Aluminum products producer Constellium SE, headquartered in Paris, has announced that for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, it shipped 354,000 metric tons, or 11 percent less than in the same time last year. Its net income of 20 million euros ($23 million) and adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of 126 million euros ($147 million) are 9 percent less than in Q3 of 2019.

Jean-Marc Germain, Constellium CEO says, “I am very proud of our third-quarter results, including our free cash flow performance of 75 million euros ($87 million) in the quarter. Packaging & Automotive Rolled Products reported record quarterly adjusted EBITDA. Aerospace & Transportation maintained a strong focus on costs in the face of difficult market conditions. Automotive Structures & Industry benefited from better-than-expected market conditions and improved operational performance in Automotive Structures. These results further demonstrate the benefits of our end-market diversification and our intense focus on costs."

Germain adds, "Based on our current outlook, we expect adjusted EBITDA of 450 million euros ($525 million) to 460 million euros ($537 million) and free cash flow generation of 100 million euros ($116 million) to 150 million euros ($165 million) in 2020."

For Packaging and Automotive Rolled Products in the third quarter of 2020, adjusted EBITDA increased 20 percent compared with the third quarter of 2019 primarily because of strong cost control, partially offset by lower shipments, the company says. Shipments of 258,000 metric tons decreased 7 percent compared with the third quarter of 2019 in light of lower shipments of packaging and specialty products. Revenue of 672 million euros ($784 million) decreased 15 percent compared with the third quarter of 2019 primarily because of lower metal prices and lower shipments.

For the first nine months of 2020, adjusted EBITDA was comparable to the first nine months of 2019 in light of strong cost control offset by lower shipments. Shipments of 748,000 metric tons decreased 11 percent compared with the first nine months of 2019, with lower shipments across packaging, automotive and specialty products. Revenue of 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion) decreased 18 percent compared with the first nine months of 2019 primarily because of lower shipments and lower metal prices, Constellium says.

In Aerospace and Transportation, adjusted EBITDA for the quarter decreased 77 percent compared with the third quarter of 2019 primarily because of lower shipments arising from continued challenging market conditions from the COVID-19 pandemic, partially offset by strong cost control. Shipments of 36,000 metric tons decreased 37 percent compared with the third quarter of 2019 because of lower shipments of aerospace and transportation, industry and defense (TDI) products. Revenue of 202 million euros ($236 million) decreased 43 percent compared with the third quarter of 2019 because of lower shipments and lower metal prices.

For the first nine months of 2020, adjusted EBITDA decreased 41 percent compared with the first nine months of 2019 primarily because of lower shipments, partially offset by strong cost control and improved price and mix, Constellium says. Shipments of 140,000 metric tons decreased 25 percent compared with the first nine months of 2019, with lower shipments of aerospace and TID products in particular. Revenue of 811 million euros ($947 million) decreased 27 percent compared with the first nine months of 2019 arising from lower shipments and lower metal prices, partially offset by improved price and mix

For Automotive Structures and Industry in the third quarter of 2020, adjusted EBITDA increased 25 percent compared with the third quarter of 2019 because of strong cost control, according to the company. Shipments of 60,000 metric tons decreased 3 percent compared with the third quarter of 2019 on lower shipments of industry products. Revenue of 304 million euros ($355 million) decreased 9 percent compared with the third quarter of 2019 primarily in light of lower metal prices and lower shipments.

For the first nine months of 2020, adjusted EBITDA decreased 23 percent compared with the first nine months of 2019 primarily because oflower shipments, partially offset by strong cost control. Shipments of 169,000 metric tons decreased 13 percent compared with the first nine months of 2019 on lower shipments of automotive and industry products. Revenue of 868 million euros ($1 billion) decreased 15 percent compared with the first nine months of 2019 due to lower shipments and lower metal prices.

Keurig Dr Pepper, which has headquarters in Burlington, Massachusetts, and Plano, Texas, has announced that its Snapple and Core brands are transitioning to bottles made of 100-percent-recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET). According to a news release from Keurig Dr Pepper, this transition will eliminate about 46.3 million pounds of virgin plastic the company uses annually. The company reports that Snapple is now available in 100-percent-recycled plastic 16-ounce bottles in West Coast markets and says it will continue to roll out the new bottles in phases across the U.S. through early next year. With production underway, Core bottles made from 100-percent-recycled plastic will be on shelves beginning in early 2021, Keurig Dr Pepper says.

“Transitioning to recycled plastic bottles for two of our key brands is a critical next step in Keurig Dr Pepper’s commitment to a circular economy,” says Monique Oxender, chief sustainability officer of Keurig Dr Pepper. “This important portfolio evolution enables us to offer consumers their favorite beverages while meeting their desire for more sustainable packaging.”

Across Keurig Dr Pepper’s portfolio of more than 125 brands, 20 percent of the materials used in packaging are currently made from postconsumer recycled (PCR) content, the company says. Transitioning to recycled plastic in Snapple and Core bottles will increase that total by approximately 4 percentage points, moving the company closer to achieving its goal of 30 percent PCR packaging across its portfolio by 2025.

Each Snapple and Core rPET bottle will feature a How2Recycle label, a standardized labeling system that communicates recycling instructions to consumers. Keurig Dr Pepper says the introduction of rPET bottles supports the company’s commitment to the American Beverage Association’s Every Bottle Back initiative, a recycling modernization program that includes a collective beverage company investment of $100 million to reduce use of new plastic by increasing the amount of recycled plastic available to be remade into new bottles in the United States.

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management’s (IDEM) Recycling Market Development Program (RMDP) has awarded $1 million in grant funding to organizations that will expand recycling efforts in Indiana. 

According to a news release from IDEM on these grants, the funding was distributed to eight recipients located across the state:

• Dearborn County Solid Waste Management District received $15,212.50 to purchase recycling drop boxes for cardboard collection. The district projects a 25 percent growth of corrugated cardboard recycling through this effort, which will result in an additional 48 tons per year, IDEM reports.
• Elliott Co. of Indianapolis Inc., Marion County, was awarded $18,184.44 to conduct a research project to determine secondary use for polyisocyanurate (PIR) foam, known as ELFOAM, to reduce industrial waste from production. The research plan will prepare samples and obtain data to determine whether pelletized recycled ELFOAM is a viable substitute for lightweight stone aggregate in rooftop and small aesthetic urban garden applications. IDEM says the project has the potential to divert up to 500 tons of scrap from landfills.
• Recycling Works Inc., Elkhart County, was awarded $478,599.06 to upgrade its material recovery facility (MRF) with a new system feed/presort conveyor, old corrugated containers (OCC) screen, glass breaker system, medium polisher system, optical fiber sorter and optical container sorter. The upgrades will increase processing capacity at the MRF and help divert an expected 435 tons of waste from landfills, IDEM reports.
• reTHink Inc., Vigo County, received $10,454 to purchase an injection mold, extruder and sheet press to upcycle plastic materials. The equipment will help divert up to 26,000 pounds of plastic from landfills in the first year. Once fully operational, reTHink expects to achieve a processing capacity of 117,480 pounds, according to the IDEM.
• Richmond Sanitary District, Wayne County, was awarded $220,000 to purchase a recycling truck and additional curbside recycling containers to expand the city’s curbside recycling program to include source-separated carboard collection. The city believes the project will result in doubling the amount of cardboard diverted from the landfill resulting in 328 tons recycled yearly, IDEM says.
• Rush County Solid Waste Management District was awarded $10,050 to purchase a cardboard compactor to capture cardboard in a manner that meets the increase in material while reducing the cost of transportation.
• Technology Recyclers, Marion County, was awarded $97,500 to launch a marketing and education campaign to encourage hazardous electronic-waste recycling. The goal is to increase e-scrap collection by 25 percent or 2,961 tons per year, IDEM says.
• Tri-State Resource Recovery Center (TSRR), Vanderburgh County, received $150,000 to purchase a specialized robotic system to process polypropylene (No. 5 plastic) at its MRF. An additional 20 percent of high-density polyethylene (or No. 2 plastic) and additional 30 percent of polyethylene terephthalate (or No. 1 plastic) is estimated to be recovered during manual sorting thanks to the new equipment increasing efficiency on the sorting line, IDEM reports.

According to IDEM, the awarded $1 million in grant funding will go to projects with an expected total investment of more than $3 million by these organizations. The projects will increase recycling for curbside recyclables, plastics, cardboard and e-scrap from municipal solid waste by almost 6,700 tons per year.

ND Paper, an Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois-based producer of pulp, paper and packaging, says it has plans to reconfigure its paper mill in Rumford, Maine, to produce more packaging papers.

According to a news release from ND Paper, the Rumford mill currently operates three paper production lines, and its product mix is heavily weighted toward bleached grades serving the printing and writing (P&W) markets. However, the company says, demand for P&W papers has plummeted, and the coated woodfree and coated mechanical papers (primary grades produced by ND Paper’s Rumford mill) are expected to decline 23.5 percent and 30.3 percent year over year, respectively, which is equivalent to 1.4 million tons of output.

The Rumford mill will transition to produce packaging grades in light of this shift in the market, the company says. As a result, ND Paper is commissioning an unbleached recycled pulp (URP) line; converting a P&W paper machine to lightweight, high-strength kraft linerboard products; expanding a paper machine to include unbleached recycled bag and converting papers in addition to its current offering of bleached and unbleached papers; and will permanently curtail mechanical pulping operations.

“The onset of this unprecedented demand decline happened much more quickly than could possibly be anticipated,” says Group Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ken Liu. “However, while other mills have exited the market and closed their doors, ND Paper is repurposing the Rumford Division for a competitive future. Moving our largest Rumford machine into packaging grades helps to balance the deteriorating P&W market in North America, while simultaneously positioning us into bigger and more stable packaging paper markets. I would like to thank the mill and project team for their work over the past year leading to this transition.”

ND Paper reports that it expects these transitions to be completed by the end of the year.

ND Paper is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nine Dragons Paper (Holdings) Ltd., a large containerboard producer in Asia. ND Paper currently operates four paper mills in the U.S. that produce about 1.2 million tons of pulp and paper annually.