Austrian-made shredder prepares e-scrap plastic for recycling markets.

Recycling equipment and technology provider Andritz, based in Austria, has provided an ADuro G-1600S granulator to Umweltschutz Höpperger, an e-scrap recycling firm that processes its own plastic scrap for recycling based in Pfaffenhofen, Austria.

Andritz says the new ADuro G-1600S granulator is replacing an existing machine from another supplier. and is equipped with additional wear protection.

Thomas Höpperger, general manager of Höpperger Umweltschutzm, says, “This investment helps us to reduce production downtimes significantly. Thus, we are saving valuable work time. In addition, we benefit from efficient maintenance work and higher productivity.”

Andritz describes the company group Höpperger as a family-owned enterprise that “focuses on ecological and feasible recycling solutions.” Höpperger processes material at facilities in Pfaffenhofen and Rietz , Austria, handling about 100,000 tons of various types of scrap items per year.

United Kingdom government gives green light to lead-acid battery recycling plant.

The Recyclus Group Ltd. business unit of United Kingdom-based Technology Minerals Plc says it has received approved battery treatment operator (ABTO) status from the U.K.’s Environmental Agency for its proposed lead-acid battery recycling site in Tipton, England. “The approval means that Recyclus can immediately commence manual recycling operations at its lead-acid facility,” the firms says. 

Under ABTO status, Recyclus is authorized to produce up to 15,000 metric tons per year of lead, and can store up to 300 metric tons of inbound scrap battery inventory at any one time on site. “The new authorization marks the beginning of phase one of the recycling operations, which will move to a fully automated recycling process in phase two later this year following receipt of the variation of license,” according to Recyclus.

The proposed Recyclus system processes the entire battery into separate constituent parts, designed to ensure recovery of lead, acid and plastic materials. The “hard” lead can be used in grids and terminals, the “soft” lead for battery paste, and the sulphuric acid into fertilizers.

“We are delighted to have our ABTO status confirmed by the Environmental Agency, so we can kick-start recycling operations, close deals in the pipeline, and start generating revenues from this site,” says Robin Brundle, chair of Technology Minerals. “Once fully operational, the Tipton plant positions us to become one of the leading accredited battery recyclers internationally.”

Brundle continues, “The lead-acid battery recycling industry is currently a major polluter, with over 18,000 metric tons of spent batteries incinerated or sent to landfill each year in the U.K. alone. It is vital that companies look to strip back ‘greenwashing’ and promote homegrown waste management solutions if the U.K. is to achieve its COP26 net zero targets.”

Regarding Recyclus’ plans, Brundle says, “Our operations will help to divert waste from landfill, enabling key resources to be kept in use for longer, minimizing waste and reducing the environmental impacts of spent batteries. These efforts underscore our commitment to developing a truly circular economy for battery metals that will help propel the green transition and meet the net zero 2050 targets. We look forward to reporting on our progress in the coming weeks and months.”

The effort to boost plastic recycling is necessary to retain the material’s considerable value to the world.

When it comes to plastics, the world doesn't have a moment to waste. Plastics are everywhere and poised to dominate the 21st century as one of the yet-unchecked drivers of climate change.

Chemical engineers spent much of the 1960s devising cheap ways to splice different hydrocarbon molecules from petroleum into strands that could be molded into anything from beverage bottles to Barbie dolls. My company, Greenback Recycling Technology, uses thermochemical reactions to break plastics down into new products such as virgin plastic, monomers, fuel, energy and other commodities.

Until recently, plastics enjoyed relative anonymity in ubiquity: we were so thoroughly surrounded that we hardly noticed it.

Unfortunately, of the 8.3 billion metric tons of discarded plastic produced since the 1950s, only 9 per cent is estimated to have been recycled; another 12 per cent may have been incinerated. Too much of the rest has gone into landfills or, worse, into the natural environment.

Humankind has produced unfathomable quantities of plastic for decades. Until we decided, suddenly, it’s a terrible thing. To travel back even to 2015 is to enter a world where almost all the things we currently know about plastic are already known, but people aren’t very angry about it. Some people identified it as a problem, but very little was done about it.

While many argue there is too much plastic, and it either takes too long to decompose or does not decompose, others suggest it is less harmful to the environment than many alternative forms of packaging. Some even go as far as claiming plastic is not that harmful to the environment – and anyone who rejects plastic without thinking and opts for alternatives will often cause even more severe damage to the environment.

Plastics can be extremely lightweight and robust. Consequently, less energy is used during the transportation of packaged products. In addition, less energy and water are required to manufacture plastic packaging.

What recommendation can you give to people who want to make the world a little bit better in daily life? A straightforward one: regulate your use of plastic.

Try not to touch anything made of plastic for a whole day. There’s a good chance you slept on a mattress with plastic in it last night; were woken up by an alarm clock on your smartphone (made of plastic); showered – surrounded by plastic; brushed your teeth with a plastic toothbrush; grabbed a coffee in a plastic cup; and walked to work in your plastic-coated waterproof raincoat. A plastic-free life is virtually impossible.

Imagining how our lives would change if we suddenly lost access to plastic can help us figure out how to forge a new, more sustainable relationship with it.

Correcting our plastic waste problem requires a fundamental change in how plastics are made, used and discarded.

While plastics are ubiquitous, reducing plastic pollution requires actions from all stakeholders to encourage more sustainable use of plastics. Like so many other aspects of our relationship with plastics, this failure is often framed in terms of individual shortcomings: plastics producers, or the geopolitics that have made plastics so widespread, are rarely called out.

People’s decisions and actions are causing plastic pollution. Understanding perceptions and behavior holds the key to reducing plastic pollution.

If we are going to improve the quality of our environment, it is essential to get everybody involved. We must support communities with the latest tools, knowledge, and evidence to change behaviors and tackle plastic pollution locally.

We must ensure everybody re-evaluates the things they buy and consume - to step away from single-use items and choose more reusable, repairable and sustainable alternatives. Small steps will contribute to creating cleaner communities and marine environments.

The way we talk about and frame problems in the media matters too. For years, there has been a practice of drawing attention to the scale of the problem to raise awareness and concern in the hope this will change people’s behavior. But the behavioral sciences are littered with lingering questions and examples that this approach can do more harm than good by normalizing undesirable behaviors.

Open-mindedness involves being receptive to a wide variety of ideas, arguments, and information. It is necessary to think critically and rationally.

Advanced recycling is a sustainably oriented process that harnesses the power of science and technology to transform used plastics into new products that can be recycled again and again.

Here at Greenback Technologies, we contribute to a sustainable future by solving the environmental impacts of plastic packaging and turn waste into profit. This innovative solution will help create a more circular economy for plastics and a cleaner environment for future generations by turning today's hard-to-recycle plastics into reusable resources.

Our advanced recycling capabilities put us at the heart of the plastics value chain. We’re close to the manufacturers making plastic products that consumers use daily. We can identify potential partners in business and government, strengthen new and existing relationships, and work together to develop solutions to the complex problems we all face. And we believe the scalability of advanced recycling makes it one of the most exciting solutions.

The goal of advanced recycling is to help society recycle a more significant share of the products we use daily – instead of throwing them away. By making advanced recycling a scalable solution that can be replicated globally, we can increase the amount of plastic material that can be made into new products and reduce overall plastic waste.

As a plastic recycling and certification company, we created the eco2Veritas Circularity Platform, an agnostic system that can be implemented across any recycling process, including chemical recycling, to create a circular economy. The platform enables the consumer-packaged goods sector to be supplied with quality certified post-consumer recyclate. The recyclate is tracked from the landfill, through a pyrolysis processing plant, to where it ends up as quality feedstock for new plastic products. The auditing of the recyclate is digital, carried out in real-time and stored on a private, secure blockchain.

We have also partnered with Enval, another United Kingdom-based company. That firm has created a state-of-the-art microwave pyrolysis plant that converts flexible plastic into a valuable commodity, namely Py-oil, which is converted into naphtha – a non-fossil feedstock. Naphtha can be used to create plastic feedstock that is suitable for manufacturing plastic packaging for consumer packaged goods companies and, more critically, for food applications.

We also provide the provenance of the recyclate, certifying it so all claims to its origin can be substantiated. Other vital traits are that Enval plants can be installed at landfill sites where the waste is distributed and agile enough to scale and generate their own power.

As the need for certified recycled post-consumer material increases and becomes a valuable commodity, our innovative approach to generating recyclate for the consumer packaged goods industry offers a meaningful solution to creating new plastic products while limiting environmental harm.

For decades, the industry has created the illusion that its problems are well under control, all while intensifying production and promotion. At the same time, we cannot live in a world that is anti-plastic. It’s much more complicated than that.

We all need to avoid difficult-to-recycle plastics, even lament their widespread geographical use, but also accept that plastics can have a useful purpose and trust that advanced recycling can help negate its complex toxicity and alter the course of its legacy.

(More information on Greenback Recycling Technologies can be found on this web page.) 

Hyundai distributor NED acquires former L&N Supply Co. of Dallas, Georgia.

National Equipment Dealers LLC (NED) says it has finalized its acquisition of L&N Supply Co., a family-owned heavy equipment distributor located near Atlanta in Dallas, Georgia.

NED says L&N Supply “earned a strong reputation for servicing customers throughout Georgia over the past 32 plus years.”

L&N was established in 1990 by Jimmie Brian Long and grew to represent several equipment manufacturers, some of which are also represented by NED, including Manitou, Mustang, Werk Brau and Connect Work Tools.

“L&N was the right partner for NED for many reasons, including their company heritage and values,” NED Vice President Will Blackerby says. “They have been in business for over 32 years. You don’t stay in business that long unless you are doing something right, and ultimately that boils down to taking care of your customers.”

The former L&N Supply site will become NED’s 15th location across a five-state footprint. Brian’s son Zach Long will continue to work with NED as general manager for the Atlanta market.

“L&N Supply flourished over the years because we remained committed to important principles like safety, integrity, quality, and value for our customers. We look forward to continuing this commitment

NED has locations in Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida and represents brands of construction equipment, industrial equipment and attachments including Hyundai Construction Equipment and Bell Trucks and, in some regions, Manitou, Mustang, Gehl, Screen Machine, Yanmar, Dynapac, Sakai, Kinshoffer, Denis Cimaf, Werk Brau, Pemberton, Tana, Humdinger Equipment, Fuchs, Lamtrac, Builtrite Attachments, Rockland Attachments, Barko, Prinoth, CMI and K-Tec.

“At NED, our sustainable growth as a company is dependent on strategic alliances with companies and people that are like-minded with similar ethics and principles to ours,” says Jesse Beasley, chief operating officer at NED. “L&N Supply Co. and [its] people fit the NED mold and will add tremendous value to our growing company.”

Steel producers join Nucor in seeing smaller profit margins in the current financial quarter.

Two steelmakers Thursday provided earnings guidance letting investors know their profits in the third quarter will be reduced from those of the previous quarter. Pittsburgh-based United States Steel Corp. and Indiana-based Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) have joined fellow steel producer Nucor Corp., which made a similar announcement Wednesday.

SDI says it expects third-quarter 2022 earnings in the range of $4.93 to $4.97 per diluted share. That compares with earnings per diluted share of $6.44 in this year’s second quarter. SDI cites the impact of costs associated with the startup of the company’s Sinton, Texas, for part of the profit reduction.

“Third-quarter 2022 profitability from the company’s steel operations is expected to be historically strong, but significantly lower than second quarter 2022 results, due to lower earnings from the company’s flat-rolled steel operations, as lower average flat rolled steel pricing is expected to more than offset lower raw material costs and higher shipments,” SDI adds.

On the recycling front, SDI (which owns processing firm OmniSource) says, “As ferrous and nonferrous scrap prices have declined, third-quarter 2022 earnings from the company’s metals recycling operations are expected to be below sequential second-quarter results, based on lower realized pricing and volume.”

U.S. Steel says it expects third-quarter 2022 adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of approximately $825 million, which equates to net earnings per diluted share in the range of $1.90 to $1.95.

That compares with what the firm called “record second quarter adjusted EBITDA” of $1.62 billion in the prior quarter, meaning the $825 million figure would result in a 49 percent earnings decrease. The record second quarter EBITDA number resulted in a net earnings per diluted share figure of $3.42.

U.S. Steel says in its minimill segment, which includes Big River Steel in Arkansas, “adjusted EBITDA is expected to be significantly lower than the second quarter’s strong performance. Weaker demand and significantly reduced average selling prices from the segment’s exposure to spot selling prices are expected to negatively impact the segment’s EBITDA performance. In addition, high-cost raw materials procured at the onset of the war in Ukraine began to impact margins in the third quarter and are expected to impact results through year-end.”

The company also anticipates lower EBITDA in its flat-rolled segment, which includes most of its blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace assets. “Accelerating market headwinds in the third quarter negatively impacted demand across most end-markets, which is expected to result in lower shipment volumes,” the company says.

U.S. Steel President and CEO David B. Burritt says, “We expect to deliver a solid third quarter, even as the business continues to respond to the market headwinds that have accelerated over the quarter. We have quickly adjusted our integrated steelmaking operating footprint to better match our order book.”