Cologne, Germany-based ALBA SE says it has generated earnings before taxes of €11.7 million ($13 million) in the first six months of 2016, down from the €16 million ($17.8 million) it earned in the first half of 2015.

The company says 2016 involved operating in “extremely difficult framework conditions in the steel and metals recycling segment.”

Dr. Axel Schweitzer, ALBA chairman, comments, “We have managed to improve the margins in the steel and metals recycling segment through our in-depth value-adding measures in conjunction with our structural cost reductions. The continuing crisis did, however, lead to a strong decline in the volumes being traded and, as result, to a significant reduction in the gross profit.”

Revenue in the first half of 2016 fell compared with the first six months of 2015 by €301 million ($336 million), or 38%, to €491 million ($548 million). While revenue generated in the services segment increased, a “strong fall in revenue in the steel and metals recycling segment occurred due to a weak market demand and low price levels,” according to the company.

ALBA says its traded quantity of iron scrap was 695,000 tonnes in the first half of 2016, down by 37% compared with more than 1.1 million tonnes during the same period in 2015. Nonferrous volume in the first half of 2016 was 123,000 tonnes, down 32.7% from 183,000 tonnes in the first six months of 2015.

The Interseroh packaging recycling business “remained on the same level compared with the first six months of 2016,” says ALBA, while sales in the Recycling Solutions Interseroh (management of waste from branches, warehouses and production sites and marketing of the raw materials gained) division increased marginally.

Revenue in the services segment in the first half of the year was €174.4 million ($195 million), up slightly from sales of €172.1 million ($192 million) in the first half of 2015.

ALBA SE management says for the entirety of 2016 it expects “to see on the whole a significant fall in the volumes of iron scrap in the current financial year due to the difficult situation on the steel market, as well as due to the planned continuation of [our] portfolio optimisation.” 

According to the Elgin Courier-News, officials in West Dundee, Illinois, tentatively have agreed to host an electronics recycling location for residents of Kane County. 

This agreement hinges on Kane County’s ability to find two more municipalities to act as e-recycling collection sites, the article says.

“We’ve given the approval in concept to be involved in this, but we do not want to be the only site in Kane County,” Public Works Director Eric Babcock told the newspaper. 

The decision was made at a meeting of village officials Monday, Aug. 8, 2016. The agreement includes a monthly payment of $1,000 to the village for each month the site is open in 2016. It also specifically absolves the village of any responsibility for loss and liabilities, the Courier-News reports. 

Neighboring villages Batavia and Aurora were considering hosting e-recycling sites. Although Aurora has yet to decide, Batavia has opted out.

“Aurora is moving much slower than we’d like, so we’re hoping to open a temporary site,” Jennifer Jarland, Kane County Recycling Program coordinator, said at the meeting, the newspaper reports. “What we’re looking at right now is the old jail site on Fabyan Parkway [Geneva]. There’s a little parking lot there we can open up. It would definitely be temporary, but it will work while we wait for Aurora.”

The Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News Miner reports officials are finding the cost of remodeling a Well Street liquor distribution warehouse into a community recycling center to be more expensive than initially thought.

“I am having trouble being fiscally responsible and saying we should buy this building,” Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Karl Kassel told the Borough Assembly at a committee meeting Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2016, the newspaper reports.

Officials offered to purchase the building for $400,000, believing the cost to remodel would be minor. Kassel, who sponsored an ordinance for assembly approval to purchase the site, no longer wishes to purchase the building as the higher than expected cost would draw down the municipality’s savings account, the article says.

“It’s a huge building,” he told the newspaper. “This isn’t a necessarily a bad deal for somebody else who has the money. We don’t have the money to accomplish this.”

The building requires structural repairs, a new roof, electrical and weatherproofing upgrades and a new boiler. Anchorage-based PDC Engineers Inc. estimated the cost would be about $5.6 million, according to the article.

Eagles Nest Outfitters (ENO), an Asheville, North Carolina-based manufacturer of packable camping hammocks and outdoor accessories, says it has teamed up with Unifi Inc.’s Repreve recycled fiber brand to launch the ENO Billow Air Lounge, the only inflatable lounger made with recycled plastic water bottles. 

“We are delighted to work with a brand like Repreve that shares the same environmental values as our company and our ENO customers,” says Lane Nakaji, general manager of Eagles Nest Outfitters. “With the new Billow Air Lounge, we are providing individuals with a comfortable relaxation option for enjoying the outdoors, and we take it one step further by utilizing eco-friendly materials like Repreve that also honor the environment that they love.”

Key features of the lounger include triple-stitched nylon and dual-layer construction for enhanced durability; portability thanks to a custom carrying case and stakes; and, when not in use, it packs to a conveniently small size of less than 30 inches long. When inflated, the lounger is comfortably sized at nearly 7 feet long.

“ENO is a highly respected brand in the outdoor industry, and we’re honored that they’ve chosen to utilize REPREVE in their new Billow Air Lounge,” says Jay Hertwig, vice president of global brand sales, marketing and product development for Unifi. “We believe this partnership will broaden the platform to empower consumers to choose the recycling bin instead of the trash can and increase understanding of what can be created from water bottles when they are recycled.”