Steel Scrap Challenges

March/April 1993

Used steel drums, paint cans, aerosol cans, and oil filters are valuable sources of high-grade scrap, but recycling them requires careful processing.

BY KENT KISER

Kent Kiser is associate editor of Scrap Processing and Recycling.

What do used drums, paint cans, aerosol cans, and oil filters have in common? Most notably, they are containers made predominantly out of steel, and, thus, are recyclable when empty. But they also share the stigma of being difficult to recycle—even hazardous if not properly handled. In many cases, scrap recyclers do not deal with these items for that very reason; they fear that doing so could cause costly environmental liabilities, or present processing and marketing problems.

Nevertheless, a few traditional recyclers have ventured into this arena and are showing that these "problem" containers can augment their ferrous scrap stream with little difficulty. As flat-rolled products, these items are made of high-grade steel, they point out, and they are being increasingly accepted by ferrous scrap consumers. A few new firms have even found promising niches as specialists in recycling some of these items. And the call to increase recovery is increasing: Several states have already banned, or are soon likely to ban, the landfilling of some or all of these materials.

But before accepting truckloads of these items, scrap recyclers should know the ropes on how best to handle them.

Drumming Up Business

Let's start with the biggest and most familiar item—steel drums, a name that actually applies to containers ranging from 5-gallon pails to 55-gallon drums. In addition to containing benign products such as cooking oils and foods, steel drums—which have been reconditioned and recycled for decades—may be used to hold chemicals, pesticides, and a variety of other materials that may be classified as hazardous. But drums that have held these materials are not automatically excluded from recycling. Most used steel drums qualify for the scrap metal exemption under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act's (RCRA) hazardous waste regulations if they are recycled and, more important, if they are empty.

According to RCRA regulations, a container is considered "empty" if no more than 1 inch of residue, or 3 percent by weight of the contents, remains in the container or inner liner. To scrap recyclers, this "1-inch" rule has a major flaw: If hazardous residues from legally "empty" containers should spill during processing, they could expose their plants to contamination.

In 1987, therefore, the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) (Washington, D.C.) and the National Barrel and Drum Association (Landover, Md.)—now the Association of Container Reconditioners (ACR)—went beyond the this rule, drafting more-detailed guidelines for the proper preparation and recycling of used steel drums. These guidelines recommend that recyclers only accept steel drums whose interior and exterior have been completely cleaned and purged using "an effective cleaning agent," or whose interior and exterior have been thermally neutralized in a drum-reclamation furnace. Both procedures require the removal of all foreign matter and prior residues, including labels and decorative coatings. Containers should then be mechanically or hydraulically crushed and/or shredded prior to delivery to a scrap recycler, according to the guidelines.

Drums that have held acute hazardous wastes as defined by RCRA must meet more stringent preparation standards under both RCRA regulations and ISRI/ACR guidelines, being triple-rinsed with an appropriate solvent before entering the scrap stream.

This may sound like a lot of hoop-jumping for a little scrap, but tens of millions of steel drums come available for recycling every year, the ACR says. In addition, the growing need to recycle used steel drums is becoming more and more evident, particularly as disposal costs rise, and this need is creating new market opportunities. Last year, for example, Nortru Resources (Detroit) opened shop as a specialist in processing used steel drums. The firm shreds and multiple-washes spent drums to produce No. 1 scrap, using a proprietary solution to decontaminate and remove paint on the containers. Drum residuals are reportedly turned into waste-derived fuel for use as an energy resource in cement kilns.

No Paint, No Problems

When scrap recyclers think of processing paint cans, they might imagine the items spilling paint on their grounds, equipment, or other scrap, potentially exposing them to environmental penalties, damaging their equipment, or—at the very least—creating a big mess. These concerns, however, either have no basis in fact or can be addressed easily, asserts Gregory L. Crawford, vice president of recycling operations for the Steel Can Recycling Institute (SCRI) (Pittsburgh).

Paint, for instance, is not the concern it used to be, he says. Lead-based paints have been banned since 1978, pigmentation metals are not a serious concern, he claims, and the majority of residential paints—which account for most recycled paint cans—are latex- rather than oil-based.

In fact, Crawford says, recyclers' principal concerns can be allayed by two words: empty and dry. According to SCRI guidelines, used paint cans can be recycled without worry if they are empty, with no more than a thin, dry skin of paint inside. SCRI also recommends that recyclers ask used can generators to leave can lids off to ensure dryness and ease inspection efforts.

This "no paint-no problem" approach works, as some scrap companies have found. "These containers can and should be recycled along with all other steel cans," says Joannie Kuzo-Schiffman, general manager of recycling for Tube City Inc. (Glassport, Pa.), which bales steel paint and aerosol cans drawn along with steel food, beverage, and other general-purpose cans from curbside collection programs and public drop-offs in the Pittsburgh area. The firm requires its steel can recycling suppliers to follow the SCRIguidelines, and it prevents potential problems by inspecting all incoming loads.

Thus far, Tube  City has had only one mishap, when a partially full paint can spilled during processing in its baler. Though chagrined by the mess and concerned about potential damage to the machine if such spills recurred, Kuzo-Schiffman was not discouraged. "It hasn't been that hard working through these issues," she says. "It's an education process. If you're adamant about inspecting the incoming material and educate your suppliers properly from day one, you shouldn't have a problem."

The payoff for scrap recyclers in terms of capturing new material can be attractive. Steel paint cans account for approximately 4 percent, or 1.36 billion cans, of the 34 billion annual steel can market. And as Tube  City has found in working with U.S. Steel ( Pittsburgh ), many steelmakers are eager consumers of used steel cans. After all, the steel industry has a vested interest—economically and environmentally—in recycling as much scrap steel as possible, including all varieties of steel cans. In fact, the industry, which recycled 34 percent of all steel cans in 1991, has set an ambitious goal of recycling 66 percent of steel cans by 1995, according to SCRI.

Aerosols: Empty's the Word

Aerosol products have had a rough time in recent years, being portrayed as chlorofluorocarbon (CFC)-containing destroyers of the ozone. The truth is that since 1978 less than 2 percent of the aerosol products made or sold in the United States have contained CFC propellants. Current aerosol propellants are liquified or compressed gases, such as isobutane, butane, propane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and nitrous oxide. For scrap recyclers, this eliminates concerns about venting CFCs while processing aerosol cans.

Of concern to scrap recyclers, however, is the fact that some aerosols contain potentially hazardous products such as pesticides, lubricants, and chemical cleaners. Another worry is what could happen if a full or partially full aerosol can is processed. "When most people talk about aerosol cans," Crawford says, "it's like a word-association game, with people automatically suggesting that the cans will explode or act as hazardous waste."

As with paint cans, however, these concerns can be erased if recyclers require their suppliers—whether they be individuals, municipalities, or industrial generators—to provide empty aerosol cans. And for those recyclers who wish to take extra assurances, special equipment designed for this purpose is now on the market.

An empty aerosol can contains virtually no propellant gas or product residue and is exempt from RCRA hazardous waste regulations, so it can be recycled like any other steel can. "There's a great need for regulators, waste collectors, and scrap processors to understand the difference between hazardous waste and empty containers," Crawford says. "Empty containers are not necessarily relegated to hazardous waste management. If they're empty, under RCRA they're simply scrap steel." In the case of aerosol cans, which account for an estimated 7 percent—or about 2.38 billion cans—of the annual steel can market, this can mean a lot of metal.

Tube  City knows this, so it accepts all spent aerosol cans, except those that contained pesticides, Kuzo-Schiffman notes. In addition to requiring aerosol cans to be empty,Tube  City asks its suppliers to remove all plastic caps, per SCRI guidelines. Crawford notes, however, that plastic nozzles do not have to be removed. At the high temperatures used in steelmaking, he says, these nonmetallic components, like paper labels on food cans, are easily burned off.

As for "explosions," Crawford asserts that full or partially full aerosols do not explode, but they may burst "if you do something foolish or inappropriate with them," such as expose them to too much heat. If an aerosol can bursts and a source of ignition is present, he says, then any flammable product or propellant would burn momentarily until consumed. If a partially full aerosol can is baled, it would simply break open inside the baler among the other scrap cans. The crushing force of the baler would "relieve" the container to atmospheric pressure, he explains, and the oxygen-starved environment inside the baler would prevent any residual gases from burning, even if an ignition source were present. "Baling of these cans is a very uneventful activity," Crawford says. Tube  City has had no problems baling aerosol cans; however, a partially full hairspray can once caught fire on the conveyor of its open-air can flattener when a spark ignited the contents as the can was crushed.

Dispelling Filter Phobia

At first glance, used oil filters may appear to be the most environmentally fearsome item of this foursome. Scrap recyclers surely shudder to imagine the potential environmental repercussions of having oil from used filters spill in their plants.

In May 1992, however, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that crushed or drained used oil filters are not hazardous under RCRA regulations and need not be regulated. This exemption primarily applies to the recycling or disposal of non-terne-plated used oil filters, which are used in passenger cars, vans, and light-duty trucks. But the exemption also applies to the recycling—though not the disposal—of terne-plated filters, which are used in heavy-duty vehicles such as buses and commercial trucks, because the terne—an alloy of tin and lead—causes the filters to exhibit lead toxicity under the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP). Fortunately, the majority ofU.S. filter manufacturers—which produce about 400 million filters annually—stopped using terne in their filters as of Jan. 1, 1993, according to the Filter Manufacturers Council (Research Triangle Park, N.C.).

Even with this regulatory reassurance, scrap recyclers have two concerns about handling and processing used oil filters, both of which can be alleviated by following these additional guidelines.

• Used oil could escape during handling and contaminate their property and water runoff. When used oil filters are crushed, 85 to 90 percent of the oil is removed, and simply gravity-draining the filters extracts only 44 to 79 percent of the oil. The remaining oil, which resides in the paper filter, can pose potential liabilities since some automotive oil fails the TCLP. To prevent these liabilities, recyclers should stipulate that loads cannot be delivered with free-flowing oil, a requirement that could be achieved by gravity-draining and crushing or possibly even tumbling them in a trommel. Recyclers could also require loads to be delivered in containers with false bottoms to collect any oil seepage.
• Used oil inside filters could contaminate shredder fluff or other processing residues. The simplest option here may be for recyclers to avoid shredding filters, opting instead to bale them or ship them loose. Some shredder operators, however, may find that clean, crushed filters can actually sweeten their ferrous shred, Crawford says.

Recycling options for used oil filters are becoming urgent due to current and future bans on landfilling them in several states, including California and Texas . In those states, generators of used oil filters—mainly oil recyclers and automotive service shops—must either pay to process them for solid waste disposal, dispose of them in a specialized hazardous waste landfill, or find recycling outlets for them. Fortunately, a handful of steelmakers are already melting used oil filters, including Bayou Steel Corp. (LaPlace, La.), Birmingham Steel Corp. (Birmingham, Ala.), Florida Steel Corp. (Tampa, Fla.), Nucor Steel Corp. (Plymouth, Utah), Sheffield Steel Corp. (Sand Springs,Okla.), and Tamco (Etiwanda, Calif.). Several other mills are running experimental melts of filters and are said to be considering using them regularly.

Tamco, a rebar minimill, leads the pack, recycling more than 7 million filters in 1992, with plans to melt approximately 18 million in 1993. "Used oil filters, drained and crushed, are no different than our normal scrap," notes Leonard E. Robinson, Tamco's environmental and safety manager. Filters are currently delivered crushed and drained—with no free-flowing oil—in large roll-off boxes, though Tamco is also exploring the use of filters that have been briquetted into dense 3-inch cubes. Tamco receives the filters free from its suppliers—mainly oil recyclers—but the suppliers benefit by avoiding hazardous waste disposal costs.

Challenging the Opportunities

While current efforts to recycle used steel drums, paint cans, aerosol cans, and oil filters are inspiring, these efforts are—for the most part—in their infancy. Many issues still need to be addressed and consuming markets need to be further developed or stabilized. If handled properly, these containers can be as recyclable as other steel cans, and they present new scrap sources for resourceful processors.

Are there risks involved? Yes, but close cooperation with suppliers and consumers, clear preparation guidelines, and vigilant inspection procedures can eliminate most, if not all, of these risks. In the end, scrap recyclers—at least those adventurous enough to branch out in search of new business options—may find that handling these items is a rewarding endeavor.