Scrap Beat: September/October 2010

September/October 2010

Study Shows Benefits of Recycling PET, HDPE
A new life cycle inventory study for recycled polyethylene terephthalate and high-density polyethylene resins shows that using recycled PET resin significantly reduces a package's environmental footprint in terms of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, says the National Association for PET Container Resources (Sonoma, Calif.). Using LCI methodology, the study determines and quantifies the energy requirements, solid wastes, and atmospheric and waterborne emissions required to collect postconsumer PET and HDPE packaging, sort and separate the material, and reprocess it into clean recycled resin. According to the study, recycling a single pound of PET flake requires 84 percent less energy and generates 71 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than producing a single pound of virgin PET resin. Franklin Associates (Prairie Village, Kan.) conducted the study, which NAPCOR, the American Chemistry Council (Arlington, Va.), the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers (Washington, D.C.), and the PET Resin Association (New York) jointly sponsored. Find the study, "Final Report—Life Cycle Inventory of 100% Postconsumer HDPE and PET Recycled Resin From Postconsumer Containers and Packaging," on the sponsors' Web sites: www.napcor.com/pet/sustainability/html, www.americanchemistry.com, www.plasticsrecycling.org, or www.petresin.org.

Program Encourages Appliance Recycling
The Big Switch campaign from Sears, Roebuck and Co. (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) aims to recycle 5 million older, less energy-efficient appliances and replace them with energy-efficient models. The company will haul away and responsibly recycle the old appliances when customers purchase new Energy Star-qualified units, which include some dishwashers, clothes washers, refrigerators, room air conditioners, and water heaters. As part of the program, Sears encourages its customers to take the Sears Energy Star Pledge, in which they promise to take steps to reduce their impact on the environment. Sears is a member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's responsible appliance disposal program. Visit searsbigswitch.com.

Packaging Touts Products' Environmental Credentials
Marcal Manufacturing (Elmwood Park, N.J.) now prints an environmental facts panel on the packaging of its Marcal Small Steps products. The nutrition facts-style panel notes that Marcal makes its Small Steps products out of 100-percent recycled paper and does not use any chlorine bleach to whiten the fiber or any chemical-based additives such as fragrances and dyes. The new panel, which Marcal claims is the first for the U.S. household paper goods category, is part of the company's right-to-know initiative for consumers. Visit www.marcalsmallsteps.com.

Mergers and Acquisitions

• Alter Trading Corp. (St. Louis) has purchased Reliable Recycling Co. (Green Bay, Wis.), a ferrous and nonferrous metal recycling company with three Wisconsin locations—in Green Bay, Medford, and Marinette—and one in Gladstone, Mich. Mark Wilson, president of Reliable Recycling, will remain with the company as marketing manager, based in Green Bay. In other company news, Alter Trading also has acquired E&J Metals and Auto Parts Co. (Rock Island, Ill.) and plans to upgrade the operation with a new entrance and scale. This purchase will allow Alter to expand its Wrench-N-Go self-service auto parts division and its scrap collection activities in the Quad Cities area of Illinois and Iowa, the company says. With these two new acquisitions, Alter has 39 metal recycling facilities and five trading offices in eight states. Visit www.altertrading.com.

• Sims Metal Management (New York) has acquired the U.K. business assets of Wincanton's (Chippenham, England) recycling division, which includes electronic recycling plants in Billingham and Daventry and sorting centers in Harlow and Widnes. Visit www.simsmm.com.

• Upstate Shredding and sister company Ben Weitsman & Son, both based in Owego, N.Y., have acquired Weinstein Scrap Metal Corp. (Jamestown, N.Y.). The 10-acre facility will undergo a major renovation and equipment upgrades, including two new truck scales, four new cranes, two mobile shear units, and new roll-off containers and trucks. Upstate-Ben Weitsman also will pave the yard and install a stormwater system compliant with New York Department of Environmental Conservation standards, the companies say. Other planned improvements include the replacement of existing buildings with modern, energy-efficient structures as well as landscaping. Former Weinstein Scrap Metal owner Paul Weinstein and his son, Eric Kress, will continue in management positions. Visit www.upstateshredding.com.

• Brookfield Resource Management (Elmsford, N.Y.) has purchased Salient Auto Salvage (Bronx, N.Y.), an auto wrecker and used auto parts company, as part of its business plan to handle a wider variety of recyclables in broader market segments. The company also joined with Wilkins Rebuilders Supply (Chicago Heights, Ill.) to form Brookfield Iron & Metal, also in Chicago Heights. The new company will recycle end-of-life commercial and passenger vehicles, all scrap metal grades, and other items. Visit www.brookfieldco.com.

• Evergreen Recycling (Las Vegas), a commercial, industrial, and construction recycler, has merged with Republic Services of Southern Nevada, also based in Las Vegas. Evergreen President Rob Dorinson, CEO Len Christopher, and other Evergreen team members will continue as managers for the combined operations. Visit www.evergreenlv.com or republicservicesvegas.com.

• Kaiser Aluminum Corp. (Foothill Ranch, Calif.) has acquired the Nichols Wire facility in Florence, Ala., which manufactures bare mechanical alloy wire products, nails, and aluminum rod for aerospace, general engineering, and automotive applications. Kaiser Aluminum will integrate the facility into its fabricated products business section. Visit www.kaiseraluminum.com.

Openings and Expansions

• Connecticut Metal Industries is expanding its foil recycling operations into a 101-year-old brass mill in Ansonia, Conn. The expansion will more than double the size of the 20,000-square-foot indoor operation, the company says. Visit www.recyclemetal.com or www.foilfoil.com.

• Bobby Kripke, a 37-year veteran of the scrap industry, has founded Sherwin Metal Recycling, which will handle all grades of nonferrous scrap on a wholesale basis and broker material as well. The new company will run its operations out of a shared 100,000-square-foot warehouse and a 5,000-square-foot office facility at 6120 N. Detroit Ave., Toledo, OH 43612. Contact the company at 419/535-7824 or visit www.sherwinmetal.com.

• MVR (Boca Raton, Fla.) is transforming a former automotive parts manufacturing plant in Frankfort, Ky., into a $9.2 million plastic recycling operation capable of producing 90 million pounds of recycled resin annually. The 220,000-square-foot facility will manufacture several grades of postconsumer recycled plastic resin using state-of-the-art sorting, cleaning, and pelletizing equipment. The company expects the plant, slated to start operations in late 2010, to have 360 employees. Visit www.mvrecycling.com.

• Cascades (Kinsey Falls, Québec) has broken ground on a $10 million expansion at its East Angus, Québec, mill for producing kraft-type recycled pulp. A new building will house a pulper, loading platforms, and warehouse for scrap paper. The unit will convert more than 200 mt a day of old corrugated containers from the company's sorting centers into recycled pulp. Cascades also expects the expansion project to help it increase the recycled content of its kraft papers from 43 percent to 70 percent. Visit www.cascades.com.

• La Farga Group (Barcelona, Spain) has formed a joint-venture company with two Chinese partners to provide copper and alloy products for railway-related projects in China and other developing countries in Asia. The new entity, Ganzhou Jiangwu-La Farga High-Speed Railway Copper Materials Co. (Ganzhou, China), is a partnership of La Farga, which has a 49-percent ownership share; Beijing Prosoars Technology and Information Consultation Co., a private entity with a 15-percent share; and Ganzhou Jiangwu New Type Alloy Materials Co., a Chinese government-owned entity with a 36-percent stake. The venture will have an estimated 45 employees. Visit www.trolleywiresolutions.es.

• Round2 (Austin, Texas) has opened a 104,000-square-foot facility in Grove City, Ohio, for recycling more than 5 million pounds a month of end-of-life electronics. This new operation is the company's third e-scrap processing plant, expanding on its existing facilities in Austin and Coppell, Texas. Visit www.round2.net.

• SSI Shredding Systems (Wilsonville, Ore.) has formed a new division, The Shredder Service Co., that will provide spare parts and on-site or remote service for any make or model of industrial shredder. The new entity, which will serve both domestic and international markets, will leverage SSI's internal resources, including its complete in-house engineering capabilities, full field services, custom retrofits, and parts and machining for one-, two-, three-, and four-shaft shredders. Visit www.shredderserviceco.com.

Recyclers Golf For a Good Cause
City Carton Recycling (Iowa City, Iowa) and the Ockenfels Family Foundation raised almost $105,000 for children with cancer at their annual charity golf tournament, held Aug. 10 at Brown Deer Golf Club (Coralville, Iowa). The groups raised funds through raffles, sponsorships, and an auction, with all proceeds donated, thanks to the Ockenfels Family Foundation, which covered all of the outing's expenses. The event benefits the American Cancer Society's children's programs, including its scholarship fund, as well as the Children's Cancer Connection, a nonprofit group that provides support services and programs for children with cancer and their families. Since its founding 16 years ago, the charity outing has raised more than $764,000 for children's cancer programs. The groups hold the fundraiser in memory of Deborah Ockenfels, daughter of City Carton Recycling founders Mort and Marcy Ockenfels, who died of cancer at age 17. Visit www.citycarton.com.

New Ventures and Agreements

• Liberty Tire Recycling (Pittsburgh) and Performance Bicycle (Chapel Hill, N.C.) are working together to recycle used inner tubes from bicycle tires, which LTR will turn into products such as rubberized asphalt and rubber mulch. Performance Bicycle held "Bike Tube Blow-Out" collections throughout the spring and summer at a dozen locations.

  LTR also provided the crumb rubber for the artificial turf field at Empire Fields Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, marking the province's largest installation of crumb rubber, the firm says. LTR's Western Rubber Group in Vancouver supplied the more than 346,000 pounds of crumb rubber used in the project, which equates to more than 22,450 recycled scrap tires, LTR says.

  In related news, LTR Products (Pittsburgh), an LTR subsidiary, has partnered with Parity (North Aurora, Ill.) to become the exclusive provider of rubber—including LTR Products' Pinnacle rubber mulch—for the company's patented SMARTE system playground safety surface. The system uses rubber chips as a base and covers them with PEM matting, which holds the chips in place and creates a playground surface that is wheelchair-accessible, fire-resistant, low-maintenance, durable, and environmentally friendly, LTR says. Visit www.performancebicycle.com, www.libertytire.com, or www.ltrproducts.com.

• Republic Services (Phoenix) and RecycleBank (New York) will work together to deploy RecycleBank's incentive-based recycling program to 1 million U.S. households. Each household recycling cart in the participating areas will have an identification tag the hauler scans to track recycling activity. RecycleBank converts the amount recycled into points the households can use for discounts at local and national businesses.

  Cincinnati, which is working with Rumpke Consolidated Cos. (Colerain Township, Ohio) and Cascade Cart Solutions (Grand Rapids, Mich.), also is implementing the RecycleBank program, with a four-phase rollout beginning this fall.

  In other RecycleBank news, Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Co. is sponsoring 1,200 Coca-Cola-branded recycling carts to encourage curbside recycling. Philly Coke and RecycleBank also have launched a "Points for Employees" program. Philly Coke employees will earn bonus points for registering and taking steps for greener actions with RecycleBank, such as activating their RecycleBank account and pledging to make green choices. The employees also can receive a monthly bonus for participating in RecycleBank point-earning opportunities, such as recycling electronics and properly disposing of unwanted items. Visit www.recyclebank.com.

• Dialight (Farmingdale, N.J.) and Veolia Environmental Services (Paris) are working together to offer streetlight fixture and lamp recycling for commercial facilities and municipalities that switch from high-intensity discharge and fluorescent lamps to Dialight's light-emitting diode lighting. LED lights are a "greener" option than traditional HID and fluorescent fixtures, which often contain hazardous materials such as mercury, Dialight says. Visit www.dialight.com or www.veolia.com.

• Mexus Gold U.S. (Carson City, Nev.) has signed a contract with Powercom Services (Atlanta) to fund the first phase of its efforts to recover sub-marine cable in Alaskan waters. Mexus plans to use a 260-foot barge to pull up an estimated 10 miles—or 475,200 pounds—of cable a day using its innovative retrieval process. The recovered cable has value thanks to its copper, lead, and steel content. Visit www.mexusgoldus.com.

• Furman Brothers (Warrensburg, N.Y.) and The Boston Group (Tustin, Calif.) have formed International Environmental Alliance, also in Tustin, which will offer sustainable waste management, recycling, and diversion services nationally and internationally to any size or type of business. Visit www.iea-llc.com.

• Harsco Minerals (Harrisburg, Pa.) has signed a contract with Acroni (Jesenice, Slovenia) to process and market the mill's stainless steel slag co-products. In addition to recovering and selling metal from the slag, Harsco will manage the residual slag material and will process the mill's stockpiled slag, estimated at 300,000 tons. To execute the new contract, Harsco will construct an on-site slag processing and metal recovery facility, which it will own and operate. The company expects the contract to generate more than $25 million in revenue over its five-year term. Visit www.harsco.com.

• San Antonio has awarded Appliance Recycling Centers of America (Minneapolis) a three-year contract to provide refrigerator and freezer recycling services for its City Public Service Board (CPS Energy) electricity customers. In the program, which runs from June 2010 to May 2013, participating customers who turn in energy-inefficient refrigerators and freezers are eligible for a $35 credit to their CPS Energy account. Customers who purchase new Energy Star-qualified fridges and/or freezers and recycle their old units will receive a $100 credit to their account. Visit www.arcainc.com or www.cpsenergy.com.

• TRADEPAQ TRM (New York), a global provider of software for physical commodity trading and risk management, has joined with TransGraph Consulting (Hyderabad, India) to provide market risk management solutions along with its software. Under the agreement, the firms jointly will offer commodity trading and risk management solutions and collaborate on marketing, sales, and customer service with support across all commodity markets. Visit www.trade
  paqtrm.com or www.transgraph.com.

Equipment Sales and Installations

• The U.S. Shredder and Castings Group (Trussville, Ala.) has sold a 70/90 heavy-duty shredder to a Midwest scrap processing company. The new unit, powered by a 2,300-hp DC drive, will feature state-of-the-art controls, hydraulics, and long-lasting castings, the company says. Visit www.usshredder.com.

• American Pulverizer Co. (St. Louis) recently announced the sale of three shredding systems. R. Freedman & Son (Green Island, N.Y.) plans to install one of the company's heavy-duty shredders at its Coeymans, N.Y., deep-water port in early 2011. The system will feature a Quad Plus 4,000-hp DC drive. R. Freedman will convert the 1,500-hp shredder at its Green Island plant to shred aluminum.

  Waukesha Iron & Metal (Waukesha, Wis.) has purchased a 60/85 heavy-duty shredding system for installation in early 2011 that will include infeed and downstream systems from Hustler Conveyor Co. (O'Fallon, Mo.), a Quad Plus 4,000-hp DC drive, ferrous and nonferrous separation equipment, and an American Pulverizer/Pinnacle E-Shred system control and data reporting package. American Pulverizer also has installed a shredding system at a scrap processor in the U.S. Southeast.

  In related news, Hawk Steel Industries (Kennedale, Texas) has purchased an offline nonferrous metal separation system for its existing American Pulverizer shredder. The new nonferrous system includes a Hustler tumbleback metering conveyor, an American Pulverizer trommel screen, a standard eddy-current separator, and an S+S/SiCon induction-coil machine for advanced nonferrous separation. The company expects the system to commence operations this fall. Visit www.ampulverizer.com.

• Metal + Waste Recycling (London) has purchased 10 high-powered misting devices built by Dust Control Technology (Peoria, Ill.) to supplement its custom-made static dust suppression systems. MWR ordered five DustBoss DB-60 units on wheeled carriages and five on skid mounts to use at its operations, which recycle ferrous and nonferrous metals, construction and demolition debris, and industrial and commercial recyclables. Visit www.metalandwaste.com or www.dustboss.com.

Manufacturers Select New Distributors

• Sennebogen (Stanley, N.C.) has added four companies to its dealer network, two in the United States and two in Canada. ASC Construction Equipment USA (Charlotte, N.C.) will represent the company's Green Line material handlers in North and South Carolina from its eight locations in those states, and Lyle Machinery (Richland, Miss.) will work from its five Mississippi locations—in Richland, Columbus, Gulfport, Hattiesburg, and Magnolia—and its new facility in southern Louisiana to cover those areas for Sennebogen. Hydromec (Dolbeau-Mistassini, Québec) will represent the firm's equipment in northern Québec from its headquarters location as well as from Chicoutimi, while Mi-Jack Canada (Leduc, Alberta) is the new Sennebogen representative for Alberta and Saskatchewan. Visit www.sennebogen-na.com, www.lylemachinery.com, www.hydromec.ca, or www.mi-jackcanada.com.

• Exodus Machines (Superior, Wis.) has selected the following six new dealers to represent its material handlers in various markets: Erb Equipment Co. (Fenton, Mo.) in the St. Louis area, extending into other parts of Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, and Indiana; Highway Equipment Co. (Zelienople, Pa.) in the western half of Pennsylvania and the bordering counties of Ohio; Illinois Truck and Equipment (Morris, Ill.) in the greater Chicago area into Gary, Ind.; JESCO (South Plainfield, N.J.) in the New York metro area and New Jersey; Linder Industrial Machinery (Plant City, Fla.) in Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina; and Miller-Bradford & Risberg (Sussex, Wis.) in Wisconsin, the upper peninsula of Michigan, and portions of northern Illinois. Visit www.exodusmachinesinc.com, www.erbequipment.com, www.highway-equipment.com, www.iltruck.com, www.jesco.us, www.linderco.com, or www.miller-bradford.com.

• Winkle Industries (Alliance, Ohio) has made C.O. Minot & Son (Pasadena, Calif.) its California sales and service representative. Minot will represent the field support and maintenance programs of LiftTech Industrial Services, a Winkle affiliate, as well as Winkle's engineered devices, parts, and services for above-the-hook, below-the-hook, and on-the-ground material handling operations. Visit www.winkleindustries.com.

• Hammel New York (Bohemia, N.Y.) has named Heavy Machines (Memphis, Tenn.) its official dealer for Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and the Florida Panhandle. Heavy Machines has parts and service centers in Bartow, Fla.; Pooler, Ga.; Sorrento, La.; Skowhegan, Maine; Memphis; Longview, Texas; and St. Albans, W.Va. Visit www.hammelny.com or www.heavymachinesinc.com.

Awards and Milestones

• Upstate Shredding (Owego, N.Y.) is on Inc. magazine's 2010 list of the 500 fastest-growing private U.S. companies. The recycler ranked second, behind an environmental services company, in the list's environmental services section. To make the list, companies had to be based in the United States, privately held, for-profit, and not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies, says Upstate, which increased its revenues from $70.2 million to $201.3 million in the past three years.

• AAEQ Manufacturers and Recyclers (Las Vegas) has received the Best Green Advocate award from the Las Vegas Business Press newspaper, part of its Green Awards 2010. The newspaper recognized the company for its support of the "Don't Trash Nevada" program and for removing toxic chemicals from air conditioners and other equipment before recycling. The company also participates in the Clark County, Nev., lawnmower exchange program, which encourages consumers to swap gas-powered mowers for zero-emission electric models at a greatly reduced price. Visit www.aaeq.net.

• Readers of Columbus C.E.O. magazine voted Grossman Environmental Recycling (Westerville, Ohio) "Best Recycling Company" for the second consecutive year in the publication's annual best-of-business poll. Visit www.grossmanenvironmentalrecycling.com.

• American Metal Market recognized The David J. Joseph Co. (Cincinnati) as Scrap Company of the Year in its 2010 Awards for Steel Excellence, which recognize companies that have pioneered and implemented business improvements that change the steel industry. Visit www.djj.com.

• The U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce (Washington, D.C.) has named A-1 Specialized Services & Supplies (Croydon, Pa.) one of the nation's 50 fastest-growing Asian-American businesses. Visit www.uspaacc.com or www.a-1specialized.com.

• An Institute for Family Business (London) study listed European Metal Recycling (Warrington, England) as the fourth-largest family firm in the United Kingdom. The scrap recycling company has annual sales of roughly $3.9 billion. Visit www.emrltd.com.

Electronics Recycling Roundup

• Sims Recycling Solutions' two electronics recycling facilities in LaVergne, Tenn., as well as its operations in Reno, Nev., and West Chicago, Ill., have achieved OHSAS 18001 certification, making them the company's first four U.S. plants to earn that honor. OHSAS 18001 is an international occupational health and safety management system standard designed to help organizations control their health and safety risks and improve their performance. Visit www.us.simsrecycling.com.

• The Consumer Electronics Association (Arlington, Va.) has named Earth911 (Scottsdale, Ariz.) its official recycling partner. The two organizations plan to develop an iPhone application that will educate consumers on how, why, and where to recycle electronics, using Earth 911's 120,000-listing recycling directory as a key resource. CEA also will feature Earth911's recycling directory on its Web site DigitalTips.com. In turn, Earth911 will promote recycling resources to CEA member organizations via multiple venues, including the International CES show and Greener Gadgets, a green electronics design forum held in February in New York. Visit www.ce.org or www.earth911.com.

• Georgia has hired Creative Recycling Systems (Tampa, Fla.) to manage end-of-life and surplus electronics for state agencies, universities, and other users. Visit www.crserecycling.com.

• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Washington, D.C.) plans to work with international partners to address "electronics waste" as one of its six global priorities "during the months and years ahead," EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said at a Commission for Environmental Cooperation meeting held in Guanajuato, Mexico, in August. The agency plans to focus on improving the design, production, handling, reuse, recycling, export, and disposal of electronics. Visit www.epa.gov.

• The EPA should examine how to improve its partnership programs to better manage end-of-life electronics in the United States and work with other federal bodies—such as the State Department and Council on Environmental Quality—to develop a legislative proposal for the United States to ratify the Basel Convention, according to a new U.S. Government Accountability Office report. The report, "Electronic Waste: Considerations for Promoting Environmentally Sound Reuse and Recycling," examines the EPA's efforts to facilitate the sustainable management of used electronics, various stakeholder views on the state-by-state approach to regulating e-scrap, and considerations for promoting environmentally sound e-scrap management. Visit www.gao.gov.

REM Relocates
Recycling Equipment Manufacturing has moved its operations from Spokane, Wash., to 367 Shannon Lane, Priest River, ID 83856. Its mailing address is P.O. Box 310, Priest River, ID 83856, and its phone number is 800/745-4736. Visit www.remfg.com.

Resources

• Demolition: Practices, Technology, and Management claims to be the first university textbook on basic demolition knowledge, best practices, and standards. The authors, demolition veteran Richard Diven and Purdue University assistant professor Mark Shaurette, initially developed the 197-page book for use at Purdue, which offers a demolition and reconstruction specialization in its building construction management department. The book now also serves as a reference for working demolition professionals. In 13 chapters, the hardcover publication introduces the demolition industry, defines the role of the demolition contractor, then reviews modern demolition practices, types of demolition projects, demolition regulations, how to quantify and price a demolition project, contract details, safety, demolition equipment, material handling and recycling, explosives, disaster response, and project management. The book ends with a glossary of terms, abbreviations, and acronyms as well as an alphabetical index. Available for $75 from Purdue University Press, www.thepress.purdue.edu, or by calling 800/247-6553 (in North America) or 44/1767-604972 (outside North America).

• "Interpreting Pre-Consumer Recycled Content Claims"—a position paper from UL Environment (Northbrook, Ill.)—provides definitions and guiding principles regarding what constitutes preconsumer recycled content as well as best practices for using it in product manufacturing. It bases these principles and practices on the concept of industrial ecology, which takes a holistic approach to examining sustainability in industrial systems. The new guidelines have implications across a range of industries, including metals and plastics. Visit www.ulenvironment.com/ulenvironment/eng/pages/env/newsroom.

• Recycling Laws International, a bimonthly newsletter, covers recycling policy in 38 countries in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. The newsletter provides information on collection organizations and fees for manufacturers and addresses packaging, batteries, and electronics take-back laws; eco-labeling; and the recycling of other products, including paper and end-of-life vehicles. Subscriptions to the electronic publication include free e-mail headlines between issues and a 250-page country reference document. An electronic, single-user subscription is n530, and a site license is n1,068. Visit www.researchandmarkets.com.

Old Tires Find New Life in "Mutant" Sculptures
Tire rubber is the preferred artistic medium of Seoul-based sculptor Ji Yong-Ho. Inspired by his readings on evolution, the genetic engineering debate, and memories of his childhood in rural South Korea, Ji uses tires to form sculptures depicting creatures—he calls them mutants—that he hopes elicit questions about the interaction between man and nature.

The transformation of rubber, a natural compound derived from the sap of latex trees, into industrial material used on the road in tires intrigues Ji. He recalls memories of his childhood home in
Korea: the contrast between his grandmother's livestock and the spare tire on his family's Jeep Wrangler. "In a sense, his mutants can be viewed as an effort to reassemble the farm he grew up on," says Bong Lee, director of Gana Art Gallery, which has exhibited Ji's work in New York and Seoul and Busan, South Korea. Above all, the artist "views his material choices and his deep sense of ecological responsibility as interconnected."

Ji sources his tires, which range from bicycle tires to tractor tires, from factories, scrapyards, and bike shops. He uses about 200 tires for each sculpture, with tractor tires set aside for chests and shoulders, motorcycle tires for body shape, and bicycle tires for faces and other detailed areas. He begins with skeletons of wire and clay, plaster molds, and resin forms, then he slices the tires with a mat knife into segments that he lays over the skeleton in arrangements that mimic muscle and skin. This labor-intensive process can take up to three months for each sculpture.

Refrigerators Become "Cool" Recycled Art
Chicago-area artists transformed end-of-life refrigerators into art as part of "Fine Art Fridges," an exhibit that Commonwealth Edison Co. (Chicago) organized to raise awareness about its appliance recycling program. The program hauls away old, working refrigerators for free while giving consumers $25 per appliance. The outdoor exhibit, which ran through mid-September, featured nine pieces depicting a variety of themes, from Chicago architecture to nature. The artworks were displayed on the sidewalk along the Magnificent Mile section of Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago. Visit www.comed.com.

Recycling Ahoy!
Electrolux (Stockholm, Sweden) has launched its "Vac From the Sea" initiative to recycle plastic recovered from the world's oceans into some of its vacuum cleaners. The company plans to recover the plastic from the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans and the Mediterranean, Baltic, and North seas and then recycle it into a limited number of its vacuum cleaners to raise awareness about plastic pollution and plastic recycling for home appliances.

Electrolux will work with volunteers and experts to recover plastics from the various oceans, using divers to collect some material and scooping some from the surface. The company incorporates up to 70 percent recycled plastic in its green-range vacuum cleaners, and it has a goal of using 100 percent recycled resin, it says. Its greatest barrier is the scarce and uncertain supply of recycled raw material, the company notes. Follow the initiative's progress on Facebook or www.electrolux.com/vacfromthesea. •

A new life cycle inventory study for recycled polyethylene terephthalate and high-density polyethylene resins shows that using recycled PET resin significantly reduces a package's environmental footprint in terms of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, says the National Association for PET Container Resources (Sonoma, Calif.). Using LCI methodology, the study determines and quantifies the energy requirements, solid wastes, and atmospheric and waterborne emissions required to collect postconsumer PET and HDPE packaging, sort and separate the material, and reprocess it into clean recycled resin.