ADMETCO ACQUIRES KENDALLVILLE FACILITY
Admetco Inc., Fort Wayne, Ind., has acquired the wire chopping equipment at the former Reclaimers Inc. plant in Kendallville, Ind., a plant that has housed a wire chopping operation since 1976.
Admetco, a nonferrous scrap company founded in 1977, has operated its own wire chopping lines since 1990. The Kendallville facility will allow Admetco to expand into insulated aluminum wire chopping, in addition to its copper chopping operations in Fort Wayne.
ANOTHER E-BUSINESS JOINS THE FRAY
MetalMaker Inc., Chicago, has secured $12 million in venture capital financing to help establish its online “application service provider (ASP)” company serving the metals industry.
“By collaborating directly with both the buyer and the supplier, we are building a unique set of services that help our community to operate much more profitably,” says MetalMaker CEO Ty Roberts.
The financing agreement is led by Lehman Brothers Venture Capital Group, with other venture funds also involved. “MetalMaker has focused on delivering a robust and scaleable application platform built specifically for the metal-producing industry,” notes Tom Banahan, managing director of Lehman Brothers Venture Capital. “The MetalMaker service delivers value to everyone involved in the metal-producing supply chain by adding significant efficiencies to the day-to-day operations of the foundries, mills and suppliers,” he adds.
The company says its platform covers “all goods and services purchased by a foundry or mill,” including scrap and other feedstock materials. Additional products or services that can be purchased include energy, logistics, equipment and financial services.
LOUISIANA PLANT COULD BE NEXT SUPERFUND SITE
The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI), Washington, is asking its members to let the trade group coordinate response efforts during a new U.S. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) investigation of a potential Superfund site.
According to a faxed ISRI update, several ISRI members have received letters of investigation from the EPA regarding shipments to the Delatte Metals smelter and foundry, a smelter no longer operating, located in Ponchatoula, La.
“A number of ISRI companies have reported receiving letters from the EPA asking for information pertaining to sales to this facility between 1964 and 1998,” a letter from ISRI to its members states. ISRI cautions members to “be very careful when responding to EPA requests to prevent damaging precedents from being established that hurt recyclers in later cases.”
ISRI is asking companies who have received letters from the EPA on the matter to complete a form that will let the trade group know which companies are involved so it can help coordinate responses to the inquiry.
ISRI is also working in cooperation with the Steel Manufacturers Association, Washington, to help scrap-consuming steel mills understand the Superfund “reasonable care” compliance steps being taken by scrap companies.
In a joint letter to members of both groups from the presidents of both associations, ISRI’s Robin Wiener and SMA’s Thomas Danjczek write, “To build upon the relationships a consumer has developed with scrap suppliers, a response to ‘reasonable care’ inquiries can be viewed as a marketing opportunity to keep quality suppliers of scrap and attract prospective suppliers."
By taking a proactive approach to the scrap recycler’s request, a consumer also has the opportunity to demonstrate that it is an environmentally responsible facility.”
GOING AFTER THE SMALL STUFF
American Iron, Minneapolis, Minn., has opened a scrap collection facility designed to ensure household-generated metallic items go to the scrap processing stream.
Scrappy’s Recycling Express has opened in Minneapolis to serve “the general public and businesses that accumulate small amounts of recyclable metal,” the company says.
“Consumers are encouraged to bring in household metals like aluminum cans and spring cleaning items made of metal,” the company says, while also accepting scrap generated by plumbing and heating contractors and other business operators.
“Scrappy’s Recycling Express serves a segment of the market that generates small, but still significant amounts of metal that can be recycled for use by industry and manufacturers,” says John Isaacs, president of American Iron.
RECYCLED PAPER RUNNING THROUGH GOVERNMENT COPIERS
A seven-year-old executive order has made a difference in the amount of recycled-content paper used by federal government agencies.
Since President Clinton signed Executive Order 12873 in 1993, purchases of recycled-content copying paper have grown from 12% of the purchases made by federal agencies to a stunning 98% rate today. The figure is based on purchases of copying paper made through the government’s General Services Administration and the Government Printing Office.
The percentage is good news for recyclers, especially considering the federal government buys 20.9 billion sheets of copier paper each year.
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