December transaction prices tracked by the Raw Material Data Aggregation Service (RMDAS), which are released to non-RMDAS customers about 10 days after Fastmarkets AMM Midwest Index ferrous scrap prices, show similar $80 per ton price rises for high-volume grades of the material.

The RMDAS figures, collected by Pittsburgh-based MSA Inc., divide monthly mill buying activity into three geographic United States regions. December price trends showed some minor differences between regions and grades, most notably prices rising more in the East Coast port market compared with the inland North Midwest region.

In the RMDAS North Central/East region, which includes the New England states, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, most of Indiana and parts of North Carolina and Virginia, the price of shredded scrap rose by $85 per ton, while prompt industrial composite grade rose by $83.

In the North Midwest region, which includes Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and northwest Indiana, shredded scrap gained just $77 per ton in value, while the composite grade rose by $79 per ton.

The South region tracked more closely with the North Midwest grade pricing, with shredded scrap gaining $78 in value, and prompt grades rising by $80. Prompt scrap sold for more than $400 per ton on average in the South, making it the only grade in any region to reach that benchmark in December.

MSA’s RMDAS system tracks only domestic steel mill buying of scrap and not exports, meaning it has never had a region covering only the western U.S. That region of the country will have one less melt shop in 2021, with the permanent closing of the long-time electric arc furnace (EAF) steel mill in Rancho Cucamonga, California.

However, Commercial Metals Co. (CMC), which is closing that California mill, is adding EAF capacity at its Mesa, Arizona, facility. Both CMC and Nucor Corp. now have melt shop capacity in Arizona.

In late September, California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed Senate Bill (SB) 68. This bill would have allowed for an extension of alternate management standards that govern treated wood waste (TWW) in the state, which were set to expire on Dec. 31. While this extension would have allowed TWW to be continued to be accepted at Class II and III landfills, the bill was struck down.

The California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) recently posted information clarifying how TWW must be handled within the state after Jan. 1, 2021.

DTSC says the sunsetting of the state’s alternate management standards will impose significant new regulations and requirements for how TWW is managed.

Specifically, DTSC Director Meredith Williams comments in a letter written Dec. 16, “Treated wood waste will no longer be eligible to be managed according to the alternative management standards, and instead will be subject to the full set of hazardous waste regulations. This includes the requirement that treated wood must be disposed in Class I hazardous waste landfills (or in landfills in other states that do not regulate treated wood waste as hazardous wastes).”

DTSC notes that treated wood waste contains hazardous chemicals, including arsenic, chromium, copper, creosote, pentachlorophenol, and other toxic and carcinogenic substances that can pose threats to human health and the environment “especially when mismanaged or disposed improperly.”

However, despite the effective date of the new regulation, DTSC says there will be a temporary variance that allows businesses short-term relief from complying with the standard. The temporary variance will allow the state legislature to explore and consider alternative options for the management of TWW within the state.

“To avoid the potential mismanagement and illegal disposal of treated wood waste that the additional requirements and disposal costs are expected to cause, DTSC intends to issue temporary variances to allow treated wood waste to continue to be managed pursuant to the alternative management standards and disposed in composite-lined landfills. … We hope that more protective, longer-term solutions can be found to replace the continuation of the alternative management standards and disposal in solid waste landfills,” Williams states.

Williams’ full letter detailing the legislative change is available online. The DTSC also has posted a TWW fact sheet on its website.

The vetoed legislation is poised to lead to widespread ramifications for material generators, C&D recyclers, landfill operators and other industry participants.

Michael Gross, director of sustainability at San Jose, California-based Zanker Recycling, told Construction & Demolition Recycling that the legislative changes will require greater due diligence, and cost, to sort incoming materials.

“We have notified all our customers, especially our debris box customers and transfer stations that ship C&D materials to us, that we shall be inspecting every load received,” Gross says. “Our land checking program starts at the gate, and if we see TWW in a contractor’s load, we will give them the option to remove the TWW prior to tipping and take it back with them or they will not be allowed to dump their materials. When we find materials in a load already tipped, our load checker along with the driver will take a photo of the TWW and the load will be charged an extra $100 service fee. We're still developing a cost to clean a load, but the ballpark price will be $100 to $300 per yard. Disposal of the TWW will cost us over $100 per yard and that is without all collection and processing costs, and since all materials at Zanker are sorted prior to disposal, we know we will find orphaned TWW. We’re just hoping for a quick solution by the DTSC, but like most things in life, we expect to be disappointed.”

Brock Hill, owner of the San Jose-based Premier Recycle Company, told Construction & Demolition Recycling that the change in legislation doesn’t allow the affected parties adequate time to address the changes that new regulations will bring about, and instead, presents a range of logistical hurdles for recyclers in the state.

“The veto of SB68 has caught the C&D recycling industry by surprise, to say the least. Sure, we can do better as a population to reduce the amount of toxicity in our landfills, but this was not the way to go about it,” Hill says. “Like the arbitrarily high landfill mandates of the past decade, this vetoed bill effectively places the onus of producer responsibility on the sorting facilities and processors themselves. There was no intention to speak to stakeholders and put the pieces of a plan in place. Instead, we are forced to cut off valued customers, leading them to feel like they were part of the problem.

“Logistical issues aside, there is only one landfill in the Northern California area, and another in Nevada, that can accept the TWW that is now considered a hazardous waste. The generators, being decking contractors, fencing companies and residential homebuilders, will face astronomical cost increases associated with TWW disposal. Most are still unaware of the changes. The problem is worsened by the lack of availability of HAZMAT and abatement haulers. My worry is that in a state with a rampant illegal dumping problem as it is, many small companies will resort to just that, as there was no time to build a robust infrastructure capable of handling the newly oncoming wall of demand.

“Industry groups are scrambling to look for a fix, but unfortunately, time is quickly running out. Facilities are lining up to reject the material.”

Berry Global Group, Evansville, Indiana, has announced that Madrid-based Repsol, its longtime supplier, will supply it with circular resins. The Spanish multienergy global company will supply Berry with International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) Plus-certified circular polyolefins from its Repsol Reciclex range. According to a news release from Berry Global, these polyolefins are obtained by advanced recycling, enabled by the adoption of new chemical recycling technologies, of postconsumer plastic scrap not suitable for traditional recycling.

As a result of the agreement, Berry says it will procure food-grade polypropylene (PP) for food and health care packaging. The packaging company will initially use the materials in manufacturing at its European packaging facilities.

Berry reports that Repsol has certified all its petrochemical complexes to produce circular polyolefins under the ISCC Plus certification, which guarantees the traceability of the plastic scrap used at the source. At the same time, Repsol applies the latest technology to ensure the circular polyolefins have the same quality as virgin polyolefins. Additionally, Berry and Repsol deem advanced recycling “as complementary to traditional mechanical recycling and as a critical component of their respective circular economy strategies.”

“We continue to utilize new and innovative methods to create more environmentally sustainable packaging and are proud to partner with like-minded suppliers in these efforts,” says Jean-Marc Galvez, president of Berry’s Consumer Packaging International division. “By recovering and diverting plastic that would have otherwise been sent to landfill or incineration, we are working towards our common goal of promoting a circular economy.”

“At Repsol, we are continuously working on different alternatives to offer our clients materials with recycled content that meet the different demands for their specific markets, especially those for high added value applications. With this recent alliance with Berry, we also reinforce our ambition to recycle the equivalent of 20 percent of our polyolefins production,” says Rafael Jiménez, Polyolefins Business Unit director at Repsol.

Berry reports that it is ahead of schedule for its Impact 2025 sustainability strategy. The company has set a goal of incorporating 10 percent recycled content across its fast-moving consumer goods packaging. Repsol has also set a target to become a net zero company by 2050 and has had a circular economy strategy since 2016 that has been applied throughout its entire value chain.

Capstone Headwaters, Boston, published its December 2020 Waste & Recycling Update Dec. 16. The report recaps waste and environmental services mergers and acquisitions completed in 2020, buying trends, COVID-19 impacts on the sector and the financial performance of public companies, as well as provides an overarching industry outlook.

Report highlights include:

• Private equity buyers accounted for nearly 50 percent of year-to-date deal activity as the defensibility of the industry has fostered an influx of firms that view tremendous add-on consolidation with ample upside to stimulate growth among platform investments.
• Major public strategic buyers (who accounted for 28 percent of deal volume) have continued or resumed M&A to bolster geographic reach and market share while achieving operational synergies.
• Rapid consolidation in the past few years has resulted in public strategic buyers allocating substantial capital toward acquisitions of regionally focused operators to increase market share.

According to Capstone Headwaters, “As competition tightens among public companies, smaller, regional leaders will be poised to attract M&A interest. Industry participants with diverse revenue streams across a manifold of industries and customer bases are expected to retain defensibility and continue to see steady performance amid virus-induced uncertainty.”

Forecasting how the industry is trending, Doug Usifer, managing director at Capstone and one of the report’s authors, says business fundamentals look strong and portend continued growth heading into 2021.

“Strong tailwinds combined with a fundamentally sound essential service platform continue to make the waste and recycling sector an attractive investment opportunity,” Usifer says. “The sector saw COVID-19 impact and has bounced back nicely, setting the stage for a productive 2021.”

The full report is available online.