DS Smith, headquartered in London, has implemented a new moisture-measuring technology at some of its mills in Europe to assess the quality of incoming raw materials and to increase transparency with suppliers. The new system, dubbed Moisture Gate, measures moisture content in paper for recycling (PFR) that arrives at its paper mills in Rouen, France, in and Dueñas, Spain.

DS Smith
Guy Lacey

Guy Lacey, next generation technology director at DS Smith, says the Moisture Gate technology was first developed at those two mills when they were owned and operated by Europac. As the technology was being refined, DS Smith acquired the two mills in January 2019. Lacey says the company continued testing and refining the Moisture Gate system throughout 2019.

“When we acquire a business, we look at all of [the acquired company’s] programs,” he says. “In the summer of 2019, we started looking at this technology, and it was up and running at the end of last year.”

DS Smith reports that measuring moisture in PFR is typically a challenging and time-consuming task. The company states that these methods often only manage to spot check individual paper bales arriving for recycling rather than offering an overall measurement. The company’s mills in Rouen and Dueñas would have trucks coming in loaded with about 25 metric tons of PFR every hour, and it was challenging to develop a system that more accurately provided results for the total volume of inbound PFR.

Before DS Smith had this technology, Lacey says the company would manually measure the moisture levels of incoming fiber bales. With Moisture Gate, he says trucks can drive up slowly, and the technology more accurately provides data on moisture content. 

“I think the technology confirmed what we knew or thought,” Lacey says. “Depending where material is coming from, you might have a good idea of what a bale is like based on if it was stored inside or coming from outside. The technology backs up what we knew. You can’t beat the power of data once you have it there.” 

Because of the technology’s effectiveness, Lacey adds that it also was rolled out to the company’s mills in Kemsley, U.K., and in Zărnești, Romania in late 2019. He says the technology is enabling some of the company’s mills to accurately measure moisture content in PFR and increase transparency with its recovered fiber suppliers to ensure fair market price and improved quality as well. 

Challenges of measuring moisture content

Accurately measuring the moisture content in a truckload of recovered fiber can be challenging. Existing methods, such as moisture meter plates, ovens and other manually operated systems, only measure a spot or small percentage of the overall volume. The same load, measured by these methods, often produces conflicting moisture readings. Also, paper yield can vary by as much as 6 percent between summer and winter as a result of moisture content variation alone, according to the company. 

Another factor is overcoming frustrations experienced by some suppliers that are caused by unreliable data and old technology. When a high degree of moisture is detected in bales, suppliers then seek reliable, transparent data to support the credit, or supplier ranking of incoming materials, that DS Smith offers.

DS Smith reports that in customer surveys, suppliers have requested more data-driven insight and auditable solutions to help them improve their quality and increase their financial returns. In 2019, DS Smith introduced near-infrared technology (NIR) to better measure fiber quality and identify contaminants, such as metal and plastic. The company more recently looked into solutions for measuring moisture content.

Moisture Gate solution

DS Smith

All trucks that arrive at DS Smith paper mills that are equipped with the Moisture Gate pass through the scanner, which allows the company to accurately identify the moisture content of the load, not just on the surface area of the delivery. About 75 percent of the truckload is scanned within 30 seconds and, in less than one minute, a reading for the entire truck is calculated and recorded and the truck is free to proceed. The technology doesn't lead to vehicles being delayed at the mill. It's a simple process:

1. Trucks pass through the moisture gate at a speed of 3 to 5 kilometers per hour (or about 2 to 3 miles per hour). The moisture gate radiates the area between the antennas and scans the load. (See figure 1.)

2. Each scan covers about 5 cubic meters of the load. It takes about eight scans to measure a truck, which are all completed in about 30 seconds. (See figure 2.)

DS Smith

3. In less than one minute, an accurate moisture content readout is delivered on the screen without any manual intervention. The Data are then sent to the supplier in an easy-to-read format, along with weekly reports compiled. 

Lacey says the data provided by Moisture Gate enables the company to share more information with its recovered fiber suppliers, which leads to better quality and price. 

“We work very closely with our suppliers,” he says. “There are no secrets—we share the data, which is mutually beneficial. We can have higher quality recyclate coming into the mill, and the whole industry can increase recycling levels.” 

The company reports that the technology also ensures that recyclers are paid a fair market price for their materials. 

The system enables DS Smith to share moisture content data in easy-to-read formats and via weekly reports. The data help suppliers to identify and address any issues and help them advise customers whose waste management processes may need to be adjusted to meet targets. 

“By improving measures of incoming paper for recycling, our mills could see increased manufacturing yields,” says Nuno Messias, waste paper manager at DS Smith Recycling Division. “Not only this, but our transparent reporting system will provide clear communications to customers.” 

After the success of the Cat M Series compact wheel loader range, Peoria, Illinois-based Caterpillar has announced the addition of three new models to the lineup: the 910, 914 and 920, with the 920 replacing the 918M. Certain features are available on each model, with many of the former special features now becoming standard. All three models come in a high-lift configuration, with both the 914 and 920 in an aggregate-handling configuration.

All models will see a boost in horsepower, with the 914 and 920 seeing some new fork and bucket options, the company says. A couple of the other options offered include LED working and under-hood lights, USB ports in the cab and a reversing fan.

Not only does the new engine offer more horsepower but better fuel efficiency as well. The fuel-tank capacity also is increased by 2.9 gallons.

The reversing fans are not standard but can be useful for environments where debris can be pulled in and limit airflow, which can cause the cab to overheat. The fan is activated by the operator, and the frequency can be adjusted based on need. Operators also have options when it comes to rotary sensor kickouts in the 910 and 914 models.

LED lighting is a new option a well for under-hood lights and working/roading. The LED lighting has a clearer, truer color, especially in low-light conditions, the manufacturer says. The 914 and 920 models also feature a new rearguard, which can help with debris in poor conditions and is useful to protect the components and systems to help with cleaning.

Lastly, the USB ports inside the cab come in all three models to offer convenience for the operator when it comes to charging cellphones and other devices.

How2Recycle, the labeling system for packaging that was designed to provide consistent and transparent recycling information to consumers in North America, has released the "How2Recycle Recyclability Insights" report. The report provides a macro view of the recyclability of packaging for the benefit of How2Recycle member companies and the general public.

According to the nonprofit’s report, more than 225 brand owners and retailers are using the label, and more than 75,000 products carry the label, reflecting roughly 25,000 different packaging designs. “For those different packaging designs, How2Recycle has issued over 3,500 custom How2Recycle labels—which represents not only the massive diversity of packaging design in the marketplace but also the complexity of certain package designs,” the report notes.

As of mid-2019, How2Recycle member companies represent 34 percent of the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry, the organization says. “Accordingly, the insights in this report reflect a snapshot of the landscape of packaging recyclability in North America and will increase in accuracy over time.”

While the organization says its members are “making progress towards recyclability goals,” only 18 percent of the How2Recycle member packaging portfolio is optimally designed for recycling. “Optimally designed means the package meets recyclers’ best-in-class criteria for packaging design,” according to the report.

An additional 26 percent of packaging is classified as recyclable but in need of design improvement. “An example would be a clear polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle with a pressure-sensitive label with detrimental label substrates, adhesives or inks,” the report notes.  

The report also explores the nature of the How2Recycle program’s influence on packaging design and includes high-level recommendations to the packaging industry about which interventions on packaging design might be the most impactful.

The report includes the most popular design recommendations issued to members broken down by material types, as well as How2Recycle’s recommendations for collective voluntary commitments aimed at increasing recyclability of plastic packaging in North America.

For plastics, the nonprofit recommends changing to film that qualifies for the Store Drop-Off label; changing to monomaterial from multimaterial; for polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene (PE) or polypropylene (PP) containers, ensuring the label substrate, label adhesive and label ink meet criteria for the Preferred designation under the per the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) Design Guide; for PET thermoforms, changing to a label that meets criteria for Preferred designation under the APR Design Guide; and changing to a widely recyclable material.

How2Recycle began in 2008 as a project of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, a trademark project of Charlottesville, Virginia-based nonprofit GreenBlue. The How2Recycle Label program finished its soft launch in early 2012 with 12 pilot companies.

The Indian government’s Ministry of Shipping has addressed an official letter April 21 to all major ports ordering the remission of various charges to port users, including storage charges, lease rentals, penalties and offering additional land for storage at no charge. 

“Due to COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures in several countries, the logistic chain has been severely disrupted and associated production and consumption centers have been affected,” the Ministry of Shipping states in the letter it sent April 21. “The logistic chains are going through an unusual and massive shock from the disruptions on supply side as well as demand side. The logistic chain related businesses, including traders, importers, exporters, port operators, shipping lines, transporters are facing huge challenge in maintaining their businesses due to lower trade volume as well as cash flow issues. Therefore, it is required that some relief measures are taken to support and rebuild the logistic chain.”

The letter from India’s Ministry of Shipping states that India’s Ministry of Home Affairs Government had issued Order No. 40-3/2020-DM-I (A) on March 24 and a subsequent order dated April 15 along with its amendments to impose lockdown from March 22 to May 3, 2020, to contain COVID-19 pandemic in the country. The Ministry of Shipping says the lockdown measures and associated disruptions in logistic chains “have impacted Indian ports and port users. There is an impact in the form of drop in imports and exports volumes, delays in evacuation of cargo, cash flow issues resulting in inability of port users, concessionaires and other stakeholders to fulfill their obligations to port authorities and banks/lenders.”

The following are requests from India’s Ministry of Shipping:

• ports shall allow free storage time to all port users for the lockdown period;

• ports shall allow deferment of April, May and June months, annual lease rentals/license fees on pro-rata basis, without any interest, if requested by a lessee or licensee, and this shall be applicable only for the annual lease rentals and license fees to be received by ports for the year of 2020; 

• ports shall ensure that no penal charges, demurrages, detention charges, dwell time charges, anchorage charges, penal berth hire charges or performance-related penalties are levied on any port user for any delay in berthing, loading operations, unloading operations or evacuation and arrival of cargo during the lockdown period and 30-day recovery period; and,

• if requisite additional land is available within port area, the port shall make efforts to provide the additional storage land to port users on a temporary basis without charges, rentals, fees up to June 30, 2020, on an “as is where is” basis.

The full letter can be read here.

According to a news release from the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), Brussels, some of these instructions do not seem to apply to the Mumbai Port Trust and the Mormugao Port Trust, and it remains to be seen how port authorities will implement these measures.

BIR states that it welcomes the India Ministry of Shipping’s initiative as a positive sign that the recycling industry’s voice is being taken into account.