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 on Dec. 31, 2018. The company initially announced terms of the asset purchase agreement on Oct. 2, 2018.
According to a news release from Resolute Forest Products, 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.
“We are pleased to have completed the sale of the Catawba mill to New-Indy and wish the new team every success with its investment in the diversification of the mill's operations,” says Yves Laflamme, president and CEO of Resolute Forest Products. “We want to thank our employees for their hard work and dedication toward this successful outcome and are pleased that the community will continue to benefit from the mill’s economic and social impact.”
As previously disclosed, Resolute has agreed to use the majority of the proceeds from the asset sale to repurchase $225 million of its 5.875 percent senior notes due in 2023. TM Capital Corp. served as Resolute’s financial advisor on the transaction, while Akerman LLP and Troutman Sanders LLP acted as Resolute’s legal counsels.
Mitsui funds new scrap trading venture
Global Metals Network will be based in Hong Kong, led by Mark Sellier.
Several nonferrous scrap traders formerly connected with Australia-based OneSteel Recycling have agreed to be part of an alliance organized by a Hong Kong-based scrap recycler and backed financially by Japan-based Mitsui & Co.
The new Global Metals Network will start conducting business Jan. 1, 2019, with corporate headquarters in Hong Kong and trading offices in the United States, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, South Africa, Chile and Colombia.
The trading network was organized by Keith Chiu, who operates scrap yards in Asia and an existing trading firm as chair of SBE International Ltd., along with his nonexecutive director Jacobus Ngai. According to Global Metals Network President Mark Sellier, Chiu and Ngai recruited the former OneSteel traders to be part of the new company while simultaneously approaching Mitsui to be part of the affiliated venture “as the financial partner.”
Comments Sellier, “Mitsui was already involved in nonferrous and ferrous scrap, so this increases their presence in the scrap market, particularly in copper.” He adds, “It’s an incredibly exciting opportunity to try to grow this partnership with Mitsui. To bring a company with in-depth experience with cathode and concentrates and mining and to help increase their scrap portfolio points to the bright future of recycling and scrap—it endorses the future of that to me.”
The new company’s global trading network includes: Rita Lou, working from a Los Angeles area office in the United States; Joss Francis and Laura Nicholson working from the United Kingdom; Sandra Vrielink in the Netherlands; Lynn Brock based in Durban, South Africa; Claudia Vega in Santiago, Chile; and Karima Ngadi in Bogota, Colombia.
Sellier says former OneSteel Recycling Hong Kong staff members Carrie Woo, Canice She and Kennis Chan, in addition to former representatives of the Sims Metal Management logistics team, are now part of Global Metals Network, which has set up its office in Wan Chai, Hong Kong.
Sellier says the global footprint of the new trading house “will be part of our advantage.” He adds, “We try to basically make the global local for our customers—to do business with people in their country in their language. We have specifically designed our business to have as much global spread as possible, to take advantage of arbitrage opportunities as they arise to best serve our trading partners. An incident such as a trade war can spark a change in trade flows, and we need to be agile to take advantage of new spreads or opportunities as they arise.”
Hong Kong construction waste.
Hong Kong fails to meet waste reduction target
Commercial and industrial waste contribute to the increase.
Hong Kong set a target to reduce each citizen's daily municipal solid waste disposal by 20 percent, or 1 kilogram (slightly more than 2 pounds) by 2017 and by 40 percent, or 0.8 kilogram (slightly more than 1.5 pounds) by 2022. The target was unveiled May 2013 in the government's Blueprint for Sustainable Use of Resources 2013-2022
Statistics released by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) Thursday show that the city missed the target, with the average citizen sending 1.45 kilograms of solid waste to the landfill per day last year.
“The increase in the disposal rate was partly caused by an increase in the amount of commercial and industrial waste being disposed of, which was partly attributable to a vibrant local economy in 2017,” the department stated in the report.
Overall, the city generated 5.75 million tons of municipal solid waste last year, an increase of 0.9 percent. Although nonferrous metals and glass disposal dropped by 16 and 12 percent, paper disposal increased by 13 percent, food waste by 1.7 percent and commercial and industrial waste rose by 4.1 percent. Recovery of construction waste remained at a high 92 percent last year, with the disposal of construction waste at landfills decreasing 4.9 percent compared with 2016.
The recycling rate of municipal solid waste was 32 percent last year, lower than the 34 percent in 2016. The department said outside markets and stricter import controls played a role in the declining recycling rate.
“The value of and outlets for local recyclables have long been dictated by the condition of the market outside Hong Kong,” the department said. “The challenging condition of the market outside Hong Kong for recyclables that has persisted in recent years, together with stricter import controls imposed by nearby jurisdictions, has continued to affect the overall performance of the recycling industry.”
An EPD spokesman said the government will continue to work on implementing the waste reduction strategy, noting the upcoming waste charging scheme will “drive behavioral and cultural changes” and encourage community to practice in waste reduction at the source and clean recycling.
Lawmaker Steven Ho Chun-yin of the agriculture and fisheries sector told South China Morning Post that the waste charging scheme could not reduce municipal solid waste by itself, because citizens could not control how much waste they would generate when there was so much "over-packaging" in the market.
In other parts of Seoul and Taipei City, waste disposal dropped by some 30 percent after the charging scheme was introduced. The government introduced a bill on the charging scheme in November. If the bill is passed, there will be 12 to 18 months for the government, stakeholders and the public to prepare for the implementation of waste charging.
The EPD said it is actively working through various recycling fund programs, as well as various actions to tackle waste plastic, such as plastic shopping bag charging schemes and free collection service for plastic waste. The department said it is also working to develop more recycling facilities to support local recycling activities.
AKO Group invests in tire recycling facility
The Turkish company will invest about $30 million in the tire recycling facility.
Turkey-based AKO Group plans to construct a $30 million integrated tire recycling plant in Ankara, Turkey. AKO Group produces tires, car batteries and wheel rims.
According to an AKO Group news release, the integrated facility will transform about one-fourth of the 350,000 tons of waste tires generated annually in Turkey into quality raw materials. The company reports that the new facility will also reduce the country’s dependence of on importing recycled rubber.
“This investment will contribute to the current account deficit of our country with the production of raw materials obtained by the enterprises in our country as well as the domestic market,” the company reports in a news release.
AKO Group’s new facility will also contribute to Turkey’s zero-waste project, which aims to reduce the amount of waste not recycled.
The company plans to open the facility in 2020. AKO Group reports that the new tire recycling facility will span more than 100,000 square meters (about 1.08 million square feet).
A push for paper packaging
Julie Corbett, founder and president of Ecologic, shares the company’s story of offering recyclable paper bottle packaging.
Julie Corbett didn’t start her career as a “packaging person.” Most of her career was spent in the investment industry.
However, after helping her kids with a waste reduction project for their school, she became interested in packaging and recycling.
“We had to weigh our trash at the end of the week and the classroom with the least amount of trash won a pizza party,” she says. “This was over 10 years ago, but in the end, I was trying to go down the aisles in the supermarket and buy better packaging because I started to realize what was and wasn’t recyclable.”
Through this research, Corbett says she recognized that there weren’t enough sustainable packaging options available. “For as many choices you have in the products you buy, when it comes to packaging, it’s mostly the same,” she says. “Either you buy a pouch, which is unrecyclable but obviously less material, and laminated paper structures. So, I was shocked.”
Ecologic is on track to purchase more recovered fiber materials in 2019.
Around that time, Corbett says she learned about how materials bonded together—such as plastic to paper or metal to plastic—are not recyclable. She connected with a friend who works at Waste Management to better understand the recycling situation in the United States, and she learned about contamination issues that occur at material recovery facilities (MRFs).
Having been raised in a small town north of Quebec City, Quebec, where forestry is big, Corbett says she knew paper producers tend to be some of the largest recyclers of paper, as well. “It’s healthier than plastics,” she says. And after seeing that Apple offered a molded paper tray with its iPhone products, Corbett says she was inspired to develop something that would change the packaging industry.
Corbett launched Ecologic, Manteca, California, in 2008 to develop paper packaging for things that are typically packaged in plastic. The company offers paper bottles for things such as personal care products or detergent bottles.
Recycling Today connected with Corbett to learn more about the Ecologic brand and the company’s goals for 2019.
Recycling Today (RT): So, what kind of paper do you use to make your packaging?
Julie Corbett: [They’re] made from recycled content. So, we use [old corrugated containers] OCC and [old newspapers] ONP. We use paper from the waste stream. With L’Oreal, we are creating a circular waste loop where we’re taking the waste from their box factory. It’s a box-to-bottle solution. We’re taking their old corrugated containers, which are actually quite contaminated believe it or not, and it’s a closed-loop solution. We’re taking their waste, upcycling it into a bottle for one of their most premium offerings.
RT: Some plastic is used in Ecologic packaging—could you share the breakdown of what’s included in most Ecologic packaging?
Corbett: It’s OCC, ONP and [postconsumer recycled] PCR plastic. Of the entire structure, it depends on the format and how large it is. But for example, with our Seed Phytonutrients bottle, it’s 60 percent less plastic in one format. The whole shell is 100 percent PCR and the liner is 80 percent PCR.
RT: So, can your packaging solutions be recycled by consumers?
Corbett: Yes—every bottle includes a depiction on separating it. After [the consumer] finishes the product, they crack it open. It’s relatively easy to do. With [our] L’Oreal bottle, L’Oreal is putting a seed pack inside the container to incentivize people to crack it open so they can plant the seeds. I think we really need to have consumers more engaged in the process. The idea of wishful thinking is not going to solve our problem. If the consumer can help at the front-end stage, it helps everyone tremendously.
RT: How has Ecologic evolved over the years?
Corbett: We did our first consumer tests in 2010. Things took off in 2011 when Seventh Generation came to the table with us. At that time, there were issues with manufacturing—not the products. So, in 2015 we took a bit of a break from taking customers to address the manufacturing issues. Greg Rodrigues, CEO, has focused on building a state-of-the-art back end system, infrastructure that could adapt to high-speed manufacturing. So, we relaunched with L’Oreal in April 2018. We’ll be launching with other [consumer packaged goods] soon because of the infrastructure improvements we made. We’re growing rapidly at the stage we’re at now, becoming a bigger attraction to brands looking for innovation in general and less plastic consumption. You’ll probably see an Ecologic solution in the aisles of supermarket stores over the next three to four years.
RT: What are some of Ecologic’s goals for 2019?
Corbett: We’re still small in the grand scheme, but as we scale, we’ll become a bigger buyer [of materials] in the Manteca area. There are plenty of MRFs here. We’ll be a more reliable buyer with volumes. We’re building demand for products—it takes time to develop these products. We’re on track to buy more OCC, though. And by the end of this year, we’re investing in a pulper to handle more mixed paper bale. There’s such a lack of demand for mixed paper, so we’re investing in a system that will allow us to handle more contaminated mixed paper. We’ve discussed this for a long time, but we’re securing funding for it.
Posted by Megan Smalley
Brian Taylor
