Backhaul Alaska’s success in 2021 has been recognized by the Responsible Battery Coalition, which provides support for the program.

The Responsible Battery Coalition (RBC), headquartered in Milwaukee, has recognized Backhaul Alaska’s successful 2021 program, which retrieved and recycled approximately 100,000 pounds of spent lead-acid batteries from more than three dozen remote Alaskan communities.  

The Backhaul Alaska program, administered by the Solid Waste Alaska Taskforce (SWAT), includes the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Kawerak and Anchorage-based nonprofit Zender Environmental Health, which manages the program.  

“RBC is proud to partner with Backhaul Alaska in making progress towards creating a more circular economy for vehicle batteries, and by doing so helping to protect human health and the environment in these remote communities,” says Steve Christensen, executive director of RBC. “Only through extensive coordination and cooperation among volunteers and stakeholders across Alaska are we able to help keep batteries out of the environment and recycled in an accountable, traceable system.” 

RBC supports the Backhaul Alaska program by providing packing, shipping and training supplies; supporting battery transportation by barge; and providing recycling services, all at no cost to Backhaul Alaska. In 2021, RBC also paid $20,558 back to the Backhaul program for the spent battery cores, which are 99 percent recyclable and contain valuable materials, RBC says. This funding will be used to help support new volunteer training sessions, purchase equipment and reduce operational costs. 

“RBC has been one of our strongest partners since joining with us in 2018,” says Lynn Zender, executive director of Zender Environmental. “Their financial and logistical support helps us apply limited resources where they are needed most and is a key part of our plans to expand the program from 40 remote communities in 2022 to approximately 180 communities in 2030.” 

Lead-acid batteries are a vital energy source in Alaska, providing critical power for snow machines, ATVs, boats, tractors and other heavy equipment, as well as for automobiles and trucks, RBC says. RBC’s support of Backhaul Alaska is part of its nationwide battery recovery campaign, the 2 Million Battery Challenge.  

The European company has named Javier Molina as its executive chair and Asier Zarraonandia as its CEO.

Luxembourg-based Befesa S.A., a provider of byproducts handling and recycling services to producers of steel and aluminum, has appointed Javier Molina, currently chief executive officer of Befesa, to serve as the company’s executive chair. Asier Zarraonandia, currently vice president of Befesa’s Steel Dust Recycling Business, will take over for Molina as Befesa’s CEO. Additionally, Romeo Kreinberg, currently chair of Befesa’s board of directors, has been appointed lead independent director at Befesa and remains chair of the company’s Nomination and Remuneration Committee.

Befesa reports that these personnel changes are effective immediately.

In his new position, Molina will be the most senior executive in the group and the company’s main representative for regulators, authorities and shareholders. He will lead the implementation of Befesa’s corporate strategy, covering growth projects and the company’s Sustainable Global Growth Plan (SGGP) as well as its sustainability strategy, including C02 reduction plans and environmental, social and governance (ESG), the company says in a news release on the personnel changes.

In his new position as CEO, Zarraonandia, who developed and managed the company’s Steel Dust Recycling Business that represents about 80 percent of Befesa’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, will report to Molina. He will be responsible for the day-to-day management across Befesa’s business units and for all operations, including production, supply chain and commercial business. He also will be responsible to lead various growth projects in the business. In addition, Wolf Lehmann, currently chief financial officer at Befesa, will maintain his role and responsibilities and report to Molina.

Befesa says its renewed board of directors will lead the company over the next four years, including two new board members Natalia Latoree and José Dominguez Abascal. Both have experience in energy transition, ESG and technology development. The board includes six independent directors and three executive directors.

Additionally, Befesa’s board has established a Sustainability Committee to help strengthen the company’s commitment to sustainability. It will review the company’s sustainability plans on a quarterly basis.

Befesa reports that it also is finalizing its five-year SGGP, and as part of this plan, the company aims to invest about 500 million euros in growth projects to seize opportunities that decarbonization and the increasing electric vehicle (EV) market are generating in the steel and aluminum industries. Befesa says it hopes this will enable the company to “target double-digit growth rates over the next five years.”

According to Befesa, the global steel industry is going through major transformations to decarbonize operations and meet carbon reduction targets for 2030 and 2050. Secondary electric arc furnace (EAF) steel production consumes about seven times less CO2 compared with basic oxygen furnace production. As a result, Befesa says steelmakers are investing in EAF steel production globally, which is expanding Befesa’s customer base for its environmental services. The company says trends in the aluminum industry toward decarbonization and the increase in EV production has fueled demand for secondary aluminum and salt slags recycling in Europe.

“I am very excited about this new chapter for Befesa,” Molina says. “Asier has been managing Befesa’s main business for the past 15 years very successfully and is my natural successor. Despite the current uncertainty in the global economy, we have a solid business plan based on strong fundamentals. We believe that decarbonization and the rise of electric vehicles will remain medium and long-term growth drivers and we are in a privileged position to be able to seize these opportunities in the markets that we know best.

He continues, “Our new Sustainable Global Growth Plan targets around 500 million euros in investments globally, balanced across new markets such as China and more mature markets such as Europe and North America. This will enable Befesa to continue its accelerated expansion, targeting double-digit growth over the next five years.”

The new model is the largest in the Sweed PCR series and features fewer, yet more effective knives, the company says.

Gold Hill, Oregon-based Sweed has introduced a new single-shaft shredder, the model PCR1856, to its line of recycling equipment.  

The new shredder is the largest in the Sweed PCR series—not to be confused with the MS series—and features a 125-horsepower motor, 18-inch rotor diameter, 56-inch rotor length and a 50-inch-by-57-inch cutting chamber. It can function as either a primary or secondary processor in high-volume applications.

The PCR1856 features a more extensive knife profile, which delivers a bigger bite into the scrap and enables larger material to be pulled into the machine quicker and more efficiently, according to the manufacturer. The larger knives make this unit suitable for processing a wide range of bulky scrap, especially wire and cable. The PCR1856 also features fewer knives than its predecessor—54 versus 76—but double the cutting capacity. Fewer knives allow for quicker knife changes and lower maintenance costs, the company says. 

Additionally, the Sweed PCR1856 includes a hydraulic ram to keep material engaged with the rotor to optimize throughput. The unit can stand alone or be married into any existing chopping line. Its speed and ram parameters can be adjusted to optimize a system when tied into a downstream processor. 

The company’s Alma smelter in Quebec will increase low-carbon aluminum billet production by 202,000 metric tons.

Rio Tinto, a metals and mining company headquartered in London, says it is investing $188 million (CA$240 million) to increase production capacity for low-carbon emissions, aluminum billets at its Alma smelter in Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec, by 202,000 metric tons. The investment does not include additional smelting capacity but instead focuses on transforming more of the metal already produced at the plant’s pot rooms into value-added products, the company adds. 

The aluminum billets will be made from primary aluminum and contain no recycled content, says Malika Cherry, a Rio Tinto media relations advisor. She adds, “Rio Tinto’s aluminum in Québec is 100 percent produced with hydropower,” making it one of the world’s lowest-carbon aluminum products.

The existing casting center at Rio Tinto's Alma plant will be expanded to add new equipment, including a casting pit and furnaces, the company says. Construction will begin in May 2023, after completing detailed engineering and preliminary work, and commissioning is expected in the first quarter of 2025.

Global demand for aluminum extrusion products is expected to grow at an average rate of roughly 3 percent per year over the next 10 years, driven by the energy transition and decarbonization, the company says, citing data from London-based Cru.

The investment will strengthen the supply chain in North America and allow Rio Tinto to be more agile and flexible to respond to growing demand from North American manufacturers for a variety of high-value-added products, primarily in the automotive and construction industries. The aluminum billets can be used to make various products, including bumpers and roof rails for cars as well as doors and window frames.

The investment is expected to generate nearly $160 million (CA$200 million) in economic benefits for Quebec and to create nearly 40 new permanent jobs and help to support the 770 existing jobs at the Alma plant, Rio Tinto says.

Sébastien Ross, managing director of Rio Tinto Aluminum's Atlantic operations, says, “This expansion of our low-carbon aluminum billet production capacity in Quebec will allow us to better meet our customer’s growing demand for high-quality alloys and value-added products made with renewable hydroelectricity. This new capacity will help to strengthen the position of our Alma smelter, and we are proud to work with our employees, clients, Quebec equipment manufacturers and partners to bring this much-anticipated project to fruition.”

Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne says, “Along with significant economic benefits, Rio Tinto's investment will see more jobs and more growth in our country while cementing Canada’s position as a global leader in the low carbon economy.”

Quebec Minister of Economy and Innovation and Regional Economic Development Pierre Fitzgibbon adds, “In Quebec, we produce the greenest aluminum in the world. Modernization projects such as this one will enable us to maintain our leadership position in this area and contribute to the growth of this strategic sector. We have always said that the environment can and must serve the economy. The Rio Tinto project is a perfect example."

Company’s announced battery materials plant in Ontario initially will focus on cathode and mined materials.

Belgium-based Umicore has announced its plan to construct a manufacturing facility in Ontario to produce cathode active battery materials (CAM) and their precursor materials (pCAM) for the North American electric vehicle (EV) market.

Umicore says its investment “represents the final step in establishing a truly global production presence with battery material value chains that are regionally fully integrated to support its customers in their fast transformation towards sustainable electric mobility.”

The company, which has a sizable recycled materials smelting and metals production business unit, says the Ontario project also will entail exploring opportunities “for metals refining and battery recycling in North America to offer its customers in the region secure and circular access to critical battery materials and—in line with its earlier announced ambition to establish a regional presence in North America—across the CAM value chain.”

“Indeed, we will also explore refining and battery recycling opportunities to establish our closed-loop business model in the region and to operate as locally as possible to achieve a truly sustainable battery supply chain,” Umicore media relations officer Caroline Jacobs tells Recycling Today. “This closed loop business model increases supply security and would help avoid having to ship materials from other parts of the world.”

The planned facility would be the first of its kind in North America, Umicore says, by “combining cathode and precursor materials manufacturing at a large industrial scale and thereby completing the missing link in Canada’s battery value chain, from natural resources to electric mobility.”

The company says it is negotiating with several potential customers for production contracts in North America.

In terms of political support, Umicore and the government of Canada have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to finalize a support application of the project under Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund, the Belgian company says.

That MoU follows a recently signed agreement with Loyalist Township, Ontario, for Umicore to secure a 350-acre plot of land there. The location, “in the center of Canada’s automotive ecosystem,” according to Umicore, “offers critical advantages such as access to a highly skilled workforce, key infrastructure and renewable energy, which the new plant will be running on 100 percent from start of production.”

Umicore wants to start construction in 2023 and begin operations by the end of 2025. It foresees the potential to reach an annual production capacity able of powering approximately 1 million EVs by the end of the decade.

“Canada and the province of Ontario have all it takes for Umicore to establish a full-fledged, sustainable supply chain for battery materials, all the way from the mine right to the end-market of electric vehicles,” says Mathias Miedreich, CEO of Umicore. “Once the key customer contracts are in place, this expansion in North America would complete our global rollout of regional supply chains for our automotive and battery cell customers to, now, three continents.”

Justin Trudeau, prime minister of Canada, comments, “Today’s announcement is about creating jobs, cutting pollution, and building a stronger, cleaner economy for Canadians.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford remarks, “Ontario has everything it needs, up and down our homegrown supply chain, to remain and strengthen its position as a North American auto manufacturing powerhouse. Umicore plans to bring this part of the EV supply chain to Ontario, which will continue to transform our auto sector and create good jobs.”