CARI Turns a Corner

Optimism was in the air at the annual gathering of the Canadian Association of Recycling Industries, thanks to improved health of the association and better business.

By Jeff Borsecnik

Jeff Borsecnik is an associate editor of Scrap Processing and Recycling.

The Canadian Association of Recycling Industries (CARI) (Don Mills, Ontario) has entered a new era, the association's leaders proclaimed at the group's annual convention in June in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. As proof, they pointed to an improved ledger and increased government acceptance of the group as the legitimate representative of the commercial recycling industry.

Following a period of financial difficulties that required deep spending cuts, including the layoff of Executive Director Stan Parker last year, CARI's new officers announced an upswing in the trade group's prognosis. Several credited outgoing CARI President John Kis of Intermetco Ltd. (Hamilton, Ontario) with their new optimism.

"We have turned a comer," said Kis in his convention report. "We are more vibrant and effective today than we have been for many years." Despite its limited resources, CARI has raised its profile on the national and provincial scene, increasing Canadian recyclers' pull on issues like taxes and the Basel Convention, according to Kis.

Treasurer Jon Douglas of Noranda Sales Corp. Ltd. (Toronto) reported that the association has also improved its revenues and appears likely to receive funds from a government program designed to improve the competitiveness of Canadian industry. If CARI's application is approved, the money will be used primarily to improve public awareness about the recycling industry.

A Ferrous Focus: Cans

Canadian steelmakers hope to improve collection of steel cans, harnessing this little-utilized source of quality ferrous scrap, according to John A. Paulowich, manager/director of the Canadian Steel Can Recycling Council (Hamilton, Ontario).

The steelmakers are leading an effort to improve the "blue box" curbside recycling collection system in Ontario and beyond, said Paulowich. Such collection programs were enacted to deal with the growing size and cost of waste generation but they have generally proven very expensive, with the Ontario system costing the province C$100 to C$200 per ton, only 8 percent of which is recovered through the sale of the recyclables, he said.

Government is looking to industry to bail it out, and the Ontario steelmakers Dofasco and Stelco, leaders of the Canadian Industry Packaging Stewardship Initiative, have responded, Paulowich said. Tbey've put together a program to corral scrap and help meet ambitious Canadian waste-reduction goals while heading off the deposits or advance disposal fees government may try to impose on industry.

These steelmakers are not alone in their interest in steel cans. Growth in the electric steel industry may boost demand for cans and other underutilized scrap, Paulowich suggested. After all, he explained, cans provide high-quality, low carbon steel scrap as long as residual elements-in this case tin, which causes problems because of its low melting point-is monitored.

Beyond cans, what's next? Probably white goods, thanks to chlorofluorocarbon refrigerant controls, Paulowich suggested, as well as other household items, like toasters and propane tanks. Landfill mining could even be in the cards, he said.

Closing, Paulowich called the 1990s the “ecozoic" period exemplified by a "conservationist society as opposed to a consumer society." A key trend, he predicted, will be increasing use of life cycle analyses to help manufacturers and the public determine costs and choose from among different materials and finished goods. "It's going to take time, but it will happen and it will have significant long-term effects," he said.

A Glance at Shredder Trends

What's new with auto shredders? Jim Schwartz, vice president of engineering for Texas Shredder Inc. (San Antonio), identified several shredder technology and operations trends, many of which he said trace their roots to environmental rules:

Shredder design. All shredder makers are now concentrating on top-and-bottom-discharge machines, which have proven the most efficient over the last 15 years, he said. Most are also using double feed rolls and kickout doors.

Slower speeds. Many operators are now running their shredders at reduced speeds, recognizing that once enough force is provided to do the job, additional speed just boosts friction, impeding flow of material through the grates and lowering the life of castings, said Schwartz.

DC motors. Direct current motors are increasingly popular, thanks to solid state electronics, which have become less expensive and more reliable, he said, noting the DC motor's benefits: a "constant torque curve" regardless of revolution rate, the ability to carefully control speed, resistance to jams, and ability to run in reverse and to stop the rotor within a few minutes rather than 20 or 30.

Smaller grates. Scrap processors are responding to consumers' demands for denser frag by using smaller grates, Schwartz reported, adding that increasing the number of hammers on the rotor also improves scrap density.

Smoke and steam. Some shredder operators have installed paper-filter systems to cut air effluents, but the cost of such systems is substantial-perhaps C$300,000 plus ongoing energy and filter expenses, he noted. Some are now using steam in the shredder to cut smoke and explosions, though the cost and hassle of running a steam generator can be significant, Schwartz added.

Downstream systems. Dry/damp and wet separation system designs have converged in recent years as the "dry" systems have become more efficient while "wet" systems have gotten more complicated in order to produce cleaner frag, he said. Wet systems are increasingly troubled by fluff disposal costs based on weight, a problem targeted by what Schwartz called "fluff squeezers," which, in turn, can raise water runoff issues.

Eddy current separators, meanwhile, are changing the application of both types of downstream systems. Though eddy currents are expensive initially, they clean nonferrous well and have low operating costs and cause no pollution, he said. In addition, they can cut water use and the need for air cleaning systems on the nonferrous and fluff streams, though both will still be required to clean frag. Eddy currents will eventually cut air systems and water use, resulting in a general simplification of downstream systems, Schwartz predicted.

Closing with a look at fluff disposal issues, Schwartz reported that daily landfill cover use has been approved by five U.S. states and is being studied in Canada. Abroad, disposal costs of as much as C$400 per ton have prompted German, Japanese, and Italian firms to experiment with methods of burning fluff in blast furnaces. Though the fluff has good caloric value, the ash can be troublesome and the costs suggest such processes will not come to Canada until fluff disposal fees reach at least C$100 per ton, said Schwartz. "But this is coming, especially in Ontario."

Get Going on Government Threats

"By defining your commodities as 'waste,' the regulators of the world have taken over control of your industry"-and the regulators don't understand commodities, W.J. "Bill" McCutcheon, deputy director of the nonferrous division of Natural Resources Canada (Ottawa), told CARI delegates.

What caused recyclables to be defined as "waste"? McCutcheon suggested it was mostly misunderstanding, with ludicrous results. For example, he wondered, what is the point of using a leachate test on material that will never be landfilled, as the tests are designed to simulate? "Why not a leachate test for [manufactured] products?" he added. But more than misunderstanding may be at work-some may simply want to stop you from doing international business, he suggested.

International meetings are now driving national issues related to recycling, said McCutcheon, and some interest groups are using these forums to try to force changes down the line, such as in the European Union. He also warned that although the Basel Convention currently leaves discretion to its signatories on waste definitions, there may be growing pressure to harmonize these terms--and strictly--under the treaty.

On a definition problem closer to home, McCutcheon noted that U.S. environmental rules exempt most scrap metal from "waste," conferring a disadvantage on neighboring Canadians, who don't share the exemption. "Does a permanent competitive disadvantage bother you?" he queried. If it does, he suggested, Canadian scrap recyclers had better get busy convincing their regulators a change is necessary. "Government is busy ... you have to compete for attention-are you going to convince them?"

In a related discussion at the CARI convention, Dave Campbell, head of the controls section of the hazardous waste division of Environment Canada (Hull, Quebec), noted that this national agency oversees issues involving international borders, such as imports/exports, the Basel Convention, agreements of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and Canada-U.S. agreements. Environment Canada has also developed a hazardous waste minimization plan endorsed by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment, which meets to coordinate policy on such issues as incineration, treatment, landfilling, used oil, and biomedical wastes.

On the provincial level, the role of the Ontario Ministry of Environment (Toronto) has moved away from traditional .1 command-and-control laws" to emphasize voluntary programs, pollution prevention and minimization, and multimedia--rather than media-specific--regulation, according to George C. Rocoski, manager of the industrial hazardous waste section in the program development branch.

The ministry's recycling rules cover curbside collection, composting, and chlorofluorcarbon (CFC) recovery. Pending rules target halons--chemicals used in fire extinguishers that are reputed to be far-worse ozone-depleters than CFCs--and a revision of guidelines on cleanup of polluted sites. Other ministry programs include pilot projects developed in cooperation with industry aimed at making the blue box curbside collection program more economical, used oil and nickel-cadmium battery collection, and paint recycling.

Can Canada Compete?

Canada today is suffering multiple crises, according to John Crispo, professor of political economy at the University of Toronto and author of Making Canada Work--Competing in the Global Economy. Crispo’s role as an outspoken social critic has apparently earned him enmity from government, media, and--judging from his incendiary, shoot-from-the-hip style--just about everyone else in Canada as well as south of the border. “I’m on the outs with everybody, so I don’t know why you are listening to me,” he confessed.

Canada faces a constitutional/political crisis in Quebec’s potential secession, which is inevitable if the country refuses to recognize the province’s unique nature, according to Crispo. “And if Quebec leaves Canada,” he said, “Canada’s gone.”

On the economic front, he praised progress toward free trade, but suggested Canada, which enjoys a C$20 billion trade surplus vis-à-vis the United States, must force the American government to be honest about subsidies. But Canada’s health and wealth are threatened by debt. “We’ve mortgaged the country to the hilt,” he complained.

A social crisis has followed economic trouble, potentially raising the ire of coming generations as a result of the debt burden and a falling living standard. “If we don’t turn the place around, we will have a war between the generations,” Crispo warned. Belt-tightening is in order, he said. “Everybody has to give up something.”

Auto Industry Described as Example of Bridge to Success

The automobile industry, bouncing back in recent years from crippling waste and efficiency, may provide an example of what Canada needs to turn things around, according to M.J.Closs, former president and chief executive officer of Chrysler Canada Ltd. (Windsor, Ontario). He credited Chrysler’s “bridge building” among management, government, and labor as the key to its rebirth.

World trade is changing--trade blocs are solidifying, the Pacific Rim is “coming on like gangbusters,” and Europe and Asia are targeting the North American market, said Closs. “We must be ready to complete, and we have our work cut out for us.”

To its credit, Canada is increasing its productivity faster than the other leading industrialized countries, and it can bank on its tremendous natural resources.

But there’s a real problem: government debt, the value of which nearly equals the country’s annual production. “We’re used to spending a whole lot more than we earn,” said Closs. “We may have to tell our kids and grandkids the opportunities we had are not there because we spent too much.” Canadians must bite the bullet and accept responsibility for this problem, he said. “Will we respond with confidence?”  •