kleef refers to customs statistics that point to Indonesian hot coils and products having nearly 33 percent of the Taiwanese stainless coils market, which Vegas Yang of HSKU Raw Material Ltd., Taiwan, and Mahiar R. Patel of Cronimet, who is based in Singapore, note in their report in the “World Mirror.”

Andre Reinders of Nimomet LLC writes that mills in India are producing at 60 to 80 percent of capacity. “However, as India is still reliant on imported stainless scrap, availability of which has been reduced owing to global shutdowns, Indian demand is still relatively strong,” he adds.

Yang and Patel note potential issues for companies that are supplying scrap to Indian mills. They say such companies are having difficulties obtaining credit insurance “because insurers do not want to take the risk. This adds to the supplier’s risk of shipping scrap to India.”

In the Middle East, Omar Al Sharif of Sharif Metals Int'l. LLC writes in the “World Mirror” that chrome and nickel prices are up nearly 10 percent from late March and early April. “Raw material prices have been supported by supply cutbacks and issues with supplying both chrome and nickel to consumers following the implementation of lockdowns in various countries. But with lockdowns now being eased, raw material prices are likely to weaken as the year progresses, particularly since demand has shrunk and is likely to remain subdued,” he adds.

United States Steel Corp. (U.S. Steel), Pittsburgh, has announced it had net losses for the second quarter of 2020. According to steel producer’s latest earnings report, the company posted a net loss of $589 million, or $3.36 per diluted share, for the second quarter of the year. Adjusted net loss was $469 million, or $2.67 per diluted share. This compared with second-quarter 2019 net earnings of $68 million, or 39 cents per diluted share. Adjusted net earnings for second-quarter 2019 were $78 million, or 45 cents per diluted share.

Prices for flat-rolled steel dropped by more than 7 percent year over year, and prices were off by 16 percent for tubular steel. Total shipments dropped by about 37 percent, U.S. Steel reports.

Despite second-quarter losses, U.S. Steel President and CEO David B. Burritt says he is encouraged by the recovery in market conditions as automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are “nearing normalized production levels.”

Regarding demand from automotive OEMs, he says, “Healthy order activity has continued into the third quarter." 

Burritt adds that construction demand is exceeding the company’s expectations, and he expects that demand to remain robust, particularly for value-added construction products.

Maryland’s Baltimore County has announced that its Department of Public Works, Bureau of Solid Waste Management, has started a new glass recycling program in partnership with Cap Glass Inc. of Connellsville, Pennsylvania. 

Under the 10-year agreement, the county will deliver glass from the Cockeysville Material Recovery Facility (MRF) to the Cap Glass facility in Baltimore city. Baltimore County reports that Cap Glass will process the glass to remove contaminants and recover marketable glass; the marketable glass will be sent to O-I Glass to make new glass containers. 

According to a news release from Baltimore County, the new glass recycling program will expand the number of products and the volume of material that the county will be able to market. The county started delivering glass loads to Cap Glass July 20. 

“This is an important initiative to expand the County’s current recycling efforts,” says Michael R. Beichler, chief of the Baltimore County Department of Public Works’ Bureau of Solid Waste Management. “We’re thankful to engage in this productive partnership with Cap Glass and are looking forward to working together for years to come.” 

Until 2013, Baltimore County directly processed glass recycling; however, the county experienced technical and financial limitations that prevented efficient glass recycling. Baltimore County reports that this new agreement is the result of its multiyear search for a sustainable glass market. Johnny Olszewski, the county’s executive, provided new funding in the county’s fiscal year 2021 budget to help support the county’s efforts to pursue a cost-efficient glass recycling initiative. Since taking office, Olszewski also created the county’s first chief sustainability officer who is leading the development of a countywide climate action plan, covering topics such as reduced energy consumption, promotion of green infrastructure and sustainable growth policy. 

Earlier this summer, specialty plastics provider Eastman, Kingsport, Tennessee, introduced Tritan Renew copolyester, a product that contains up to 50 percent recycled content derived from the company’s Advanced Circular Recycling technologies. The announcement followed a little more than a year after the company announced its chemical recycling efforts.

In 2019, Eastman began commercial-scale recycling for a broad set of plastics using its Advanced Circular Recycling technologies—carbon renewal technology (CRT) and polyester renewal technology (PRT).

In the spring of last year, Holli Alexander, strategic initiatives manager, global sustainability, for Eastman, told Recycling Today of the company’s plans to bring its chemical recycling technologies to commercial scale. “Eastman had the opportunity to leverage our technology, expertise, innovation and our assets to be able to think about how we can do things differently than we’re doing today to help create a viable solution,” Alexander said. “Because we’re leveraging large scale existing assets that are operational today, we’re going to commercialize in 2019.”

Photo courtesy of Eastman

Making good on its promise

Scott Ballard, vice president and general manager for Eastman Specialty Plastics, says the company is making chemical recycling “real for the rest of the world” with its most recent announcement. However, he prefers the term molecular recycling. “I like the term molecular recycling because it actually talks about what’s being recycled. Chemical recycling is the process by which you are doing it.”

He says Eastman has a variety of molecular recycling technologies at its disposal, with CRT being the most versatile. The company is operating this technology at scale presently. “It handles the most types of mixed plastics outside of PVC (polyvinyl chloride).”

As far as its PRT, the company has two processes: methanolysis, which Eastman is using at pilot scale today with a commercial facility planned for the end of 2022; and glycolysis, which the company is using to produce Tritan Renew. Ballard says glycolysis handles a narrower range of input materials but enables Eastman to recycle waste into material today.

“All three of the technologies have a lower greenhouse gas impact than the traditional fossil-based process,” he says. Depending on the end-of-life plastics used for feedstock, these processes can improve Eastman’s carbon footprint by 20 percent to 50 percent at the intermediate or monomer level when compared with processes that use fossil feedstocks, according to the company.

Using glycolysis, Eastman disassembles polyethylene terephthalate (PET) scrap into its fundamental building blocks. These building blocks are then used to produce polyesters that can claim high levels of recycled content without compromising quality.

The later phase of PRT using methanolysis will break down a wide variety of polyester scrap, Ballard says, including colored and clear PET, polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PET-G), copolymers like Tritan and carpet, for example.

Improving on a classic

Eastman introduced Tritan in 2008. Since that time, Ballard says, the product has come to be known for its clarity and durability. “Tritan has been a really great success for Eastman. It’s not very often that a new polymer made from a new monomer comes to the market.”  

As for the decision to incorporate PRT recycled content into the product, which is used to make durable products such as reusable sports bottles, food-storage containers and small appliances, he says, “I’d like to say it was strategic forethought … but the reality is that we didn’t chose Tritan, the marketplace did and our customers did.” Ballard adds that Eastman’s customers Nalgene and CamelBak have expressed an interest in moving quickly to incorporate recycled content into their products.

He says the introduction of Tritan Renew and the way its customers have embraced it, “feels like we are doing something right.”

Ballard adds, “To be completely circular and get away from linear, when something gets to its end of life, we have to be able to create something new from it. Tritan Renew is a great example of that.”

Tritan Renew is no different in terms of specification than the company’s original Tritan, Ballard says. “If someone is already using the heritage version, Tritan Renew drops right in with no change.”

When asked if Eastman will eventually produce only Tritan Renew rather than the virgin-based Tritan, he says, “I think we would love for that to be the truth. I think the market will decide that portion of it.” He adds that the company is establishing capacity and is willing to make the necessary investments based on the market.

Tritan Renew is more expensive than the traditional Tritan. “Innovation takes investment, investment takes return,” Ballard says. “So far, we have been able to manage the costs to the point that it is not cost prohibitive. We have been able to price it so that price has not been a barrier to adoption on any of the projects that we are working on.”  

He says Eastman decided to cap the recycled content in Tritan Renew at 50 percent because that is what the market seemed to want and the company finds it a “meaningful” percentage, though it could increase the proportion of recycled content. “Technically, we are limited by the monomer that is used. For Tritan Renew, you can get close to 90 percent depending on how much of the DMT (dimethyl terephthalate) monomer is used.”

The recycled content used in Tritan Renew is certified through a mass balance allocation process by Germany-based ISCC (International Sustainability & Carbon Certification), the company says.

“We really wanted to be very transparent and add a lot of clarity and confidence in guaranteeing that any product that we are selling as Renew that we have used enough waste plastic to make the monomer to make the material and certifying and guarantee that,” Ballard says.

He adds that Eastman worked with ISCC to decide setting up the process, establishing boundary conditions, tracking and securing third-party validation. “We also are working with them to work down the value chain,” through to the product molder and retailer.

Planning for more

While Eastman has set a goal to recycle 50 million pounds of plastic this year using its molecular recycling technologies, Ballard says the pandemic has affected its plans somewhat. “While we are proud to say that our technical capabilities and capacity have kept pace with that goal that was set pre-coronavirus, the demand side of it hasn’t,” he adds. “The reality is that COVID-19 has impacted the market both on the demand side as well as on the market’s ability to innovate and launch new products with new materials. At this point, it’s going to be a long shot that we will get to 50 million pounds in 2020, but we are hopeful to be at that rate by the end of the year and then be in good position to do that much or more in 2021.”

Eastman will be launching recycled-content versions of its other products in the coming months, all under the Renew moniker, Ballard says. These polymers will be used to manufacture eyewear and reusable packaging for cosmetics and personal care products. Eastman also is working with electronics brands to develop earbuds, headphones, audio cases, smartphone protective cases and peripherals made from sustainable materials.

He says Eastman believes it can play a role in creating value from waste. “If we can handle hard-to-process waste, not only will we divert more material from landfill and incineration, but it will help us get to a cost position that can speed acceptance.” 

While Eastman has a role to play, Ballard says the company is only part of a larger collaborative effort. “Ultimately, we are trying to leverage our 100-year history of innovation that leverages collaboration and drives us to believe in what’s possible,” he says. “Our polymer products have required us to develop an approach to partnering because we are using unique things that we have to teach our customers and work with our customers and their processes to make them work. So much of this journey that we are on is yet to be defined, and it’s only through partnerships that this is going to be possible.”

He adds, “We believe our sustainability solutions make us a true catalyst for change.”