Indorama ventures acquires PET facilities in US, Germany
Bangkok-based Indorama Ventures Public Co. Ltd. (IVL), a leading petrochemical company, has entered into an agreement to acquire a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling facility from Alabama-based Custom Polymers PET. Both companies have recycling footprints in Europe, Mexico, Thailand and the U.S.
In addition, Indorama bought a Germany-based PET manufacturing facility from Invista Resins & Fibers. The company will own the intellectual property rights to Polyshield PET and Oxyclear Barrier PET and says it will continue to support demand for oxygen barrier and resin barrier packaging.
The PET plant in Germany has a combined capacity of 282,000 tons per year and employs 140 people. The Alabama facility has production lines for recycled PET flake and pellets with a combined capacity of 31,000 tons per year, according to a news release from Indorama.
“At Indorama Ventures, we intend to play a key role in promoting the circular economy and environmental sustainability by continuing to pursue the right opportunities to fill gaps that are intrinsic to our industry’s sustainable and profitable business,” Indorama Ventures CEO Aloke Lohia says. “We strongly feel that this initiative will contribute as an attractive platform for strong future growth in our commitment to sustainable recycling business with the potential to expand further with the support of our stakeholders.”
The company says the deals are in line with the growing emphasis on sustainability and the circular economy objectives of consumer packaging manufacturers and will allow it to meet “increasing food-grade recycled PET demand for more sustainable packaging solutions by major brand owners.”
Municipal, IC&I, Legislation & Regulations
Departments - Newsworthy
Recent news from the various sectors of the recycling industry
Deltona, Florida, officials have voted to suspend curbside recycling, among other waste collection changes, citing high costs and safety hazards. The city has a population of almost 91,000.
Deltona contracts with Waste Pro USA, based in Longwood, Florida, for its residential recycling and waste services. City officials note that the increasingly tight import restrictions in China have resulted in substantially less material being recycled, causing recyclables such as paper to either head straight into landfills or to be stockpiled, creating fire hazards in facilities.
Officials also note soaring costs that now come with processing recyclables. Legislative documents show that in 2017, processing companies received about $120 per ton of mixed paper that cost $80 to process. Just a year later, the cost to process remained the same, but companies were receiving $5 or less per ton. In addition, the city used to receive rebates for its recyclables but has not received any since 2016.
With the suspension, processing fees have lowered to a negotiated price of $34.
Curbside collection costs for residents went from $12.35 per month to $10.60.
Officials estimate the change will save the city nearly $715,000. The recycling suspension began Feb. 1 and continues until “recycling markets improve,” according to legislative documents.
Massachusetts issues notices of noncompliance for violations of state recycling regulations
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has issued 119 notices of noncompliance and eight waste ban orders with penalties to entities found violating the state’s recycling rules in 2018.
These actions, which build upon the state’s recent efforts to promote the environmental benefits of recycling, were for violations involving improper disposal of significant amounts of recyclables and cover a wide spectrum of public and private institutions, including the food and retail sectors, hospitality sector and educational and medical facilities.
The state’s waste bans include materials such as paper, cardboard, glass, plastic, metal containers, construction materials and leaves and yard waste. The entire list and further descriptions can be found online at www.mass.gov/guides/massdep-waste-disposal-bans.
“While Massachusetts’ waste bans have increased recycling, it is important to make sure that the rules are being followed,” Martin Suuberg, MassDEP commissioner, says. “The inspection and compliance efforts have helped to highlight these opportunities for businesses and help them fix and improve their recycling programs. These inspections will continue as we work to make sure that we are doing our best to promote recycling.”
For years, MassDEP says it has had and enforced solid waste disposal bans, which help stimulate markets for recyclables, preserving limited disposal capacity, conserving natural resources and reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
More than 80 percent of observed waste ban violations were for improper disposal of cardboard, the agency says. For most of these violations, companies already had recycling programs in place. While the various programs faced a range of issues, such as insufficient staff training, lack of signage or containers that were not the right size or not collected frequently enough, companies that were cited for noncompliance have addressed their respective issues and returned to compliance upon receiving notices for violations.
Paper
Departments - Newsworthy
Recent news from the various sectors of the recycling industry
Vietnam spent about $1.9 billion importing about 2.1 million tons of paper, including scrap paper, in 2018. According to an online article from China’s Xinhua news agency, the Ministry of Industry and Trade reported Jan. 10 that Vietnam increased its spending by 14.2 percent compared with 2017, and it increased its import volume by about 6.1 percent compared with 2017.
In December 2018, Vietnam imported 210,000 tons of scrap paper worth $172 million mainly from China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea and Thailand. That is an increase of 24.7 percent in volume and 13.6 percent in value, Xinhua reports.
About 70 percent of Vietnam’s total paper output is made from recovered paper, and about 60 percent of the recovered paper is imported, the ministry’s Industry Agency told Xinhua.
Dan Gee, senior associate at Atlanta-based Moore & Associates, says Vietnam is one of several Southeast Asian countries that has increased paper imports in the past year. Other countries include Indonesia, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Laos, Philippines and Malaysia.
In Vietnam, Gee adds that China-based Nine Dragons Paper invested in the Cheng Yang Paper mill several years ago. That mill, based in the Binh Duong Province, is up and running, adding recovered paper demand in the country. Lee & Man Paper also is building a mill in the Hau Giang Province that is scheduled to open in late 2019.
Vietnam’s demand for paper is estimated to grow 8 to 10 percent annually in the next couple of years.
Resolute completes sale of paper mill
Montreal-based Resolute Forest Products Inc. completed the sale of its kraft pulp and paper mill in Catawba, South Carolina, to Ontario, California-based New-Indy Containerboard LLC Dec. 31, 2018. The company initially announced terms of the asset purchase agreement Oct. 2, 2018.
Resolute says the total purchase price of about $300 million consists of $260 million in cash, before customary closing adjustments, and the assumption of about $40 million of balance sheet liabilities, largely net pension benefit obligations.
As previously disclosed, Resolute says it will use most of the proceeds from the sale to repurchase $225 million of its 5.88 percent senior notes due in 2023.
Metals
Departments - Newsworthy
Recent news from the various sectors of the recycling industry
Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI), Fort Wayne, Indiana, has announced fourth quarter and annual 2018 financial results, noting that it saw annual steel shipments of 10.6 million tons, net sales of $11.8 billion, operating income of $1.7 billion, net income of $1.3 billion, cash flow from operations of $1.4 billion and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in excess of $2 billion, all annual records.
The company reported fourth quarter 2018 net sales of $2.9 billion and net income of $270 million, or $1.17 per diluted share. The company’s fourth quarter adjusted net income was $302 million, or $1.31 per diluted share.
Comparatively, prior year fourth-quarter net sales were $2.3 billion, with net income of $305 million, or $1.28 per diluted share, which included a tax benefit of 83 cents per diluted share primarily related to the U.S. Federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA), lower earnings from facility outages of 7 cents per diluted share and debt refinancing charges of 2 cents per diluted share. Sequential third-quarter 2018 net sales were $3.2 billion, with net income of $398 million, or $1.69 per diluted share.
“The performance of the entire Steel Dynamics team was exceptional this year,” says Mark D. Millett, SDI president and CEO in the news release announcing its financial performance. “We performed at the top of our industry, both operationally and financially.”
Millett says in 2018, the U.S. steel industry benefited from steady improvement in steel consumption fueled by strength from the automotive, construction and energy sectors.
Fourth-quarter 2018 operating income from its metals recycling operations was $17 million compared with $18 million in the sequential third quarter. Improved average quarterly ferrous and nonferrous metal spreads were offset by seasonally lower ferrous scrap shipments, SDI says.
“In combination with our existing and newly announced expansion initiatives, we believe there are firm drivers for our continued growth,” Millett says. “We are excited about our new planned flat roll steel mill that was announced in the fourth quarter and the anticipated long-term value creation it will bring through geographic and value-added product diversification.”
Capital Scrap Metal LLC, headquartered in Pompano Beach, Florida, has purchased a new facility that will incorporate the company’s new headquarters building and provide additional warehousing space.
The new facility is adjacent to Capital Scrap Metal’s flagship yard in Pompano Beach. The company operates five locations throughout south Florida.
“This building will enable us to increase our nonferrous processing and consolidate our administrative staff into one location,” General Manager Sean Harrigan says. “The overall objective, as always, will be enhancing our efficiencies and creating the highest quality package for shipping.”
The company, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, says it is pursuing additional opportunities and locations in 2019.
Detroit to place moratorium on scrap yard, auto salvage permits
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan has signed an executive order that bans the opening of “used tire storage and sales, used auto sales, scrap iron and metal processors, junk dealers, auto dismantling and wrecking and major and minor auto repair” facilities. The executive order runs from April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020.
According to the executive order, Detroit has seen an increase in the establishment and expansion of scrap tire processing and recycling, scrap tire storage and motor vehicle repair facilities and used car sales lots. The order states that such businesses have “been a challenge for the city of Detroit due to an overconcentration of such uses and lack of compliance with zoning, property maintenance and licensing standards, in addition to evidence of criminal activity furthered or condoned by some of these operations.”
The order adds that some businesses are operating without permits, certificates of compliance or business licenses and “present deleterious effects on neighboring residential districts, resulting in excessive blight, traffic, noise, crime and environmental concerns.”
According to the executive order, the city plans to spend the year reviewing and updating its existing ordinances for starting and expanding scrap yards and auto dismantling facilities to reduce crime that comes as a result of these businesses and to limit the number of these businesses in the city.
“Many businesses are currently operating without the benefit of a permit, a certificate of compliance or a business license,” the order states. “Once permitted, some of these uses have illegally intensified the services offered, such as presenting more used cars for sale than allowed or providing more intense vehicle repair activities than allowed.”
The order will not prohibit the renewal of existing business licenses or certificates of compliance required by the city code.
Waelz kiln to open in Indiana
Waelz Sustainable Products LLC plans to build a waelz kiln in Muncie, Indiana. The company is a joint venture between Heritage Environmental Services LLC, Indianapolis, and Zinc Nacional, Monterrey, Mexico, which formed in August 2018.
According to an Inside INdianaBusinessarticle, Waelz Sustainable Products plans to invest $75 million in a 30-acre kiln facility at the former BorgWarner campus in Muncie. The project is expected to create about 90 jobs over the next few years.
The publication reports Waelz Sustainable Products plans to break ground early this year and to be operating by late 2020. It will produce zinc oxide from steel mill byproducts, processing 100,000 tons annually.
Packaging
Departments - Newsworthy
Recent news from the various sectors of the recycling industry
United Parcel Service (UPS), Atlanta, has joined 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.
Products will be delivered and picked up via a system designed by TerraCycle and UPS.
“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.
Loop customers will receive durable, reusable or fully recyclable packaging made from materials such as aluminum alloys, glass and plastics. Even the shipping container—a reusable tote—is part of the revamped design and will eliminate the need for single-use boxes.
UPS and TerraCycle collaborated to design the tote, with protective dividers inside. The tote is made with materials that offer easy cleaning for reuse.
During design and testing, UPS says it identified solutions to mitigate materials breakdown, product leaks, signs of fatigue after limited use and scratches on metal containers caused by metal closures.
UPS says Loop pilots planned for Paris and New York early this year will help refine the process.
To use Loop, customers must shop from https://loopstore.com or from Loop partner retailers’ websites.
