Packaging producer says it is effective and acceptable at many paper mills.

United Kingdom-based paperboard packaging maker DS Smith has commissioned a study along with U.K.-based Aquapak Polymers they say demonstrates that “innovative, biodigestible barrier coatings increase paper recycling rates and fiber yield, without compromising functionality, providing a viable new packaging alternative which is ready and available for use.”

The study, titled ‘’Considerations for process, product and environmental fate testing of soluble bio-digestible barriers for paper and board packaging,” proposes that new barrier technologies such as Hydropol provide an alternative to many existing plastic coatings used in paper packaging thus “removing plastic waste from the recycling process.”

Aquapak calls Hydropol, a commercially available fully soluble, biodigestible barrier polymer that can be adhesive or extrusion coated onto paper. It can provide oil and grease resistance, act as a gas barrier, is non-toxic, marine safe, dissolves in water and “subsequently biodegrades but still provides the much-needed functionality required for food, drink and household product packaging,” says the firm.

Perhaps most importantly for recyclers, “The tests used in the study show that Hydropol is compatible with the processes used by high-volume [paper] mills and enables high fiber recovery, whilst reducing insoluble single-use plastics that are ejected and sent to landfill or waste-to-energy,” say the study’s promoters.

Nick Thompson, an R&D materials development director with DS Smith Group, says, “It’s clear that materials used in paper-based packaging have to be designed into the packaging with recycling in mind from the start. This is why DS Smith developed circular design principles; to ensure repulpability, recyclability and no negative impact on the end of life of the materials used. It seems like the Aquapak Hydropol product during recycling has now been shown to help fiber separation and can itself be eliminated from the process with no negative impact and with no need for finding an outlet for unwanted waste material, such as difficult to recycle plastics.”

Extrusion coatings and laminates for paper and board applications are in a customer production trial stage, say DS Smith and Aquapak, “including a number of home delivery and e-commerce applications, packaging for dried pet food, snacks, cooked meat and convenience food applications.”

The published study can be requested on this web page.

Germany-based company adds 65 recycling and waste-related sites in Sweden with acquisition.

Lünen, Germany-based Remondis says it has acquired 100 percent of the shares in Veolia Recycling Solutions Nordic AB, a Sweden-based business unit of France-based Veolia.

According to Remondis, “The activities now taken over in Sweden are essentially classic recycling with a high proportion of the collection, processing and marketing of recycled raw materials, services and industrial cleaning. Veolia Recycling has a total of 65 sites in Sweden, which will be taken over by Remondis as part of the transaction.”

Werner Hols, CEO North & West Europe for Remondis, says, “We are delighted to be able to considerably extend our market presence in Scandinavia by taking over the Veolia locations in Sweden. We are now able to offer our national and international customers a varied and wide range of high-quality services in the Nordic countries.”

Remondis says both parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price of the acquisition, which is subject to the approval of antitrust authorities.

Remondis describes itself as one of the world’s largest privately run recycling, service and water companies with about 800 business locations in more than 30 countries on four continents. Founded in 1934, the family business employs more than 36,000 people and says it processes more than 30 million metric tons of recyclable materials annually.

The MRF will service recycling from the agency’s Curb It! recycling program.

Metro Waste Authority, an independent government agency with 16 member communities based in Des Moines, Iowa, has begun operations at its new Metro Recycling Facility in Grimes, Iowa. The 101,100-square-foot facility will service recycling from the agency’s Curb It! recycling program by sorting and baling recyclables into their respective material types.

“Metro Waste Authority is committed to providing a sustainable recycling program,” says Michael McCoy, executive director of Metro Waste Authority. “Through state-of-the-art equipment, outstanding education and strong partnerships, this new facility will improve recycling and benefit communities throughout the state.”

According to a news release from Metro Waste Authority, the material recovery facility (MRF) incorporates systems from San Diego-based CP Group. It features the CP Group Primary Auger Screen and OCC Auger Screen that work together after the infeed conveyor to fractionate material prior to presort, an MSS Fibermax optical sorter, CP Group glass breakers, two MSS Plasticmaxes, CP Lightsout Air Drum Separator to clean glass and a new CPScreen with antiwrapping wobbler discs.

Additionally, the MRF features a 27,600-square-foot enclosed tip floor, which will help to keep inbound material dry.

The system has the ability to process materials at a rate of 25 tons per hour, according to CP Group.

The MRF expects to process about 30,000 tons of single-stream, residential materials based on its contracts. Metro Waste Authority also expects to have 28 employees working at the MRF once it's fully staffed.

McCoy says the MRF includes an education center, which features a multipurpose area, an observation deck above the sorting floor and a hands-on exhibits and activities area for visitors to learn about accepted recyclables.

Metro Waste Authority initially began to plan for the MRF in 2018 after China’s National Sword Policy went into effect.

“Our agency has a strong history of solving industry problems with innovative solutions,” McCoy adds. “When it became difficult for our processor in Des Moines to recycle the materials our Curb It! Recycling program brought in, we dug deeper to create market partnerships and find a way to keep those materials out of the landfill. We knew that if we wanted to provide a sustainable solution for recycling in the metro going forward, we had to have a hand in the whole process.”

Metro Waste Authority plans to host a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the MRF’s opening Nov. 17.

Authorities found more than $200,000 in stolen property, including catalytic converters, at Fat Cat Recycling in Merced, California.

The owner of a recycling business in Merced, California, was arrested after detectives located stolen vehicles and auto parts during a compliance check, the Merced Sun-Star reports.

During the check, officials discovered a dump truck, a Case forklift, a trailer, catalytic converters and an air compressor, all of which were stolen. The value of the property found at the recycling business was more than $200,000, according to the Merced Police Department. 

Property owner Carl Means, 40, was arrested on suspicion of felony possession of a stolen vehicle and a stolen vehicle without owner’s consent, according to jail records.

There is currently an ongoing investigation in Stanislaus County, California, after about $700,000 worth of stolen property was located at the site a few months ago, Merced Police Department Det. Christian Lupian told the Sun-Star.

Dipan Patel and MGK International were recognized for export sales of scrap metals to Taiwan.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) within the U.S. Department of Commerce recognized Dipan Patel and MGK International Inc., Princeton, New Jersey, where he serves as business development manager, at a virtual awards ceremony Sept. 9. Patel and MGK were recognized with an Export Achievement Certificate for exporting scrap metals to Taiwan using Gold Key Service (GKS) from U.S. Commercial Services.

GKS provides U.S. companies with matchmaking appointments with up to five interested partners in a foreign market and includes identification and outreach to potential matching firms and preparing a profile of interested firms.  

The Export Achievement Certificate recognizes small and medium-sized companies that have entered the international marketplace for the first time or that have entered a new market.

MGK International worked with the U.S. Commercial Service to develop partnerships with market leaders in Taiwan that resulted in more than $1.8 million in export sales. These export transactions supported 22 American jobs, according to the ITA.

Patel told the ITA, “We are proud of our work with the U.S. Commercial Service to open up our business to Taiwan. This tremendous achievement is a testament to the rapid strides we have made to enter this market.”

MGK International is part of the MTC (Mehta Trading Co.) Group based in Mumbai, India, which trades in scrap metal and operates processing facilities throughout India to separate, process, pack and sell scrap metal.

Patel says he has been able to develop more than $15 million in trade for recyclables that include ferrous and nonferrous metals and plastics since 2015 using GKS.

Prior to this achievement, Patel was nominated previously for shipping about 500 metric tons of cathode ray tube (CRT) glass, including the leaded funnel glass and the lead-free panel glass, to South Korea for recycling from 2017 to 2018. The glass represents roughly 10 percent of the MGK’s overall shipments to the country, with the majority being ferrous and nonferrous metals.

Patel says MGK specializes in trading ferrous and shredded aluminum scrap. The material, supplied by more than 120 vendors located in New England, the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Gulf Coast, Pacific Northwest and Midwest United States, is shipped to China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and Ecuador as well as to parts of Europe.