Scrap Beat: September/October 2007

September/October 2007

Aluminum Can Recycling Rate Remains Steady in 2006
The aluminum industry recycled 51.9 billion aluminum cans in 2006, half a billion more than in 2005, according to statistics from ISRI, the Aluminum Association (Arlington, Va.), and the Can Manufacturers Institute (Washington, D.C.). Though the number of cans recycled increased in 2006, the overall recycling rate remained essentially the same at 51.6 percent compared with the 2005 rate of 52 percent, according to the groups' figures. That rate still gives aluminum cans the highest recycling rate among beverage containers, the associations note.

Visit www.aluminum.org.

Stainless Production Flat in First Quarter
World crude stainless steel production reached almost 7.6 million mt in the first quarter of 2007, a 15-percent increase over first-quarter 2006 production but less than a 1-percent gain compared with production in the fourth quarter of 2006, reports the International Stainless Steel Forum (Brussels).

By region, Central and Eastern Europe showed the greatest production growth, with their 99,000 mt of output in the first quarter rising almost 16 percent from their fourth-quarter 2006 total, ISSF says. The Americas increased their stainless production some 8 percent, to 749,000 mt, in the first three months of this year.

The two largest producing regions-Western Europe/Africa and Asia-saw flat growth in first-quarter 2007, with the former posting 2.5 million mt of stainless production and the latter reporting about 4.2 million mt, ISSF notes.

Visit www.worldstainless.org.

• Sims Group (Richmond, Calif.) is merging its Southern California metal recycling assets with those of Adams Steel (Anaheim, Calif.) to form SA Recycling, which it expects to handle more than 2 million mt of ferrous scrap and nearly 100,000 mt of nonferrous scrap annually. The new business, whose ownership will be divided equally between the two companies, will operate within Southern California, Arizona, southern Nevada, and northern Mexico. It will combine Sims' deep-water facility at the Port of Los Angeles with Adams' two inland shredding operations and network of inland feeder yards. Adams Steel President George Adams will run SA Recycling, reporting to a board of directors with four nominees from Sims and four from Adams Steel. Sims will name the new company's chair and chief financial officer. The combined business expects revenues in excess of $600 million. Visit www.sims-group.com or www.adamssteel.com.
• River Metals Recycling (Fort Mitchell, Ky.) has purchased the assets and business of Xenia Iron & Metal (Xenia, Ohio), including the firm's Greensburg Recycling facility in Greensburg, Ind. RMR will continue to use the Xenia Iron & Metal and Greensburg Recycling names during a transition period, though the facilities ultimately will operate under the RMR name. These two scrap processing operations give RMR a total of 10 facilities in four states, including Henderson, Livermore, Louisville, Newport, Owensboro, Paducah, and Somerset, Ky.; Metropolis, Ill.; Xenia, Ohio; and Greensburg, Ind. Visit www.rmrecycling.com.
• Metal Management (Chicago) has acquired Universal Recycling, a scrap processor that has facilities in Gary, Chesterton, and La Porte, Ind., that handle approximately 80,000 tons of ferrous and 10 million pounds of nonferrous a year. Metal Management now has 53 recycling facilities in 17 states. Visit www.mtlm.com.
• Annaco (Akron, Ohio) has sold substantially all of its assets to a subsidiary of Metalico (Cranford, N.J.), which will retain all of Annaco's employees, including management. Metalico has scrap operations in New York and Pennsylvania and lead fabricating facilities in Alabama, Illinois, Nevada, and California. Visit www.annaco.com or www.metalico.com.
• Cycle Systems (Roanoke, Va.) has acquired scrap processor Emswiler Diesel (South Boston, Va.) to provide material for its shredding and shearing operations in Roanoke and Lynchburg, Va. Emswiler Diesel, which has 10 employees, will transfer to the Cycle Systems brand. Visit www.cyclesystems.com.
• Liberty Iron & Metal (Erie, Pa.) has consolidated its operations into Diamond Hurwitz Scrap (Buffalo, N.Y.), Premier Metals Group (Rochester, N.Y.), and Liberty Iron & Metal Southwest (Phoenix) and formed a joint venture with Scholz AG (Essingen, Germany). The joint venture, Liberty Iron & Metal Holdings, will give the two companies access to global markets, the companies said. Visit www.libertyiron.com or www.scholz-ag.de.
• Intechra (Jackson, Miss.) has acquired Lifecycle Partners (Merrimack, N.H.) and BCS Logistics (Dallas), its fifth and sixth acquisitions since last November, as part of its strategy to launch a national logistics network for secure and reliable transportation of IT assets. The BCS management team has experience in specialty transportation, routing, dispatch, GPS tracking, and delivery confirmation in industries such as health care and financial services. With its acquisition of Lifestyle Partners, Intechra hopes to boost its presence in the Northeast and add a specialty in processing high-end storage equipment. Intechra expects to remanufacture and remarket more than 350,000 retired IT assets a month and recycle 8 million pounds of electronics a month while providing a nationwide network of secure asset transportation. Visit www.intechra.com.
• Wayne Cashion, an investor from Weatherford, Texas, has purchased Mansfield Metal and Rubber (Burleson, Texas). The new owner has retained all Mansfield employees, and Mansfield founders Tim and Paula Chambers will provide consulting services through a transition period.
• Redemtech (Columbus, Ohio) has acquired PC Asset Recovery (Round Rock, Texas), which will improve its ability to serve small- to mid-sized businesses, the company says. PC Asset Recovery will operate under the Redemtech brand, now providing its customers with Redemtech's Datasure Erase-IT service and expanding its online asset recovery, logistics, lease return management, and reporting services using Redemtech capabilities. PC Asset Recovery founder Butch Watson will direct Redemtech's mid-market initiative out of PC Asset Recovery's headquarters, the companies said. Visit www.pcassetrecovery.com or www.redemtech.com.
• Gerdau Ameristeel Corp. (Tampa, Fla.) is purchasing Chaparral Steel Co. (Midlothian, Texas) for $4.22 billion. Chaparral, the second-largest producer of structural steel products in North America, operates two minimills, one in Midlothian and one in Dinwiddie County, Va. The company has approximately 1,400 employees and an annual installed capacity of 2.9 million mt of steel used in nonresidential construction. Gerdau expects that the combined operations will boost its metal output by about one-third and generate annual pre-tax operating revenues of more than $55 million by the end of 2008. Visit www.gerdauameristeel.com.
• Aleris International (Beachwood, Ohio) plans to acquire Wabash Alloys (Wabash, Ind.) from Connell Limited Partnership (Boston) for approximately $194 million. Wabash, which had 2006 revenues of more than $900 million, currently employs more than 700 people. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter. Aleris currently has approximately 8,500 employees and operates 50 production facilities in North America, Europe, South America, and Asia. Visit www.aleris.com or www.wabashalloys.com.
• Sierra International Machinery (Bakersfield, Ca.) has terminated its intent to invest in an equity position with IPS Balers (Baxley, Ga.). The companies also will terminate their agent-distributor relationship. Visit www.sierraintl.com or www. ipsbalers.com.
• Oxford Instruments (Eynsham, UK) has acquired arc/spark optical emission spectrometer manufacturer Worldwide Analytical Systems (Uedem, Germany) as part of its strategy to acquire complementary technologies and double the size of the company in five years. Vito Angona, the managing director of WAS, will join the Oxford board. Visit www.oxford-instruments.com.
• Ingersoll-Rand (Hamilton, Bermuda) is selling its Bobcat, utility equipment, and attachments business units to Doosan Infracore (Inchon, South Korea) for approximately $4.9 billion. The sale is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2007. The combined businesses manufacture and sell compact equipment including skid-steer loaders; compact-track loaders; mini-excavators; telescopic tool handlers; portable air compressors, generators, and light towers; general-purpose light construction equipment; and attachments. The businesses generated approximately $2.6 billion in revenues in 2006 and employ approximately 5,700 people worldwide. Visit www.ingersollrand.com or www.usa.doosaninfracore.co.kr.
• PC Scale (Oxford, Pa.) has acquired Norwesco Computing (Seattle), maker of the RICSoft software suite, including the ScaleBoss Touchscreen system. Norwesco's client base includes customers in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and France, which will open up new market areas for PC Scale. PC Scale will continue to support RICSoft products from its offices in Arizona, California, Maine, Pennsylvania, and Washington, the company says. Visit www.pcscale.com.

• Commercial Metals Co.'s (Irving, Texas) CMC Recycling division has entered into a multiyear contract with electrical system and component manufacturer Eaton Corp. (Cleveland) to provide scrap management services for all of Eaton's North American operations. Visit www.eaton.com or www.cmc.com.
• Harsco's (Camp Hill, Pa.) Multiserv mill services division will implement a new mechanized FerroCut scrap oxycutting service at the ASCOMETAL steel mill in Fos-sur-Mer, France, under a new seven-year contract. The new installation, which will replace a manual operation, should provide greater productivity and built-in environmental systems for on-site fume collection and control, the company said. The technology, developed for higher-volume customers, can cut a full range of scrap materials up to nearly 51/2 feet thick. Multiserv also expanded its on-site mill services at Ternium, a leading steel company in Latin America, and SiderPerú, Peru's largest steel producer. The company has inked a five-year contract to expand its responsibilities at Ternium Hylsa's flat-rolled mill in Monterrey, Mexico, to include handling the mill's iron ore and other raw materials. In addition, Multiserv has assumed added responsibilities for scrap basket handling at Ternium's long products plant in Apodaca, Mexico, and renewed its coil and handling and transport ser­vices at the firm's long products plant in Puebla, Mexico. At Siderperú, Multiserv expanded its reponsibilities to include on-site slag transport, slag processing, and metal recovery. Visit www.harsco.com.
• Midrex Technologies (Charlotte) and parent company Kobe Steel (Kobe, Japan) have partnered with SMS Demag AG (Düsseldorf, Germany) to build and operate a minimill that joins the Midrex direct-reduction process with SMS Demag's steelworks technology with downstream compact strip production. The combination is a new way for minimills to produce high-grade hot strip in an energy- and cost-efficient manner, the companies said. Midrex also announced that Egyptian Sponge Iron & Steel Co., a subsidiary of Beshay Steel (Cairo, Egypt), has hired it to build Egypt's largest Midrex plant using second-generation Hotlink technology. Midrex will construct the new plant at Beshay's steel complex in Sadat City, Egypt. With a rated capacity of 1.76 million mt a year, the plant will produce hot direct-reduced iron and cold direct-reduced iron at the same time. Visit www.midrex.com.

Openings and Expansions

• PSC Metals (Cleveland) will develop a greenfield scrap feeder yard in Rome, Ga., to support its shredder in Chattanooga, Tenn. Once operational, the 5-acre yard will employ three individuals. Visit www.pscmetals.com.
• Shred-Tech Corp. (Cambridge, Ontario) has opened its Southeast regional ser­vice center, a full-service parts, maintenance, and repair facility in Apex, N.C. The facility also serves as headquarters for Shred-Tech's pre-owned mobile document-destruction system sales group. Visit www.shred-tech.com.

New Home for E-Crane
E-Crane International USA has moved to a new North and South American headquarters for sales, engineering and ser­vice of the E-Crane equilibrium crane. The company's new 24,000-square-foot facility includes 4,000 square feet of office space, overhead lift cranes, and storage space for a complete inventory of genuine E-Crane parts. The company's new address is 1332 Freese Works Place, Galion, OH 44833. Its new phone number is 419/468-0090 and fax number is 419/468-0074. All company e-mail addresses will remain the same. Visit www.ecrane-usa.com.

Xstrata Renames Branch
Xstrata Copper Canada (Toronto) is changing the name of its recycling branch from Noranda Recycling to Xstrata Recycling. Visit www.xstrata.com.

• Industrial Services of America (Louisville, Ky.) has purchased a TSC 80 SXS shredding plant from The Shredder Co. to process heavy grades of scrap it currently is shearing and to make specialty shredder grades for specific customers. The purchase is part of the firm's $5 million renovation plan, which it expects to complete in 2008. Visit www.isa-inc.com or www.theshredderco.com.
• The U.S. Shredder and Castings Group (Brookhaven, Miss.) will upgrade the Steel Dynamics shredder system in Rocky Mount, Va., with a WEG 4,000-hp motor, U.S. Shredder's shredder control and management system, a water injection system, a new control housing with operator station, U.S. Shredder's closed-loop air system, and a new nonferrous downstream separation system. The project is the second and final phase of upgrades at the facility; the first installed a standalone nonferrous system with three Steinert eddy-current systems and an ISS metal sorting system. Upon the second phase's completion, the ferrous downstream system will connect to the nonferrous system, all of which will operate in a new building. Visit www.usshredder.com or www.steeldynamics.com.
• Wendt Corp. (Tonawanda, N.Y.) is assisting with the design and implementation of state-of-the-art nonferrous recovery plants for East Kingsford Iron & Metal (Kingsford, Mich.) and Bayside Recycling (Duluth, Minn.). Both plants will feature a Wendt Finder 2400 with multitrack technology that maximizes the recovery of metals in auto shredder residue, including stainless steel, insulated and bare copper wire, brass, and zinc, the company says. Visit www.wendtcorp.com.
• Riverside Engineering (San Antonio) has sold an M-88 shredder system to Andersen's Sales and Salvage (Greeley, Colo.). The system includes an 88 x 112 shredder mill powered by a Quad Plus 4,000-hp DC shredder drive, feed system, operator station, and H2PRO water injection system. The firm's upgrade plan also includes a new downstream separation system from Osborn Engineering. A Rockwell Automation system designed by Riverside will control the shredding and separation processes. Andersen's expects the shredder to increase its processing capacity to more than 15,000 tons a month. Visit www.rsengr.com.

Sennebogen Adds Distributors
Sennebogen (Charlotte, N.C.) has named three new distributors: Kirby-Smith Machinery (Oklahoma City) is now a nationwide distributor representing its Green Line material handling equipment; Modern Machinery (Missoula, Mont.) is its exclusive distributor throughout Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and several counties in northern Wyoming; and Road Machinery & Supplies Co. (Savage, Minn.) is an authorized distributor in Minnesota. Visit www.sennebogen-na.com.

• Dell, Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey, and Goodwill Industries of Southern New Jersey/Quaker City introduced Reconnect, a free drop-off program that will recycle unwanted computers. The program will serve consumers at 23 participating Goodwill donation centers and retail stores throughout New Jersey and Philadelphia. The program aims to divert more than 4 million pounds of used computers and equipment from area landfills over the next year, provide consumer education on the importance of environmentally responsible computer end-of-life management, and create job opportunities for the disabled and others with employment barriers. Goodwill will accept and sort the computer equipment, and Dell's product recovery partner will recycle and remarket the scrap materials, which include plastics, glass, and metals. All proceeds will support Goodwill's nonprofit job-training and employment programs. Visit www.reconnectpartnership.com.
• Under a new Minnesota electronics recycling law, video display device manufacturers must recycle 60 percent of the total weight of VDDs they sell in Minnesota in the program's first year and 80 percent of the total weight they sell in subsequent years. Collectors and recyclers of VDDs should have registered with the state pollution control agency by Aug. 1; manufacturers by Sept. 1. Visit www.pca.state.mn.us/electronics.
• Global Investment Recovery (Tampa, Fla.) has won a maximum $10.8 million nationwide contract with the Department of Defense for all electronic equipment demanufacturing services. The 18-month contract with three 12-month extension options is the first sole-source Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service award for demanufacturing equipment. Visit www.girpm.com.
• After meeting its goal to recycle 1 billion pounds of electronics six months early, HP announced a new target: to recycle another 1 billion pounds of electronics and print cartridges by the end of 2010. The company set its initial goal in 2004 after reaching the half-billion pound mark. In 2006 alone, the company recovered 187 million pounds of electronics globally. This year is the 20th anniversary of HP's recycling programs. Visit www.hp.com/environment.

Terex Marks Milestone
Terex Fuchs celebrates 50 years of production this year at its facility in the Mingolsheim district of Bad Schönborn, Germany, where its more than 340 workers manufacture loaders. To celebrate the anniversary, the facility held an open house in July where visitors could learn about the machine manufacturing process. In 1957, the Fuchs 301 material handler was one of the first machines to come off the Mingolsheim facility's production line. Over the years, the facility has produced 15,000 Fuchs material handlers. Prior to 1957, the company specialized in developing and manufacturing agricultural equipment. Visit www.terex.com.

Harris Introduces Scholarship
The Harris Products Group (Gainesville, Ga.) has established the Larry and Patti Schweikert scholarship fund to honor Larry Schweikert, who recently retired from Harris after 32 years of service. The company will award the $1,000 scholarship annually to a full-time business student at Gainesville State College. Visit www.harrisproductsgroup.com.

• Metal Recycling Services (Monroe, N.C.) won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2007 Carolinas award, beating 23 other finalists. The firm previously won the U.S. Small Business Administration's Young Entrepreneur of the Year award. Visit www.metalrecyclingservices.com.
• Alcoa Materials Management (Knoxville, Tenn.) announced its annual list of its top 10 scrap processors, using criteria that include quality, volume, and performance. Its top suppliers are Commercial Alloys Corp. (Twinsburg, Ohio); Kripke Enterprises (Toledo, Ohio); M. Lipsitz & Co. (Waco, Texas); Newco Metals (Pendleton, Ind.); OmniSource Corp. (Fort Wayne, Ind.); Shapiro Sales (St. Louis); State Metal Industries (Camden, N.J.); Sturgis Iron & Metal (Sturgis, Mich.); Weiner Iron & Metal Corp. (Pottsville, Pa.); and Triple M Metals (Brampton, Ontario). Alcoa also named Copper Consulting Industries (Glendale, Ariz.) copper supplier of the year and Mervis Industries (Danville, Ill.) most improved supplier. Visit www.alcoa.com.
• Caraustar Industries' (Austell, Ga.) seven Recovered Fiber Group recycling plants received the 2006 No Actual Lost Work Day Case award in the recycle collection category from the Pulp & Paper Safety Association (Portage, Ind.) in June. The award goes to all PPSA member locations that complete a calendar year without incurring an injury that results in days away from work. Visit www.caraustar.com.
• Inter-Source (Kalamazoo, Mich.) received the 2007 Business Review Western Michigan Innovation Award for company president William Nemedi's design of a small shredder. The compact shredder promotes the proper handling and processing of saturated machining scrap by sizing it to maximize transport and fluid recovery. Visit www.inter-source.com.

• The second edition of the Rauch Guide to the U.S. Rubber Industry is a 328-page, spiral-bound resource guide on this $44 billion business. The book is divided into six sections, with the first-on the economics of the industry-noting the major U.S. rubber companies and providing industry facts and figures. The second section examines rubber technology and raw materials. The third section, on tires and inner tubes, reviews tire construction and manufacturing, provides production and import/export statistics on various types of tires, and touches on tire retreading as well as scrap tires and the environment. The fourth section looks at non-tire fabricated rubber products, while section five provides more than 100 listings of U.S. rubber industry resources, including trade associations, technical, and professional societies; meetings, exhibitions, and trade shows; publications; statistical information sources; and rubber groups. The sixth and largest section provides more than 1,303 listings of the largest U.S. companies that produce all types of rubber-related products. Each listing includes current contact and executive information, types of products, and-when available-sales figures and number of employees. The Rauch Guide to the U.S. Rubber Industry costs $595 and is available from Grey House Publishing, 185 Millerton Road, Millerton, NY 12546; 800/562-2139 or 518/789-8700; fax, 518/789-0556; or www.greyhouse.com.
• The 2007 edition of Electronics Recycling: A Guide to International Regulations is now available through Raymond Communications. The more than 300-page publication provides historical information and discusses the current electronic scrap laws and regulations in 26 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Australia. The guide explains the national interpretations of the European Union WEEE and RoHS directives, including details on who is affected and which items have restrictions. The guide also includes collection organization information, English-speaking contacts for most countries, fee structures, and electronics recovery rates, when available. Also provided are background and analysis of the current regulatory climate for electronics stewardship in the United States, summaries of state electronics takeback and related bills, and the results of major collection pilot programs. The guide is $425. Call 301/345-4237 or visit www.raymond.com/promo_ raymond-library/elecrep.html.

American Iron Names Scrap Art Contest Winners
American Iron (Minneapolis) announced the winners of its seventh annual "Art of Recycling" Metal Sculpture Competition, which features artwork made from scrap metal collected for recycling. Contestants have one hour to select the raw materials from American Iron's main yard, and they have five weeks to create their artworks. This year the contest had 28 entries, the largest of which weighed more than 300 pounds and stood 9 feet tall and the smallest of which weighed less than 2 pounds. The company awards cash prizes in two categories, large and small. Large category winners are: first place, Ryan Slattery, Roll Me Away; second place, Kelly Ludeking, Insect 431.13; third place, Cheryl Fitzgerald, Urban Arrangement. Small category winners are: first place, Rabi Santo, Mother Earth: "What Have You Become?"; second and third place (tie), Dillon Allen and Dirk DuBois, Bubo's Understudy and Mer Perilleux, respectively. Visit www.scrappy.com.

Harris Survey Reveals Most Americans Recycle
A June Harris poll of 2,372 adults found that 77 percent of American adults recycle something in their own home, but 23 percent do not recycle at all. Though many assume that younger generations are more likely to recycle, the poll showed that 30 percent of Echo Boomers (ages 18 to 30) do not recycle compared with 19 percent of Matures (ages 62 and older). Those in the East and West are more likely to recycle, with 88 percent and 86 percent recycling rates, respectively. In contrast, 32 percent of those in the South and 30 percent of those in the Midwest say they do not recycle. Why aren't adults recycling? Overall, the most cited reason was that it's "not available in our area." In terms of materials recycled, 67 percent of adults surveyed said they recycle aluminum or metal cans; 59 percent recycle paper; 57 percent recycle plastic; and 54 percent recycle glass. Visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

The aluminum industry recycled 51.9 billion aluminum cans in 2006, half a billion more than in 2005, according to statistics from ISRI, the Aluminum Association (Arlington, Va.), and the Can Manufacturers Institute (Washington, D.C.).