Tech Defenders, a Grand Rapids, Michigan-based information technology asset disposition (ITAD) and electronics recycling and repair company, has ranked 657th on 2020 Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Companies list. According to information submitted by Tech Defenders to the publication, it has grown at a 714.68 percent clip in the three years from 2017 to 2019.

The company describes itself as the fastest-growing ITAD firm in the United States. Its owners—Garry VonMyhr (CEO and co-founder), Jordan Notenbaum (co-founder) and Steve Barnes (co-founder)—also have placed two previous companies on the Inc. 5000 list.  The other companies that made the list were Mobile Defenders (at number 214 in 2017) and Genius Phone Repair (at number 750 in 2016).

The co-founders say the most notable service of Tech Defenders, which was founded in 2014, is Device Buyback. That business model involves purchasing used mobile devices (laptops, tablets and phones) to then repair and refurbish them and “thoroughly wipe all sensitive data.” Once devices are in a sellable state, they are sold to retailers around the world.

Tech Defenders says it works with organizations that have large fleets of mobile devices, such as school districts, hospitals and businesses. In 2019 alone, the company says it kept 496 tons of electronic scrap from ending up in landfills. The company also seeks appropriate certifications, such as R2.

“Making the Inc. 5000 list has been a goal of ours for years,” VonMyhr says. “This award allows us to be part of an elite group of rapidly growing companies that are innovating and providing incredible solutions to their customers. This is a great privilege for me, my company, but most importantly, my teammates who are the backbone of our organization.”

VonMyhr says the COVID-19 pandemic has accentuated the demand for quality IT equipment. “This award is also very timely, as our staff has worked harder than ever before to serve our customers, who either need technology or require additional funds for their IT program. We are grateful we can serve in such a big way during these unprecedented times.”

Germany-based Steinert says its SteelMaster downstream component has been updated and partially redesigned thanks to customer feedback and is now even more prepared for “the tough conditions experienced in shredder plants.

The company says the mechanics of the belt section have been changed to improve material flow and separation properties, simplify maintenance and reduce the copper content in the iron to less than 0.2 percent. “The robust design, typical of Steinert, stands for a long service life and good availability of the technology,” adds the firm.

The SteelMaster has been designed to replace work commonly done by hand-pickers, involving separating shredded copper motor fragments (commonly called “meatballs” in the scrap industry), to free this copper content from the steel.

Says Steinert, “With hundreds of objects passing over the sorting belt every second, it isn’t easy for the hand pickers to find and sort these problematic items, especially as they may be large or small, solid or weighty. The purity of the ferrous product—a basic requirement for use in steel mills—may, therefore, vary greatly, making the product harder to sell. By deploying a combination of ballistic and magnetic effects, the new Steinert SteelMaster is a good and efficient addition for reducing the amount of manual work needed.”

Steinert says common meatball and other red metal material sizes identified and separated by the SteelMaster are in the 20 to 400 millimeters (three-quarters of an inch to 15 inches) range. Achieving a maximum throughput of 75 metric tons per hour (per meter of machine width) is possible, depending on material composition, says the sorting technology firm.

Adds Steinert, “Depending on input material and sorting task, other magnet-based sorting machines can be fitted upstream or downstream as required to separate out impurities and fine or free copper content.”

Irving, Texas-based Commercial Metals Co. (CMC) has announced it will build its third electric arc furnace (EAF) steel micromill, and it will be adjacent to one of CMC’s existing micromills in Mesa, Arizona.

CMC says the $300 million facility will be the first in the world to produce merchant bar quality (MBQ) products through what it calls “a continuous-continuous production process.” The new mill will replace what CMC calls “higher cost rebar capacity,” referring to the Rancho Cucamonga, California, EAF melt shop CMC idled in October 2019.

“We are excited by the tremendous promise of CMC’s third micro mill,” states Barbara R. Smith, president, CEO and board chair of CMC. “This is a smart growth initiative that feeds the large underlying West Coast demand for rebar and merchant bar, replacing inefficient existing rebar capacity with environmentally friendly technology. By monetizing the significant value associated with our Southern California real estate, this lowers the project’s capital requirements and increases its returns. Offering bottom-line growth and significant environmental benefits, this project is a win for our customers, employees, the local community, and shareholders.”

The new scrap-fed EAF capacity will be installed on property adjacent to CMC’s current Mesa facility, which CMC says “will enable the company to leverage its existing infrastructure and the significant micromill expertise of its engineering and operating personnel.” (CMC’s other micromill is in Durant, Oklahoma.)

CMC says the new micromill is expected to begin operating in early 2023 and will have an estimated annual capacity of 500,000 tons, including 150,000 tons of merchant product.

The announcement likely brings an end to steelmaking at the Rancho Cucamonga complex, which CMC acquired from Gerdau in January 2018.

In January 2020, CMC announced in comments accompanying an earnings report that it had ceased melt shop operations in Rancho Cucamonga in the fourth quarter of 2019.

CEO Smith’s comments that the steelmaker intends to “monetiz[e] the significant value associated with our Southern California real estate” points to the likelihood that CMC does not anticipate a prospective buyer for the mill assets to stay in place in California, so instead will explore real estate redevelopment options.

Steel has been made at the Rancho Cucamonga site since 1957, when it opened as Etiwanda Steel Producers, according to a 2017 article by the Rancho Cucamonga-based Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. The same article refers to the EAF facility as “California’s last big steel mill.”

In addition to CMC and Gerdau, the TAMCO joint venture between California-based Ameron International (Etiwanda Steel, with a new name adopted in 1970), Tokyo Steel and Mitsui & Co. (U.S.A.) Inc. owned the mill from 1974 until 2010, when Gerdau bought the mill from TAMCO.

Regarding the future Arizona micromill capacity, Tracy Porter, CMC executive vice president and chief operating officer, comments, “Representing another first in North America, this new micromill, which we are calling Triple M, will employ the latest technology in EAF power supply systems provided by Danieli, our equipment provider.”

Porter says Danieli was chosen in part because its “Q-One technology allows us to directly connect the electric arc furnace and ladle furnace to renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, and we intend to construct a solar array on our plant site to provide a meaningful portion of the facility’s power. With this new advanced technology, coupled with the continuous steelmaking process, we will be one of the most efficient steel producers in the world.”

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), Washington, has updated its 2020 Advocacy Agenda to outline the association’s legislative platform for the year and continuous efforts in support of recycling’s contributions to U.S. manufacturing and the economy. 

Some topics of concern to the association this year include market development and economic opportunity, sustainability and the environment, international trade, transportation and infrastructure development, workforce safety initiatives, workforce and immigration issues and regulatory policy. 

“As the voice of the recycling industry, ISRI’s role has never been more critical,” says ISRI Vice President of Advocacy Adina Renee Adler. “Serving as the first link in the manufacturing supply chain, keeping the recycling industry open is critical to the health of American manufacturing as products required for COVID-19 recovery are in short supply. From the essential business designation to financial support programs, workplace safety initiatives, and so much more, ISRI looks forward to continuing its advocacy efforts benefiting the recycling industry during these unprecedented times and beyond.”

Market development

In the areas of market development and economic opportunity, ISRI reports that it plans to work in partnership with governments and manufacturers to inspire more opportunities for recycled content use in consumer and industrial goods and infrastructure development. Additionally, ISRI plans to advocate that recyclers are manufacturers and therefore should be included in any manufacturers’ sales tax exemptions.

Sustainability and environment

The U.S. scrap recycling industry’s contributions to environmental protection, resource conservation and sustainability can be enhanced by government policies. According to ISRI, some policies that could help include incentives for technology, a recognition that scrap is not waste and recycling is not disposal. ISRI says it’s advocating for sustainability and environmental policies that understand, recognize and promote the industry’s benefits and growth.

International trade

On the international trade front, ISRI says it’s committed to free and fair trade and plans to ask governments not to implement export controls that will cause undue harm to manufacturing consumers in the form of supply constraints and price increases.

“In addition to advocating on behalf of recycling during the COVID-19 pandemic, over the last 12 months ISRI strengthened our working relationship with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, obtained an exclusion from tariffs for certain critical recycling equipment parts, and inserted critical language into draft legislation that would bolster the industry by expanding market opportunities,” Adler says. “This is just a fraction of our accomplishments, and we look forward to continuing our work on behalf of the industry.”

Transportation and infrastructure

The recycling industry is highly dependent upon a modern and efficient transportation infrastructure to move scrap to market, whether it be by truck, rail, ship or barge. According to ISRI’s 2020 Advocacy Agenda, the association plans to support transportation efforts and infrastructure development proposals that may be introduced in 2020 that advance the recycling industry’s needs.

In particular, the association is pushing for the final promulgation of the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) 2016 proposed rule revoking the rail exemption for ferrous steel scrap. ISRI says this rule is needed to protect recyclers from the railroad’s current exercise of market power by giving them access to effective remedies for insufficient and unsatisfactory service through the STB. ISRI is also pushing for the STB to conduct a waybill analysis for paper and plastics so that the rail exemption of the movement by rail for these scrap commodities can also be revoked. 

Workforce safety

This year, the association also aims to work closely with Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Transportation to provide members with resources and guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The association also plans to monitor the impact of lithium-ion batteries in the recycling stream and will work with many stakeholders, including the International Code Council to monitor regulatory responses and develop response protocols to aid in prevention and mitigation of lithium-ion-battery-related events.

Workforce and immigration

Many of the America’s original recyclers were immigrants whose ingenuity and hard work created what is today’s recycling industry. According to ISRI, the industry continues to employ immigrants throughout the country, including legal residents protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and workers in the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program. 

The association plans to advocate for a policy that allows immigrant workers into the United States to supplement domestic workers and has joined with others in the business community to evaluate ways to allow DACA and TPS workers to remain employed in the recycling industry. 

Regulatory policy

The recycling industry is also impacted by regulatory policy made in agencies and departments across the U.S. government. As a result, ISRI plans to monitor and comment on any and all regulations that have the potential to hinder recycling operations this year.

The association’s Advocacy Agenda is a living document that it plans to continually update to reflect its achievements and changes in the policy arena. Click here to read the full agenda.