At Scrap Expo, experts at Sierra International Machinery discuss the importance of proper maintenance of shears, balers and loggers.

For John Sacco, president and co-owner of Bakersfield, California-based Sierra International Machinery, and Ricardo Diaz, lead technician at Sierra, maintaining shears, balers and loggers is exactly like maintaining a Ferrari.

During Scrap Expo, which took place Sept. 13-14 in Louisville, Kentucky, Sacco and Diaz discussed how operators should maintain balers, loggers, shears and two-ram balers and why it's vital to operations in sessions titled Logger/Baler and Shear/Baler/Logger Maintenance and Two-Ram Baler Maintenance.

“The price of a Ferrari is the same price as [shears], two-ram balers and conveyors,” Sacco said during the session. “If you won’t keep your Ferrari [in poor condition], why would you keep a piece of equipment you’re going to spend more money on like that?”

Diaz said that the cost of repairs varies depending on the size of the repair and the time it takes to ship parts. It could range between $500 and $80,000, and a broken logger/baler or shear/baler/logger could cause up to three weeks of downtime.

To ensure these machines stay in shape, Sacco and Diaz advised performing basic preventive maintenance on them daily, weekly, monthly and annually. Some basic preventive maintenance tasks that operators need to have on their checklists include:

Ensuring basic preventive maintenance tasks are preformed is the responsibility of a scrap yard’s management team, Sacco said.

In addition, Diaz suggested that operators inspect these balers, loggers and shears while they are running to get a full view of how they move. He said to look at areas including circuit boxes, doors and pumps. He stressed that even if a smaller part on these machines break, that small break can snowball into something worse if left unchecked.

Preventive maintenance also means being prepared to replace something if it breaks. Sacco said that operators should have at least one replacement part for parts of machines that see the most wear. For shear blades, he advised having two replacements on hand because the time it takes to ship shear blades has increased since the start of the pandemic.

Proper employee training and testing could also be the difference between clean and damaged equipment. Sacco said companies should perform drug tests on their equipment operators, stressing that they should never allow someone under the influence to operate machinery to ensure the safety of both the employees and the equipment.

Equipment storage and the layout of the scrap yard also play an important role in equipment longevity. Sacco and Diaz said balers, loggers and shears should never be parked next to scrap piles or drums since that would pose a fire risk.

Additionally, Sacco and Diaz said the environment a machine is stored in determines how it should be maintained. For example, they said machines on concrete surfaces may not get dirty as quickly as those that are placed on the ground.

Diaz said operators also should check gauges that come with their machines. He advised against operators removing these gauges from the machines since those are helpful for making diagnostic tests.

Sacco and Diaz added that operators need to be willing to invest in their equipment, noting that it’s better to spend a little bit of money on their equipment now rather than a lot of money on repairs later.

The goal of the fund is to support unique recycling challenges in small and rural communities across the U.S.

The Recycling Partnership has launched the Small Town Access Fund, a funding stream to support recycling programs in U.S. towns with populations of less than 50,000.   

According to a news release from The Partnership, the impact of seed funding is estimated to bring new or improved access and education to nearly 45,000 households in nine states, which will deliver more than 6 million pounds of new recyclables into the system and out of landfills annually.   

The Partnership’s Paying It Forward report states four in 10 single-family residents lack equitable recycling access, equating to more than 40 million people who do not have the same access to recycling service as they have to their trash service. Small and rural communities often face unique challenges when implementing and maintaining robust recycling programs.   

Common issues include lack of dedicated recycling staff, geographic challenges, including long distances from homes to materials recovery facilities (MRFs) and financial limitations due to lower population density and the higher perhousehold collections costs that can be associated with smaller programs. Additionally, many small communities without curbside recycling systems rely on drop-off locations for recycling, presenting a different set of education and maintenance issues than curbside access programs.   

“We are thrilled to have a dedicated granting stream to assist smaller and rural communities in their efforts to provide residents with quality recycling access and education,” says Rob Taylor, senior director of grants and community development. “We all have a role to play in the circular economy, and supporting efficient, resilient recycling programs in these communities will make it easier for residents to recycle, support local jobs and create a valuable supply of recyclable materials to be transformed into new products.”   

The Partnership says supporting households in communities of all sizes leads to a significant impact, an individual household generates an average of 767 pounds of recyclable material annually, and there are more than 18,000 incorporated municipalities in the U.S. with populations under 50,000. The Small Town Access Fund can help alleviate the specific challenges these communities face, like higher perhousehold collection costs and higher percart costs from purchasing equipment in smaller quantities.    

The Small Town Access Fund was launched with a founding donation from L’Oréal USA, in partnership with GlobalGiving. It had additional support from its Maybelline New York brand and Arconic Foundation. In its first year, the fund is launching 14 projects in nine states, including Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin. The Partnership says several other states are in the pipeline for 2023 and beyond.   

When funding is combined with additional grants or when recycling efforts in small communities are aligned with those in nearby towns, the resulting resources and scale can transform the recycling system regionally and potentially statewide. The Partnership says it leveraged multiple cart grants in New Jersey, one of which was part of the Small Town Access Fund, along with a Partnership material coalition grant for expanded processing capacity. The goal was to capture about 7 million new pounds of recyclables annually and ensure that programs in the region accept and process common recyclable materials. In addition to material gains, recycling also delivers economic benefits to communities and residents. According to the EPA, 1.17 jobs are created for every ton of material recycled and more than 600,000 people are directly employed by recycling in the U.S. today.   

The Recycling Partnership says the Small Town Access Fund is a crucial component of its long-term strategic objectives to transform the U.S. recycling system and activate a circular economy. To learn more about supporting the Fund or other Partnership initiatives, click here.   

The funding will be awarded to participants of the Fall into Recycling Educational workshop in October.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) has announced the NextCycle Michigan Showcase at the Michigan Recycling Coalition’s (MRC) Fall into Recycling educational workshop, Oct. 6-7.  

An initiative of EGLE, NextCycle Michigan has prepared 24 presenting teams for implementation and funding. There, the teams will demonstrate to judges, public-sector decision-makers and private-sector investors the potential of their innovative ideas in four pitch categories. These categories include:  

turning the wheel of innovations.   

EGLE Director Liesl Clark will present more than $50,000 in award funding from NextCycle sponsors to further support team initiatives, accelerate the circular economy and advance climate health in Michigan.  

NextCycle Michigan says it is an accelerator to foster partnerships and develop investment-ready project plans to keep waste out of landfills and build demand for recovered materials by manufacturers in Michigan. It has brought new business to the economy while centering solutions that are equitable and positive for the environment.  

“We are very excited about the return of the NextCycle Showcase at the MRC Fall Into Recycling Event,” says Matt Flechter, EGLE Recycling market development specialist. “With the help of mentors and one-on-one consulting from recycling, business and industry experts, the teams are ready to share their business plans and projects. We are thrilled at the growth the teams have made and look forward to the partnerships that will emerge from this Showcase.”  

Teams have been preparing for this event for five months and are eager to showcase what they have achieved. Project biographies of the 24 NextCycle teams can be found on the Showcase’s webpage. For more information on the NextCycle Michigan Showcase and MRC Fall Into Recycling programming, or to purchase tickets, click here.  

Once complete, the facility will recycle about 160,000 metric tons of hard-to-recycle polyester waste annually.

German-based Interzero and Eastman, Kingsport, Tennessee, have announced a long-term supply agreement for Eastman's previously announced molecular recycling facility in Normandy, France. Interzero will provide up to 20,000 metric tons of hard-to-recycle polyethylene terephthalate (PET) household packaging waste annually.  

According to a news release from Eastman, the company says its planned molecular recycling facility in France will become the world's largest material-to-material molecular recycling plant. Once complete, the facility will recycle about 160,000 metric tons of hard-to-recycle polyester waste annually. The project is expected to be operational in 2025.  

"Joining forces by combining the leading know-how of Eastman and Interzero is the next step in closing the loop with our partners and a step closer toward a world without waste," says Jacco de Haas, chief commercial officer at Interzero Plastics Recycling. "The world is facing a plastic waste crisis with far too little plastic waste being recycled, either from lack of collection or because it simply cannot be recycled by traditional methods. Eastman's innovative process and this agreement bring a solution to this."  

Eastman says chemical recycling is a necessary complement to mechanical recycling to keep more raw materials in the loop. Both companies are committed to creating material circularity. The facility in France will process colored and opaque PET waste that can't be recycled mechanically to create clear and transparent rPET upon completion.   

"Interzero and Eastman are committed to reducing plastic waste and creating circularity through collaboration and innovation," says Brad Lich, Eastman executive vice president and chief commercial officer. "This agreement marks an important milestone toward Eastman's investment in France. We are happy to build a strong collaboration in Europe with Interzero to provide a portion of the feedstock needed to successfully operate our facility. The collaboration reinforces the complementary nature of mechanical and molecular recycling and the importance of working together to create true circularity."  

Eastman says its polyester renewal technology provides circularity for hard-to-recycle plastic waste that remains in a linear economy today. This material is typically incinerated because it either cannot be mechanically recycled or must be downcycled using existing technology. Eastman's chemical recycling technology allows this hard-to-recycle waste to be broken down into its molecular building blocks and then reassembled to become first-quality material without any compromise in performance.   

The company says its polyester renewal technology enables the potentially infinite value of materials by keeping them in production, lifecycle after lifecycle. With the technology's inherent efficiencies and the renewable energy sources available in France, materials can be produced with significantly less greenhouse gas emissions than traditional methods. 

The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority has required Veolia to sell three of its businesses following an in-depth investigation into the merger of Veolia and Suez.

Paris-based Veolia has announced that Paris-based Suez has exercised its right of first refusal in respects to Vigie’s UK waste business and that the companies have reached a unilateral put option agreement under which Suez will acquire 100 percent of the share capital of Suez Recycling and Recovery UK Group Holdings Ltd. for 2 billion pounds.

Vigie UK is the name given by Veolia to assets that it bought from Suez and is now selling back to the company.

Veolia and Suez had announced plans to merge nearly two years ago; however, the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigated the merger given that Veolia and Suez were two of the largest suppliers of waste management services in the United Kingdom. In late August, the CMA had required Veolia to sell three of its businesses as a result of its in-depth investigation into the merger. According to the CMA, Veolia has been required to sell the following parts of its merged businesses:

CMA says these three businesses make up the majority of the overlap between Veolia’s and Suez’s competing operations in the U.K.

Veolia says the transaction of Vigie UK to Suez is subject to the CMA’s approval.

According to a news release from Veolia, the exercise of its first refusal right by Suez follows Veolia’s announcement of its agreement to sell the Vigie UK business to Australia-based Macquarie Group, regrouping Suez waste activities in the U.K. That agreement, which was announced Aug. 8, enabled the company to address CMA’s concerns.

“The progress of the merger with Suez, which began last January, continues to demonstrate the relevance and value-creation capacity of our project to create the global champion of ecological transformation in the context of a strong climate and ecological emergency. The cash proceeds from the antitrust divestments will allow us to reduce the debt leverage and will provide Veolia with additional capacity to finance growth in high value-added markets,” says Estelle Brachlianoff, chief executive officer of Veolia. “We are satisfied that this disposal addresses the main concerns of the U.K. competition authority. The U.K. will remain an important region for Veolia where we will continue to implement sustainable and competitive ecological transformation solutions as a leading player in the local waste management market with revenues of 2 billion euros.”