In memoriam: Jake Farber

The Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), Brussels, has alerted its members that Jake Farber, the association’s one-time president and the president emeritus of Alpert & Alpert Iron & Metal Inc., a nonferrous scrap processing and trading company based in Los Angeles, died March 24 at the age of 94.

Farber served as BIR President from 1987 to 1991, with the association saying he was instrumental in further developing the organization.

He received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), Washington, BIR’s American members’ association, for his commitment and leadership within ISRI and its predecessor organization NARI (National Association of Recycling Industries), of which he was president from 1978 to 1980.

ISRI hires senior vice president

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), Washington, has hired Holly Arthur as senior vice president. She oversees communications, marketing, publications and other areas of the organization and assists with ISRI’s overall strategic planning.

“Holly’s experience, vision and knowledge will help ISRI elevate our current delivery of services as well as adapt them for the future of a constantly evolving industry,” says ISRI President Robin Wiener. “Her wide-ranging experience will also help further position ISRI as the Voice of the Recycling Industry in front of external audiences,” she adds.

ISRI says Arthur is an accomplished communications strategist and practitioner, with experience as a journalist as well as in government, public relations firms and large and small trade associations representing highly regulated industries. She comes to the association from the Portland Cement Association (PCA), where she was vice president of communications. In that position, Arthur focused on media relations, social media, advertising, marketing, board and membership communications, reputation management, executive communications and advocacy communications.

Prior to working for the PCA, Arthur served as the principal at Milton Public Relations, assistant vice president of public affairs at the Association of American Railroads and vice president at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide. She brings 25 years of experience in the communications and association management arena.

Eriez appoints director of sales and product management

Jeff Kaveney, a 24-year employee with Eriez, headquartered in Erie, Pennsylvania, has been promoted to director of sales and product management, says Senior Sales Director of Eriez – USA Dave Heubel. Kaveney served as manager of product marketing and administration prior to this promotion.

“As director of sales and product management, Jeff’s responsibilities include providing leadership for our separation, vibratory, metal detection and recycling product lines, developing key sales strategies for our light industry markets and overseeing order administration,” Heubel says. “Jeff’s proven dedication, wealth of product knowledge and widespread application experiences make him uniquely qualified to guide Eriez – USA in meeting our continually evolving strategic goals for product standardization and organic product development.”

Kaveney joined the Eriez sales team in 1995 as a technical sales representative.

BIR Plastics Committee appoints new chair

The Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), Brussels, has appointed Henk Alssema, chairman of Vita Plastics, Netherlands, as its Plastics Committee chair.

Alssema has been active in plastics recycling since 1994, successfully starting up several plastics recycling companies and restructuring a public company as its CEO, according to a BIR news release.

As Vita Plastics chairman, Alssema is focused on developing a new vision in the area of the circular economy that is centered on value creation.

Vita Plastics produces regrind, regranulate and compounds. An extensive network of suppliers provides Vita Plastics with postconsumer and postindustrial plastic scrap, which the company recycles into standard or customer-specific materials, according to the news release.

“I am pleased to welcome Henk as chairman of the BIR Plastics Committee and strongly believe that both BIR and the plastics recycling industry will greatly benefit from his vision, leadership and industry experience of nearly 25 years that he brings with him,” BIR President Ranjit Baxi says.

NWRA expands government affairs team

The National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA), Arlington, Virginia, has hired Teddy Greissing and Jonathan Taylor to its government affairs team. Greissing and Taylor will assist in the Washington office and will train to help with NWRA chapter operations.

“Many of the issues facing our industry are at the state and local level,” NWRA President and CEO Darrell Smith says. “The addition of Teddy and Jonathan to our state government affairs team will only make NWRA a stronger voice for the waste and recycling industry.”

Greissing is a manager of government relations with the NWRA. According to NWRA, he previously worked for Sanofi, a global pharmaceutical company in Bridgewater, New Jersey, where he supported the work of the federal government affairs team. Prior to his work with Sanofi, Greissing worked on the John McCain presidential campaign.

Taylor is a manager of government relations with the NWRA. According to NWRA, he was the public policy intern at the Industrial Minerals Association of North America. He also worked to solve regulatory issues with Mercedes-Benz USA as a regulatory and recalls intern.

Hitachi names new president

Hitachi Construction Machinery Loaders America Inc. (HCMA), Newnan, Georgia, has announced that President Masaaki Hirose is retiring from his current position, appointing HCMA Vice President of Operations Al Quinn to succeed him in day-to-day management of the company.

Hirose has accepted a new position within Hitachi, now serving as chairman and director of HCMA and vice president of the Hitachi Americas Operations Group. Quinn becomes managing director, reporting to Hirose.

“Al joined us in 2017 and took the lead in several of our key customer-facing roles,” Hirose says. “His profound expertise and experience in our industry have been crucial to our success in sales, marketing, parts and service and purchasing. Now, as managing director, he will continue to provide leadership in those areas, with additional responsibilities for corporate and production operations.”

Regarding HCMA, which was established in January 2018, Quinn says, “We have certainly gone through tremendous change in the past two years, but I want to say thank you to Masaaki for his dedication and commitments to improving our company. It is very rewarding to see the improvements that we are making in market share, profitability and in better serving our customers.”

Under Hirose’s leadership, HCMA has seen 175 percent growth in revenue and has nearly doubled its market share, the company says.

Zach Mallin

Vice president of Mallin Cos.

Zach Mallin fell in love with the scrap recycling industry at the age of 16 after spending some time working alongside his father, Jeffrey Mallin, at Mallin Cos. in Kansas City, Missouri, during his summer break. Mallin Cos. specializes in recycling insulated copper and aluminum wire, along with various other kinds of nonferrous metals and plastics.

“I began learning the industry, working in production lines and in our nonferrous warehouse,” the younger Mallin says. “At an early age, I experienced quite a bit as far as learning about our industry. I really knew I wanted to go to a university, study business and finance, then later on come back to our family business and begin my career in recycling.”

Aside from working at the family business, Mallin spent a short time working for a hospice and palliative care nonprofit in Kansas City, which he says gave him a new perspective on how to operate a business. He took those skills back with him to the family business when he joined Mallin Cos. in 2014.

“A large part of recruiting younger individuals for our industry is truly the exposure and explaining what our industry really does.”

Recycling Today (RT): Since you began working for Mallin Cos. full time, what are some challenges you have faced in your career?

Zach Mallin (ZM): One of the largest challenges so far has been employee retention. I think many firms are finding this, be it in recycling or anywhere in corporate America. [With] the rise in wage inflation and the amount of job opportunities, it’s difficult to retain employees. Our company has tried some different tactics [and] different benefits to retain employees and really try to revamp our training program to create quality jobs and set these employees up for success.

RT: What tips would you offer to the recycling industry on recruiting and retaining the next generation of industry professionals?

ZM: A large part of recruiting younger individuals for our industry is truly the exposure and explaining what our industry really does. [We need to] get out to college recruiters and career fairs and explain that we’re not just junkyards—we’re turning metals and plastics and papers into something that will benefit and become a new product. Our society is a throw-away society, but we’re turning things into new products that can benefit the future.

I think younger individuals take pride in what they’re accomplishing with work, too, as opposed to sitting at a desk and pushing paper. So, in this industry, they know whatever part they play, it’s benefiting the environment and society of the future.

RT: What technologies or processes have Mallin Cos. embraced?

ZM: Coming from a wire chopper’s perspective, something we have implemented is a few refining systems on our plastics byproducts. Any metal that is remaining in our plastic byproducts is now recovered. So, we have a specific process where we recover all that metal.

RT: Where do you see the industry headed in five years?

ZM: I think the industry will continue to grow. There are constantly expanding markets, especially with China as an unknown entity. I think we will continue to see an expansion in our industry domestically. I think that people are still trying to find more ways to refine metals, more ways to recover more metals from their processes and to add value to what they’re producing here.

Receiving a second chance can be a transformative experience, but so can giving one. Just ask Kabira Stokes, the founder and CEO of Los Angeles-based Homeboy Electronics Recycling, which is featured in this month’s cover story, “Giving opportunity.”

Stokes wanted to stop the formerly incarcerated from relapsing into criminal behavior, a cycle she recognized was related in part to the lack of job opportunities available to them upon their release. She was inspired by the work of Indianapolis-based electronics recycler RecycleForce, which has been serving this mission since 2006. Stokes launched Homeboy Electronics Recycling, originally named Isidore Electronics Recycling, in 2011. She says the company has helped numerous formerly incarcerated people get back on their feet.

The company is not alone in its mission, however, and has helped to form Impact Recyclers, a group of social enterprise, certified electronics recyclers with the shared mission of employing people facing barriers to work. Members of Impact Recyclers are licensed, insured and R2 (Responsible Recycling Practices) or e-Stewards certified. The network includes Homeboy Electronics, Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Comprenew and Tech Dump, which has operations in Minnesota’s Twin Cities.

Comprenew says its mission is “to protect businesses, people and the environment from the threat of improperly disposed electronic devices through best practice technology data management, asset recovery and recycling services while fostering job readiness and computer literacy among at-risk populations in our community.”

“Companies outside of the electronics recycling space also are giving opportunities to the formerly incarcerated.”

Tech Dump is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides job training and practical experience for adults who face barriers to employment.

Companies outside of the electronics recycling space also are giving opportunities to the formerly incarcerated. Michelle Coffino, president and CEO of Queen City Metal Recycling & Salvage LLC, Charlotte, North Carolina, works with halfway houses in her community to give employment opportunities to men and women who are coming out of incarceration through the company’s Second Chance employment program.

In addition to serving the formerly incarcerated, Queen City Metal has given summer scholarships to underprivileged children and donations to charities with funds raised through Queen City’s Recycling Metal to Recycle Lives event. Queen City Metal also has donated bicycles to a local man who refurbishes them and presents them to underprivileged children at local schools.

Recyclers such as these contribute to the social good in many ways. I hope you can find inspiration in their endeavors.

When it comes to egg cartons, there’s no question what comes first. Expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam has long been the material of choice for egg packaging. But, for one major egg supplier, outside-the-box thinking has led to both packaging improvements and to greater environmental sustainability.

Through a partnership between the egg processor and West Coast recycler Global Plastics, the 100 percent postconsumer polyethylene terephthalate (PET) Egg Package is now available to other egg sellers.

Buckeye, Arizona-based Hickman’s Family Farms processes between 36 million and 60 million eggs per week. The company depends on robotics to place its eggs in cartons, and flaws in the EPS and fiber cartons it was using hamstrung automation—a problem that inspired Hickman’s to look beyond the suppliers it was using.

“With California outlawing some of the foam in some of their cities now, we needed to look at a different type of carton,” says Jerry Hall, processing coordinator for Hickman’s.

With its need for perfectly identical cartons and a desire for more environmentally sustainable packaging, Hickman’s was receptive to proposals made by Global Plastics, a Perris, California, company that turns about 4 million bottles per day into packaging using in-house equipment.

“We wanted to get into the egg packaging business because we see an opportunity with [PS foam] going away,” says Dan Bahou, vice president of business development for Global Plastics. “So, we approached Hickman’s farms and said, ‘Hey, we would like to make an egg package out of recycled PET.’”

To create the new egg carton for Hickman’s made entirely from recycled PET (rPET), Global Plastics contributed a full spectrum of expertise—everything from recycling PET bottles to designing a mold for the new carton to thermoforming the final product.

“Global Plastics would make a prototype, and we would take it out to their facility, and we would test it,” Bahou says, explaining that the two companies collaborated to be sure the trial cartons worked well with Hickman’s automation.

He continues, “And we’d go through the whole thing and we’d go, ‘OK. There’s a small issue with de-nesting here, the hinge isn’t closing quite right, the locks aren’t perfect,’ and so we would go back to the drawing board, and we would make some changes.”

The entire process took many iterations over a couple years, Bahou adds.

“There’s a number of issues associated with PET and their [carton filling] equipment,” Bahou says. “Eggs are heavy. PET is sort of a lightweight item,” he adds.

Production of the carton begins on Global Plastics’ PET recycling lines.

Every day, the company accepts bales of millions of bottles from California’s buy-back program. It sorts, grinds and washes the bottles, with a portion of green bottles going toward eventual production of green-tinted egg cartons. The company also uses brown bottles to some degree for production of brown-tinted egg cartons.

Machinery maker Amut Group, Novara, Italy, supplied most of Global Plastics’ recycling equipment, including its filters, wash lines and extruders, as well as the thermoforming machinery it uses for making packaging.

“On the washing side, what we’ve had to do is we’ve had to boost some new technology in the processes in general,” says Anthony Georges, the president of Amut North America, Vaughan, Ontario.

He adds that the equipment includes a turbo washer “to remove a lot more of the glass and inorganic elements that we now find in the bales.”

“As people stop the ability to use foam, they have to have an alternative. It’s really going to be PET or pulp.” – Dan Bahou, vice president of business development for Global Plastics

The clean PET flakes are then pelletized, using non-Amut equipment, and ready to be extruded into sheet for thermoforming. The process complies with direct-food-contact certifications.

To make the egg cartons, Global Plastics uses an ACF920 thermoformer from Amut.

“Global Plastics takes the bottle and recycles it all the way to the finished product,” Bahou says. “We are one of a few in North America vertically integrated all the way with that capability.”

The Amut thermoformer’s EASY advanced software, combined with a plug-assist option, allows continuous control during all thermoforming phases for the right material distribution—key for making egg cartons with identical, predictable characteristics.

Bahou says Global Plastics now produces most of Hickman’s egg cartons, but Hickman’s also has acquired a thermoformer to produce some itself, using sheet it purchases from Global Plastics.

It takes three bottles to make one 12-count egg carton and four bottles for an 18-count egg pack. A 24-count egg container requires five bottles.

“It’s a great solution to this issue. It’s a great cost solution, as well, since it’s recycled PET,” Bahou says. “It can’t compete with foam identically, right? But it can get pretty close to pulp.”

He adds, “As people stop the ability to use foam, they have to have an alternative. It’s really going to be PET or pulp.”

Hall says the carton changeover has made packaging eggs easier “because we’re able to tune the machinery to a much more stable type of carton. It doesn’t tend to bow or flex, or it doesn’t matter how it dries.”

It’s a move that’s made sense for Hickman’s. “We need to be into the PET,” Hall says. “And we’re able to tell the recycling story with it. The Costcos, the Walmarts, the big-name players in our industry really like the story of the recycled PET carton.”

The author is a correspondent for Plastics Machinery Magazine and can be contacted at agerlat@plasticsmachinerymagazine.com.