Recycling Product News September 2020, Volume 28, Number 6

RECYCLING PRODUCT NEWS

GROWING VOLUMES, GROWING THE BUSINESS PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40069270

NEW SHREDDER AND NON-FERROUS SYSTEM KEY TO KEEPING UP WITH INCREASING VOLUMES FOR DMS METALS PAGE 18

WORLD’S LARGEST MATERIAL HANDLER PAGE 22 A ROBOTIC FUTURE FOR RECYCLING PAGE 28 September 2020

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CONTENTS SEPTEMBER 2020 | Volume 28, Number 6

FEATURES 18 COVER STORY GROWING VOLUMES, GROWING THE BUSINESS

New shredder and non-ferrous system added by DMS Metals to keep up with increasing volumes

22 WORLD’S LARGEST MATERIAL HANDLER FOR SCRAP

SENNEBOGEN’S “gentle giant” finds a home in Turkey

28 A ROBOTIC FUTURE FOR RECYCLING

18

cover story

Machinex engineer Matthew Smith provides insight on how MRFs can make the most out of robotics

36 SCRAP FIBRE PRICES FARE BETTER THAN MANY COMMODITIES DURING COVID-19

Volatility in the recovered paper sector will continue going forward

40 RECYCLING CARTONS IN CANADA IS POSITIVELY SIGNIFICANT

First Canadian mill in two decades to process recycled cartons could spark a trend, according to Carton Council of Canada’s Isabelle Faucher

46 LAST WORD EPR: CAPITALIZING ON UNFINISHED BUSINESS

By Jodi Tomchyshyn London and Lisa Grotkowski

42 On the cover: the newly installed WENDT shredder at DMS Metals in Stouffville, Ontario.

FOLLOW US @recyclingpn

September 2020 www.recyclingproductnews.com

5

CONTENTS

RECYCLING PRODUCT NEWS

SEPTEMBER 2020 VOLUME 28, NUMBER 6

EDITOR Keith Barker kbarker@baumpub.com; 604-291-9900 ext. 305 ASSOCIATE EDITOR Lee Toop ltoop@baumpub.com; 604-291-9900 ext. 315 EDITOR IN CHIEF Kaitlyn Till ktill@baumpub.com; 604-291-9900 ext. 330 DIGITAL EDITOR Slone Fox sfox@baumpub.com; 604-291-9900 ext. 335 ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Sam Esmaili sam@baumpub.com; 604-291-9900 ext.110 ACCOUNT MANAGER David Gilmour dgilmour@baumpub.com; 604-291-9900 ext. 105 MARKETING & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Arnie Gess agess@baumpub.com; 604-291-9900 ext. 115 ADVERTISING PRODUCTION MANAGER Tina Anderson production@baumpub.com; 604-291-9900 ext. 222 DESIGN & PRODUCTION Morena Zanotto morena@baumpub.com; 604-291-9900 ext. 325 CIRCULATION baumpublications@circlink.ca; 1-855-329-1909 PRESIDENT / PUBLISHER Ken Singer ksinger@baumpub.com

22

VICE PRESIDENT / CONTROLLER Melvin Date-Chong mdatechong@baumpub.com FOUNDER Engelbert J. Baum

DEPARTMENTS 10 UPFRONT 14 SPOTLIGHT 18 COVER STORY

28

22 SCRAP METAL 26 E-WASTE

28

TECH FOCUS: OPTICAL AND ROBOTIC SORTING

36 PAPER RECYCLING 42

TIRE RECYCLING

43 SAFETY CORNER

36 6 Recycling Product News September 2020

44 WEB HIGHLIGHTS

46

LAST WORD

Published by Baum Publications Ltd. 124-2323 Boundary Road Vancouver, BC, Canada V5M 4V8 www.baumpub.com Phone: 604-291-9900 • Toll Free:1-888-286-3630 Fax: 604-291-1906 Recycling Product News is published eight times yearly: January/ February, March, April, May/June, July/August, September, October, November/December. Advertising closes at the beginning of the issue month.

One year subscription rates for others: Canada $33.50 + 1.68 GST = $35.18; U.S.A. $40; other countries $63.50. Single copies $6.00 + 0.30 GST = $6.30; outside Canada $7.00. All prices are in ­Canadian funds.

Recycling Product News accepts no responsibility or liability for reported claims made by manufacturers and/or distributors for products or services; the views and opinions e­ xpressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Baum Publications Ltd. Copyright 2020, Baum Publications Ltd. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without permission of the publishers.

Printed in Canada, on recycled paper, by Mitchell Press Ltd. ISSN 17157013. PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40069270.

Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Circulation Dept., 124-2323 Boundary Rd., Vancouver, B.C. V5M 4V8; e-mail: baumpublications@ circlink.ca; 1-855-329-1909 or fax: 1-855-272-0972.

Experience Matters We’ve been selling MRF equipment for 36 years. As the world has changed, and the material streams with it, we’ve seen what works in MRF solutions.

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Van Dyk Recycling Solutions 203.967.1100 | vdrs.com | info@vdrs.com

FROM THE EDITOR

Preparing for what lies ahead requires collaboration, clear guidelines and government support

C

“

DEVELOPING A STRATEGIC PATH FORWARD FOR AUTO RECYCLERS AND ELECTRIC VEHICLES WILL HELP MAINTAIN OUR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE AND THOSE OF OUR MEMBERS.

STEVE FLETCHER

urrently, the challenges facing the recycling and waste industry are especially daunting. We have a global pandemic, combined with political and economic uncertainty seemingly everywhere. And let’s not forget about the loss since 2018 of China as a reliable, major global end market for recovered waste materials.This issue has not disappeared. In the country’s latest “batch” of import quotas for recycled materials (the eleventh update of 2020 was released at the end of August) scrap steel is no longer accepted at all for import into China. For imported scrap paper, copper and aluminum, volumes allowed to enter the country decreased by an average of about 80 percent each since early July. Recovered paper volumes allowed has decreased from more than 1 million mt to less than 200,000 mt, copper scrap dropped from approximately 175,000 mt to 14,530 mt, and aluminum scrap dropped from over 200,000 mt in early July to about 2,600 mt as of August.

But it is tiresome dwelling on the negatives. Positive developments, advances in technology, methodology and policy also abound.

Work currently being done by the Automotive Recyclers of Canada (ARC) is a good example. The Ontario-based association has been hard at work over the summer, in collaboration with the Automotive Recyclers of America (ARA), developing training initiatives and establishing guidelines for dismantling electric vehicles (EVs) and, specifically, best practices for the transport, storage and reuse of EV batteries.

Notably, the Government of Canada has set ambitious federal targets for zero-emis-

sion vehicles reaching 10 percent of lightduty vehicles sales per year by 2025 and 100 percent by 2040.

“For recyclers, the need to understand EVs and being able to properly dismantle and recycle them is an ongoing concern,” says ARC executive director, Steve Fletcher. He says EVs have essentially shifted the pivot point for the entire automotive circular economy, and at this stage, it is hard to determine what it will mean long-term.

“As governments, auto manufacturers, suppliers, NGOs, etc. work on electrifying the fleet, the end-of-life decisions for those vehicles are thought to be far-off issues that can be solved in the future,” says Fletcher.

“As our sector buys total loss vehicles from insurers, as well as traditional older end-oflife-vehicles, our members are processing these EVs and hybrid vehicles today.”

In order for this momentum to succeed, however, he says it will require government support and funding, as well as a great deal of collaboration between not only the businesses that have staked their claims in this space, but also the nations that see advanced battery technology as a viable solution for future transportation requirements.

ARC is scheduled to publish a white paper based on their research this fall that will focus on the areas of electric vehicle battery recycling and the variety of reuse opportunities in the industry, with the goal of providing best practices and tips for the removal and recycling of EV batteries when they reach their end-of-life stage.

“Change is coming and while it might be more gradual than some analysts and batteryelectric vehicle enthusiasts initially predicted, we are going to need to be prepared for it.”

“

Keith Barker, Editor kbarker@baumpub.com 888-286-3630; 604-291-9900 ext. 305

CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF RECYCLING INDUSTRIES

8 Recycling Product News September 2020

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UPFRONT //

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FINANCIALS

MAJOR WASTE AND RECYCLING FIRMS EXPRESS CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM DESPITE CHALLENGING Q2

Four of the North American waste and recycling industry’s major integrated service providers, WM, GFL, Waste Connections and Republic Services, have reported financial results for the second quarter, the first full quarter to accurately reflect the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to reports and statements released the first week of August, while revenue is down overall and net losses increased for most, there has also been an overarching theme of resiliency in operations, increased volumes and positive cash flow within the waste and recycling industry over the last few months. Nota-

bly, in the Canadian sustainable packaging sector, Quebec-based Cascades also indicated similar results.

According to Ontario-based GFL founder and CEO Patrick Dovigi, “We are very pleased with our strong results for the quarter. Despite the impacts of COVID-19 on parts of the North American economy, we were able to grow revenue in the quarter by 19.5 percent and adjusted EBITDA by 23.4 percent, compared to the second quarter of 2019, resulting in our highest ever reported revenue. Our results for the quarter re-inforce the resiliency of our business model and our success in

executing our margin enhancing strategic initiatives. Our skilled team of managers and operators exceeded our expectations in responding to the slowdown resulting from the pandemic.”

PLASTICS

ALBERTA ALLIANCE ON PLASTICS AIMING FOR CIRCULAR ECONOMY TRANSFORMATION The new Plastics Alliance of Alberta, a collaboration between government, industry and academia, is meant to help transform and innovate Alberta’s plastics sector by creating a plastics circular economy within the province. The Plastics Alliance of Alberta was created to ensure that Alberta’s plastics sector creates plastics that can be reused and recycled, generates no waste or emissions,

and restores ecosystems harmed by the manufacturing of hard-to-recycle or single-use products. In turn, this will help create a plastics circular economy within the province. The alliance will be chaired

by NAIT Industry Solutions and co-chaired by the Recycling Council of Alberta.

“This alliance brings together government, industry, associations and academia to explore areas that sup-

port a circular economy in Alberta and ensures sustainable development for future generations. By fully appreciating each step along the plastics value chain, we have the opportunity to identify actions that will develop an investment climate where economic and social benefits far outweigh any costs,” says Deborah Pietrusik, chair of the Plastic Alliance of Alberta.

NEWS BRIEFS TOMRA North America names Andy Hollyer president and CEO Andy Hollyer has been named the new president and CEO of TOMRA North America, Inc. and named SVP and Head of TOMRA Collection Solutions Americas. “Along with our partners and customers throughout the Americas, TOMRA plays an integral role in fostering Clean Loop recycling with advanced collection and resource recovery technology,” said Hollyer. “I look forward to the growth of our North and South Americas businesses.”

10 Recycling Product News September 2020

Frontline Machinery is new distributor for Cedarapids in B.C. Frontline Machinery is now the B.C. dealer for Terex Cedarapids portable and modular product range of crushing and screening plants used in recycling, demolition and construction applications. Daryl Todd, president, Frontline Machinery, remarked, “This new range increases the ability to better service our customers who are looking for portable and modular highercapacity crushing and screening systems.”

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HAULING & COLLECTION

REPUBLIC SERVICES ORDERS 2,500 ELECTRIC, ZERO-EMISSION WASTE TRUCKS FROM NIKOLA

Republic Services has ordered at least 2,500 electrified refuse trucks from Nikola Corporation, which specializes in heavyduty, zero-emission Class 8 trucks. This order, expandable up to 5,000 units, is to begin full-production deliveries in 2023 with on-road testing likely to begin in early 2022. The refuse trucks are anticipated to carry up to 720kWh of energy storage, and will include both automated side loaders and front-end loaders.

“The Nikola Tre powertrain is ideal for the refuse market as it shares and uses the same batteries, controls, inverters and e-axle,” said Nikola founder Trevor Milton. “Republic Services will help us ensure the Nikola Tre meets customer and fleet life cycle demands and we are excited to have them participate in the design process.”

DESIGN FOR RECYCLING

APPLE AIMING FOR 100 PERCENT CARBON NEUTRALITY OF PRODUCTS AND SUPPLY CHAIN BY 2030 Apple has launched a plan to become carbon neutral across its entire business, manufacturing supply chain, and product life cycle by 2030. The company is already carbon neutral for its global corporate operations, and with this new commitment, it means that every Apple device sold will have net-zero climate impact, by 2030. Apple is also providing

detail on its approach to carbon neutrality with a roadmap for other companies as many look to reduce their impact on climate change. In its 2020 Environmental Progress Report, Apple detailed plans to reduce emissions by 75 percent by 2030, while developing innovative carbon removal solutions for the remaining 25 percent of its comprehensive footprint.

GFL acquires WCA Waste, continues to expand U.S. footprint Toronto-based GFL Environmental has agreed to purchase WCA Waste Corporation and its subsidiaries for US$1.212 billion. WCA operates a vertically integrated network of solid waste assets, including 37 collection and hauling operations, 27 transfer stations, 3 material recovery facilities and 22 landfills supported by over 1,000 collection vehicles across 11 U.S. states. Following completion of the acquisition of WCA, GFL will operate in nine provinces and 27 states.

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

UPDATED SCRAP COMMODITY SPECS TO STANDARDIZE LANGUAGE

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) has launched a new initiative to update their Scrap Specifications in order to better meet the needs of rapidly changing global markets for recycled commodities.

“Given the huge challenges and opportunities facing the global recycling industry today, there has never been a greater need for a common language for promoting the buying and selling of recycled materials,” said Randy Goodman, chair of ISRI’s specifications working group. “ISRI is the leading organization to meet those growing needs and we’re excited about how this initiative will help facilitate the sustainable trading and use of commoditygrade recyclables, which in turn generates tremendous economic and environmental benefits.”

The goals of the specifications initiative include: modernizing and promoting uniform language across the recycled commodity specifications; ensuring the relevance of existing specifications and identifying the need for new specifications; expanding their acceptance and use by market participants and governments alike; and transforming the ISRI Scrap Specifications Circular publication into a searchable, customizable digital resource with significantly improved interactive features and guidance.

September 2020 www.recyclingproductnews.com

11

UPFRONT BATTERIES

TERRAPURE AND EAST PENN CANADA AWARDED FOR INNOVATIVE LEAD BATTERY RECYCLING TECHNOLOGY

Terrapure Environmental and East Penn Canada have received an Environment + Energy Leader Award for Project of the Year, for their closed-loop, circulareconomy approach to lead battery recycling.

East Penn Canada collects spent batteries from its customers and ships them to Terrapure to break the batteries down to their base components for recycling. Terrapure processes and refines the lead to East Penn’s specifications, and it is then returned to East Penn’s battery manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania for use in new batteries.

“This approach is a real win-win,” said Ross Atkinson, senior vice president of Battery Recycling at Terrapure. “It provides East Penn a closed-loop recycling process for their batteries, ensuring a beneficial reuse of a valuable commodity, while also helping preserve a finite natural resource. We’re proud to be recognized for our batteryrecycling efforts.”

SCIENTISTS USE FRUIT PEELS TO GIVE OLD BATTERIES NEW LIFE

Scientists led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, have developed a novel method of using fruit peel waste to extract and reuse precious metals from spent lithium-ion batteries in order to create new batteries.

The team demonstrated their concept using orange peel, which recovered precious metals from battery waste efficiently. They then made functional batteries from these recovered metals, creating minimal waste in the process.

The scientists say that their wasteto-resource approach tackles both food waste and electronics waste, supporting the development of a circular economy with zero waste, in which resources are kept in use for as long as possible. An estimated 1.3 billion tonnes of food waste and 50 million tonnes of e-waste are generated globally each year.

PLASTICS

PILOT PROGRAM TO IMPROVE TRACEABILITY OF RECYCLED PLASTICS IN CANADA BASF, CSSA, Layfield, London Drugs, Merlin Plastics, NOVA Chemicals, Recycle BC, Return-It, Save-On-Foods and V.I.P. Soap have joined forces in the movement to reduce plastic waste. Supported by reciChain, these companies aim to strengthen the circular supply chain, extend the life cycle of plastics, incentivize recycling, reduce waste and enhance resource efficiency in Canada.

ReciChain combines the power of SMX’s blockchain solution with their physical marker that enables the secured sharing of transactional data while improving the sorting, tracing and monitoring of plastics throughout the value chain.

Implementing these technologies, value chain actors would conceivably be able to generate tokens or plastics credits, which would in turn increase in value as plastics go through additional loops. These credits could then be used to incentivize producers to design for recyclability, thus enhancing circular economy.

“We are grateful to count on broad stakeholder representation throughout the whole life cycle of plastics including polymerization and recycling,” said Marcelo Lu, president, BASF Canada.

12 Recycling Product News September 2020

“With their support, along with the disruptive technology from Security Matters, our pilot will allow us to move from concepts and policy dialogue to tangible solutions in making advances in plastic circularity possible in Canada.”

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PLASTICS

FACILITY NEWS

U.S. PLASTICS PACT AIMS TO MEET CIRCULAR ECONOMY GOALS BY 2025

EGGERSMANN-BUILT RECYCLING PLANT IN DUBAI PROCESSES MORE THAN 1,000 TONS PER DAY

Henkel, ISRI, SWANA and The Association of Plastic Recyclers have all joined the U.S. Plastics Pact, a collaborative initiative rooted in four ambitious goals intended to drive change by unifying diverse cross-sector approaches, setting a national strategy, and creating scalable solutions to create a path forward toward a circular economy for plastics in the U.S. by 2025.

The first North American Pact of its kind, the U.S. Pact is a collaboration led by The Recycling Partnership, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and Ellen MacArthur Foundation. The U.S. Pact will convene more than 70 brands, retailers, NGOs, and government agencies across the plastics value chain to bring one voice to U.S. packaging.

Eggersmann Anlagenbau has engineered, planned and constructed a recycling plant for industrial, commercial and household waste in Dubai. The original contract for future cooperation between the clients Ramky Enviro Engineers Middle East and Eggersmann Anlagenbau was signed in December 2017. The plant is operated

by Farz, a joint venture between Ramky and Imdaad.

The waste recycling plant in Dubai was designed for a throughput of around 700 tonnes of commercial waste and 500 tonnes of household waste per day. The day to day industrial and commercial waste from the world’s largest offshore industrial park, Jafza Jebel Ali Free Zone, is processed there in three stages. The opening ceremony of the Farz plant took place on February 3, 2020.

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SPOTLIGHT //

For all the latest equipment, systems and technology introductions and updates, visit recyclingproductnews.com or subscribe to our weekly eNewsletter at recyclingproductnews.com/newsletter-info

ERIEZ UPDATES ECCENTRIC EDDY CURRENT SEPARATORS The RevX-E, the newest eccentric eddy current separator from Eriez gives customers high performance in a more maintenance-friendly package.

Eriez’ RevX-E Eddy Current Separators feature an eccentrically mounted magnetic rotor within a non-conductive shell for separation of non-ferrous metals.

The rare earth rotor produces a powerful field focused at the end of the belt.

The RevX-E’s updated design takes up less floor space and incorporates a cantilevered frame which enables maintenance staff to change the belt in less than 10 minutes. A new hood with adjustable splitter allows operators to handle non-ferrous materials in varying sizes and ensures optimum separation.

Large access panels all around the

machine make entry for maintenance hassle-free.

The RevX-E is available in two models: ST22 and LT2. Both models are manufactured on the same eddy current separator framework. The only difference between the ST22 and LT2 is the magnet configuration on the rotor assemblies.

ST22 features a 22-pole rare earth eccentric rotor and is designed to handle fine materials that are less than 1 inch.

This rotor option offers a high pole change frequency for removal of fine nonferrous metals from shredded plastics / PET flake.

LT2 features an eight-pole rare earth eccentric rotor and is designed to handle 1 inch and larger coarse materials. This rotor option offers a deep, high-powered

MAGNET GRAPPLE

eddy current field that allows for the removal of larger non-ferrous metals such as crushed aluminum cans from a PET bottle stream.

IROCK OFFERS ELECTRIC AND DIESEL PORTABLE IMPACT CRUSHERS

IROCK Crushers can now supply the demolition and recycling industries with a diesel or all-electric IROCK RDS-20 Portable Horizontal Shaft Impact (HSI) Crusher.

This closed-circuit portable plant produces up to three sellable finished products with capability to return oversize from both screen decks, rather than one. IROCK’s highperformance four-bar impactor and heavy-duty components produce a consistent, uniform cubical product. It can process recycled concrete, asphalt, rock, gravel and slag at a rate of up to 500 tph. The RDS-20 is available in electric (300 hp, 1,200 rpm) or C13 CAT Diesel.

CALL TODAY 705-487-5020 www.batemanmanufacturing.com

14 Recycling Product News September 2020

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METRO COMPACTOR SERVICE JOINS MARS MOMENTUM PROGRAM

Metro Compactor Service has been selected as one of 53 companies joining the MaRS Momentum Program designed to support high-growth science and technology companies in Canada on their path to becoming global powerhouses.

Specifically, the program supports firms with the potential to reach $100 million yearly revenue in the next five years.

MaRS Momentum is funded by FedDev Ontario, and works closely with senior executives to provide strategic support in attracting top talent, expanding into global markets, and raising capital. The companies taking part in the program are

GENESIS ATTACHMENTS DEMOLITION TOOL

The GDT 590 is the largest Razer demolition tool in Genesis’ lineup.

Featuring a lighter-weight design, it is optimized to fit on standard and most highreach excavators weighing up to 120,000 pounds. It has a 52-inch jaw opening, 46.5inch jaw depth and over 12-foot reach.

The upper jaw passes through its lower jaw which has an open relief area that allows material to easily pass through and prevents jamming. It features a short, flat-top head with bolt-on bracket that simplifies installation and switching the Razer between excavators; it also has customizable quantities and locations of crushing teeth, and interchangeable and front-to-back reversible bolt-on teeth.

expected to add nearly 9,000 high-paying Canadian jobs over the next five years and grow their combined yearly revenue to over $7 billion.

“Our pioneering IoT technology, iSMART, is a game changer for the waste industry. We’re bringing transparency into the industry like never before, and

we’re providing all of this information to our clients so that they can optimize their systems, make them more efficient and sustainable, and keep raising the bar in what is possible. We’re looking to the next 5, 10 and 20+ years, not just the next few years,” said Danny Mauti, CEO of Metro Compactor Service.

CLEAR THE WAY.

VERMEER HG6800 TX HORIZONTAL GRINDERS ARE BUILT TOUGH TO TACKLE LARGE LAND-CLEARING, RIGHT-OF-WAY AND COMPOSTING PROJECTS. Low sidewalls and an infeed design aid in feeding whole trees and large stumps into a useable end product with minimal operator interaction. Remote-controlled and track-driven, HG6800 TX horizontal grinders provide convenient jobsite mobility while the patented duplex drum features reversible hammers and tips that ease maintenance and help extend wear life. Add the optional Damage Defense system to detect metal vibration in the infeed to help prevent machine damage.

RETHINK WOOD WASTE AT

VERMEER.COM/HG6800TX

Vermeer Corporation reserves the right to make changes in engineering, design and specifications; add improvements; or discontinue manufacturing at any time without notice or obligation.

Equipment shown is for illustrative purposes only and may display optional accessories or components specific to their global region. Please contact your local Vermeer dealer for more information on machine specifications. Vermeer and the Vermeer logo are trademarks of Vermeer Manufacturing Company in the U.S. and/or other countries. © 2020 Vermeer Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

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September 2020 www.recyclingproductnews.com

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SPOTLIGHT UPGRADED STEELMASTER RELIABLY REMOVES COPPER MEATBALLS FROM FERROUS STREAMS

Ideal for operators of shredder plants, the upgraded STEINERT SteelMaster can now reliably free ferrous streams of copper meatballs, increasing the purity of their iron scrap. By deploying a combination of ballistic and magnetic effects, the new SteelMaster is an efficient addition for reducing the amount of manual work needed, according to the Germany-based manufacturer.

According to Steinert, the SteelMaster redesign is based on customer feedback and better adapts the machine to the tough conditions experienced in shredder plants. For example, the mechanics of the belt section have been changed to improve material flow and separation properties, simplify maintenance and reduce the copper content in the iron to < 0.2 percent.

Common grain sizes produced by the upgraded SteelMaster are 20 – 400 mm, with high sorting efficiency and throughput of 75 tph per metre, depending on material composition.

ANDRITZ LAUNCHES ADURO LINE OF RECYCLING SHREDDERS

Andritz has released its new ADuro product line of recycling shredders for primary and secondary shredding, fine granulation and breaking up material composites.

According to Andritz, ADuro shredders feature highest durability and are perfectly suited to processing almost all raw materials in the recycling industry. They can be installed easily in existing facilities, thus keeping shutdown times during installation to a minimum.

The latest member of the ADuro product family is a compact secondary shredder with an extra robust design. With a rotor length of 3,200 mm and some unique design features, the machine is a powerful tool for shredding refuse-derived fuels and municipal solid waste as well as commercial or industrial waste.

16 Recycling Product News September 2020

TECHNOLOGY SUITE FROM RUBICON HELPS CITY GOVERNMENTS RUN MORE SUSTAINABLE WASTE AND RECYCLING OPERATIONS

Rubicon has released RUBICONSmartCity on the Geotab Marketplace, a comprehensive source for organizations seeking to better manage their fleets.

Designed to improve service and reduce costs, RUBICONSmartCity equips municipal partners with a full-service software system for managing municipal waste and recycling collection in residential and commercial settings. According to Rubicon, the data and insights collected by RUBICONSmartCity deliver direct taxpayer savings for cities.

Michael Allegretti, chief strategy officer at Rubicon commented, “By offering RUBICONSmartCity on the Geotab Marketplace, our goal is to help current and prospective customers streamline their waste and recycling operations to accomplish sustainability goals, especially now, as so many cities are operating remotely and seeking immediate solutions for remote fleet management.”

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BROHN TECH EPS DENSIFIER AWARDED INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR

The Styro-Hybrid EPS densifier from Brohn Tech was recently awarded a 2019 Innovator of the Year Award by the National Waste & Recycling Association. These machines are designed specifically to densify used EPS (expanded polystyrene) for disposal or recycling and can be taken anywhere.

According to Brohn Tech owner and founder, Brien Ohnemus, “The system requires no electricity, making it the ideal solution for curbside or collection point compaction of the foam. These machines convert a 4-foot by 5-foot, 2-inch-thick foam board into a block the size of a brick.”

trailer-mounted configurations; they are 67 inches in length, 24 inches deep, and 59 inches high and weigh 700 pounds.

Material input capacity is 16 inches by 38 inches. Output density is 35 pounds per cubic foot at a rate of 75 pounds per hour.

The 2020 Styro-Hybrid EPS densifier is powered by a Honda GX commercial drive motor, and uses dual helical stage-one shredders and hyper head secondary compression technology.

Units are available in stationary or

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September 2020 www.recyclingproductnews.com

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COVER STORY

DMS Metalsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; new WENDT M6090 modular shredder and non-ferrous processing system.

GROWING VOLUMES, GROWING THE BUSINESS NEW SHREDDER AND NON-FERROUS SYSTEM ADDED BY DMS METALS TO KEEP UP WITH INCREASING VOLUMES

BY KEITH BARKER, EDITOR

E

stablished in 1974, DMS Metals is a second-generation family-run business currently under the leadership of Andrew and Paul Gallo. Located 30 minutes north of Toronto in Stouffville, Ontario, DMS Metals prides their business on providing exceptional service and delivering a full range of metal recycling solutions throughout Canada and the United States. Over the last few years, DMS has experienced an increase in volumes, which drove the need for another processing solution in addition to their shears and balers.

This past March, DMS Metals (established in 1974 as Don Mills Steel and Metals Ltd.) installed their first automobile shredder, a WENDT M6090 modular plant, along with a new non-ferrous processing system. President Andrew Gallo says it provides the company with additional versatility and independence while aiding in their overall growth strategy.

“As our business started to grow and our volumes increased we were having trouble placing all of our tons competitively at the local shredders, so we felt a need to become more self-sufficient,” explains Gallo. “Also, given that we are at the doorstep of a growing city such as Toronto we are starting to see an increase in the amount of consumable [shreddable] scrap that we receive, which made the idea of a shredder even more attractive.”

Processing primarily cars, light sheet iron and aluminum products, he says their new shredder has already benefitted the company by allowing them to be more versatile and competitive on both the buying and selling sides of the business. Additionally, since commissioning the shredding plant and non-ferrous system, DMS Metals has added 10 people to their team.

The WENDT M6090 automobile shredder uses a Bowe Disc Rotor and 2,500-hp motor, and is equipped with an infeed conveyor and dual magstand with electromagnetic drums. The plant’s modular design also features a pre-fabricated motor enclosure and platform, September 2020 www.recyclingproductnews.com

19

COVER STORY

remote, pre-wired e-house, control pulpit, pre-fabricated fluid power house, and structural steel frame that allows the shredder to be installed on a flat concrete pad.

“The WENDT M6090 was right-sized for our operation and provides us the versatility to process many different grades of material and at much higher volumes,” says Gallo, adding that their purchase this year also included a non-ferrous recovery system using eddy current separators to recover aluminum (Zorba).

This is a part of the business they plan to continue to expand on.

“A shredding plant without a non-ferrous system is like a car with no wheels,” comments Gallo. “It is a good start, but it won’t get you very far. The non-ferrous system heavily contributes to the profitability of our overall process.

“A shredder is a unique piece of machinery,” he continues.

“When purchasing equipment of this magnitude, you are diving into a long-term partnership with the company that you purchase it from. WENDT’s service department is available 24-7 and is always extremely helpful and professional. It reflects their attentiveness to customer service and reaffirms the confidence we’ve placed in partnering with WENDT.” With respect to technical support, Gallo says there have been numerous occasions where WENDT accessed their machine remotely to help troubleshoot minor issues confronted. “We also find that the mill design allows for easy access which makes it easier to flip and switch hammers, particularly because of the pin puller mechanism,” he says.

“WENDT’s M6090 Shredder is a state-of-the-art machine that has exceeded all of our expectations. We have met all of our production targets so far and are looking forward to learning more about the machine and further developing production efficiencies.” RPN

20 Recycling Product News September 2020

From left: Andrew, Nick and Paul Gallo, owners of DMS Metals near Toronto.

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SCRAP METAL

WORLD’S LARGEST MATERIAL HANDLER FOR SCRAP SENNEBOGEN’S “GENTLE GIANT” FINDS A HOME IN THE PORT OF ISKENDERUN, TURKEY

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he world’s largest purposebuilt conventional material handler, the 460-ton SENNEBOGEN 895 E-Series Hybrid, was originally unveiled at bauma 2019 in Germany. This massive machine was commissioned in October for the Tosyali Holdings fleet, at the Mediterranean port of Iskenderun, Turkey, in one of the country’s largest metal-producing regions.

Since then, the 895 has been moving massive amounts of scrap metal –

22 Recycling Product News September 2020

around the clock, every day. Electrically powered, the machine never needs to take a break for refuelling, according to SENNEBOGEN, and as one observer noted, walking near the 895 conjures “images of Jurassic Park,” where tiny humans tread lightly past peacefully grazing brontosauruses.

PRODUCTIVITY ON A GIANT SCALE

Everything about this machine is big and record-breaking. A convoy of 16 trucks transported the machine to

Turkey. SENNEBOGEN’s Turkish distributor, Forsen Machinery, required just a few days to assemble its gantrystyle crawler platform, configure the setup for Tosyali, and test run the 670-hp (500 kW) drive.

Fitted with a 13-yard orange peel grapple, this material handler can reach out to 130 feet (40 m) to grab 12 tons (10,900 kg) of scrap on every bite from the holds of panamax and post-panamax ships. Its operators move quickly, perched in the highly responsive and accurate elevating

Skylift cab as much as 72 feet (22 m) above ground level.

This elevated cab offers an excellent viewpoint for operators, ideal for loading and unloading bulk goods deep inside ships’ hulls. Plus, cameras mounted behind and on the right-hand side of the cab provide the operator with the 360-degree view of the entire work zone, allowing safer and faster cycle and travel times.

A third camera located on the business end of the stick, near the grapple, is available, providing direct view inside holds, hoppers and other conveyor equipment.

In addition, the hydraulics of the 895 E allow for surprisingly quick cycle times.

“We handle 10,000,000 tons a year in this port alone,” says Harun Karaarslan, Tosyali’s Technical Port Director at Iskenderun.

“Our machines are in constant use. We rely on our fleet to be producing constantly – downtime would be fatal.”

The 895 material handler at Port of Iskenderun does not work alone. Tosyali’s facility operates a total of seven material handlers, including two 600,000-pound (270,000 kg) SENNEBOGEN 880 EQ balance cranes.

Both the 880s also run on electric drive.

Having experience with these machines, says Karaarslan, was a big part of Tosyali’s confidence in moving up to the 895.

The operator’s viewpoint from the 895E’s elevated cab is ideal for loading and unloading bulk goods deep inside ships’ hulls.

ELECTRIFYING EFFICIENCY AND ENERGY RECAPTURE

“Our experience with SENNEBOGEN machines has shown us that using electric material handlers does not mean compromising on flexibility or speed – quite the opposite,” says Karaarslan.

“Despite their size, the machines cover a large work area, moving quickly up and down the pier. By not using diesel, we also save a lot of money every year.”

He notes further savings and maintenance costs, with longer service intervals and less wear on service parts than conventional diesel material handlers.

One would also expect a significant energy cost simply to move the 895’s huge lifting boom and stick – itself a 53-ton steel structure. But here again, the efficiency of the 895 is impressive according to SENNEBOGEN. Key to this efficiency is the distinctive Green Hybrid energy re-capture system engineered into the 895’s boom hydraulics. A pair of large hydraulic cylinders are mounted to either side of the main lifting cylinders. On each downstroke of the boom, the Green Hybrid cylinders hydraulically compress the gas in the storage modules at the rear of the upper carriage. On the next lift cycle, the compressed gas is released to give the lift cylinders a power assist, effectively

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23

SCRAP METAL offsetting the boom’s own weight, much as a compressed spring generates energy when it’s released.

As a result, SENNEBOGEN says the 895 E re-capture system saves up to 55 percent of the energy for every lift, all day long. At the port of Iskenderun, Turkey, that is a lot of lifts.

COMING TO AMERICA

Jason Jones, SENNEBOGEN’s new sales manager for the Americas, appointed earlier this year, is excited about the prospect of the 895 E for his customers in North and South America, and says the port side of the business is definitely a growing area for SENNEBOGEN. The installation in Turkey is also the first 895 E working at a port handling scrap metal, and he says it is doing very well so far in this challenging environment.

“It replaced an 880 EQ [equilibrium] machine there and they have seen a significant increase in production and efficiency, so it’s been a really good application for the 895 E,” comments Jones. He says as the biggest material handler in the world, the 895 E offers considerably more lifting capacity than conventional material handlers, as well as faster cycle times.

Plus, these machines provide consistent uptime due to their design which is built around SENNEBOGEN’s concept of providing machines that are easy to operate and maintain.

He adds, “On the material handler side, with what we now

24 Recycling Product News September 2020

have, these machines are a real competitive advantage against larger cable cranes or equilibrium cranes, because they offer much more flexibility and versatility, and a much simpler design compared to an EQ style crane.”

Worldwide, there are now three 895 E material handlers in service, two in Turkey and one in Europe, with the first one in North America scheduled for delivery in early 2021.

U.S.-imposed aluminum tariffs are the last thing needed RECYCLED ALUMINUM NEEDS TO BE KEPT OUT OF ANY COUNTER-TARIFFS IMPOSED AS A REACTION TO LATEST U.S. TRADE POLICY

BY KEITH BARKER, EDITOR

O

n August 6, U.S. President Trump signed a proclamation reinstating a 10 percent tariff on non-alloyed, unwrought aluminum from Canada, which began on August 16, 2020.

According to the U.S. government, certain types of aluminum entering the U.S. are depressing the industry there, including an 87 percent surge in imports of primary aluminum from Canada since May 2019.

Trump’s government stated that the tariff will remain in effect “unless such actions [import volumes that harm U.S. national security] are expressly reduced, modified or terminated.”

Of relevance to the recycling industry specifically is the fact that while the proposed U.S. tariffs are focused on primary metal and do not include scrap aluminum, it is included in the Canadian government’s proposed list of materials to be considered in dollar-fordollar counter measures, and for the first time ever.

According to the Canadian Association of Recycling Industries (CARI) President Tracy Shaw, the inclusion of recycled aluminum on the Canadian list of materials to be included in any counter-tariffs is of great concern to the Canadian recycling industry.

“This is obviously of concern for us, and our members are concerned,” she says. “Scrap is a very important link in the North American manufacturing supply chain. Especially now, we want to make sure that supply chains are kept moving and frankly we need manufac-

turers to get back to capacity, to get back to ramping up production and running smoothly. And consumers need the material, especially metals.

“The timing is really unfortunate, because our manufacturing and recycling industries in North America are like one industry,” she continues. “We’re heavily integrated, and we have materials moving across the border several times throughout a given processing and production cycle.”

She says the metals industry is still trying to make up for diminished supplies resulting from the COVID-19 shutdown this past spring, and emphasizes that Canada does not want to open the door to the implementation of U.S. tariffs on aluminum scrap, as a reaction to Canada’s reactionary counter measures.

“Once that door is open, we would rather not see the U.S. then put tariffs on scrap aluminum, because all it does is hurt our industry. It hurts our manufacturers, and it would increase costs

across the board at a time when that’s just not viable.”

“I think we need to just keep pushing forward the idea that we are basically one industry, one North American industry, for which the free flow of material is essential. CARI is going to do everything we can to let our government know that we feel that scrap needs to be excluded from any counter measure tariffs.”

Shaw concludes, “We have always supported and believed in free and fair trade, and that the free flow of scrap across our borders is mutually beneficial for the U.S. and Canada. They are our biggest trading partner, definitely in terms of aluminum scrap, but we are one of theirs as well. So, it is of great concern to our members who have already seen second quarter exports of aluminum scrap this year down significantly because of the COVID-19 shutdown.

“We’re at a point where what we’re trying to do is get back to a state of normalcy. This is really the last thing our members need.” RPN September 2020 www.recyclingproductnews.com

25

E-WASTE

Canada-wide initiative launched to improve e-waste reuse and recycling CREATE SEED INITIATIVE LAUNCHED BY POLYTECHNIQUE MONTRÉAL

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olytechnique Montréal has launched the Canada-wide Collaborative Research and Training Experience in Sustainable Electronics and Eco-Design (CREATE SEED) initiative, which will bring together some 20 Canadian and international universities and industrial partners to improve the way e-waste is reused and recycled, and promote eco-design.

Incessant demand for electronic equipment produces huge amounts of waste, and in 2016 alone, global e-waste volumes amounted to 44.7 megatonnes – including 724 kilotonnes from Canada. Although e-waste contains substances that are hazardous to human health and the environment, it also contains precious metals. As an example, one tonne of mobile phones contains about 100 times more gold than a tonne of gold ore. The CREATE SEED initiative intends to optimize the way valuable materials are gathered from e-waste, while at the same time rethinking how the electronics supply chain functions.

CHANGING THE E-WASTE PARADIGM

Professor Clara Santato, (Department of Engineering Physics) is an expert in organic electronics at Polytechnique Montréal, and is leading the CREATE SEED project. Her team and partners have been awarded $1.65 million over the next six years for this initiative, granted by the federal government’s Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) CREATE program.

The project will bring together 50 researchers, students and partners, and includes both training and research

26 Recycling Product News September 2020

objectives. The first objective seeks to change conceptual thinking paradigms about electronics, break down information silos and eliminate blind spots – particularly in the field of ecotoxicology, and in terms of raising awareness about the universal nature of the e-waste problem.

The CREATE SEED program intends to innovate in this manner by establishing a radically different approach to training the next generation of engineers, designers and analysts, to transform their vision of e-waste, thereby alleviating electronics’ environmental footprint.

In terms of research, CREATE SEED will rethink electronic product design, using the best of conventional inorganic electronics and emerging organic technologies, combined with the development of manufacturing processes that minimize e-waste’s environmental footprint. An example of their innovative plans include smartphones

made from biodegradable, upgradable components (e.g. organic transistors, organic light-emitting diodes) that also use organic materials (e.g. melanins, tannins, lignin, green chemistry materials) to curb e-waste production and its associated pollution.

The initiative comprises 20 researchers from Polytechnique Montréal, Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), McGill University, the University of Toronto, the University of Waterloo, and the University of British Columbia. It is also supported by the National Research Council of Canada, École de technologie supérieure (ETS), HEC Montréal, the Printability and Graphic Communications Institute, the Université de Montréal, the Université de Sherbrooke, New York City University’s Queen’s College, the University of Nigeria – Nsukka and United Nations University.

UN Global E-waste Monitor 2020 predicts electronic waste volume to reach 74 million tonnes by 2030

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ccording to the UN Global E-waste Monitor 2020 report released this summer, worldwide generation of e-waste is up over 20 percent since 2015 and is set to double in a decade. The report finds a record 53.6 million metric tonnes of electronic waste was generated worldwide in 2019, up 21 percent in only five years, and predicts global e-waste (defined as discarded products with a battery or plug) will reach 74 million tonnes by 2030, amounting to close to a doubling of e-waste volumes in 16 years. This makes e-waste the world’s fastest-growing domestic waste stream, fuelled mainly by higher consumption rates of electric and electronic equipment, short life cycles, and few options for repair.

UN’s Global E-waste Monitor 2020 also found that only 17.4 percent of e-waste generated in 2019 was collected and recycled. This means that gold, silver, copper, platinum and other high-value, recoverable materials, conservatively valued at US$57 billion – a sum greater than the Gross Domestic Product of most countries – were mostly landfilled or burned, rather than being collected for reuse and recovery.

Also according to the report, regionally, Asia generated the greatest volume of e-waste in 2019 (approximately 24.9 Mt) followed by the Americas (13.1 Mt) and Europe (12 Mt), while Africa and Oceania generated 2.9 Mt and 0.7 Mt respectively.

The UN’s Global E-waste Monitor 2020 is a collaborative product of the Global E-waste Statistics Partnership (GESP) formed by UN University (UNU), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), in close collaboration with a range of partners.

International E-Waste Day is October 14 International E-Waste Day has been developed by the WEEE Forum, an international association of e-waste collection schemes, and its members. The day is meant to promote the correct disposal of e-waste throughout the world, and highlight to consumers the importance of repairing or correctly disposing of their used appliances with the aim to increase re-use, recovery and recycling rates.

E-waste is the world’s fastest growing waste stream, increasing in volumes at a rate of about 3 to 4 percent per year.

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27

TECH FOCUS: OPTICAL AND ROBOTIC SORTING

Machinexâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Matthew Smith with a newly installed SamurAI sorting robot, charged with processing waste and recyclables Recycling Product News September 2020 at 28 the Hong Kong airport.

A ROBOTIC FUTURE FOR RECYCLING MACHINEX SALES ENGINEER MATTHEW SMITH PROVIDES INSIGHT ON THE LATEST ARTIFICIALLY INTELLIGENT ROBOTIC SORTERS AND HOW TO OPTIMIZE THEIR EFFICIENCY AT THE MRF

BY KEITH BARKER, EDITOR

A

rtificially intelligent, highspeed robotic sorters are now commonly considered to be the future of largescale recycling. They are one of many technology-based options that can help recyclers adapt to both changing practices in our industry, and changing commodities markets worldwide. Currently, there are only a handful of manufacturers of robotic sorting systems for recycling applications, with available machines offering as much as 70 picks per minute (on a recovered fibre or plastics line in a MRF or other recycling facility). Robotic sorters use the latest optical vision technology, learn as they go with artificial intelligence, and can recognize and sort (either positively or for quality control) a wide range of plastics, cartons and paper, including film, and in some cases hard-to-detect black plastics.

The cost-efficiency and safety benefits of automated pickers as an addition to, or replacement for, human pickers is catching on. Every month, more and more recycling facilities and MRFs around the world are adopting these high-tech systems into their plants, all with the goal of maintaining and increasing profitability in especially challenging times.

CANADIAN-BUILT ROBOTS

Born from roots in the agriculture industry Machinex, the Plessisville, Quebec-based MRF and turnkey recycling systems provider, is 50 years old in 2020. Machinex is the only large-scale manufacturer of optical and robotic sorting technology for recycling in Canada and currently offers two robotic sorter models. The SamurAI 800 series is tailored toward a wider belt and the smaller SamurAI 650 model is ideal for anywhere with tighter space constraints for installation or operation.

According to Machinex Technology Sales Engineer Matthew Smith, the 800 model is primarily targeted at the North American market, while the compact 650 model (which fits pre-assembled in a single container for shipping) is more geared for the European market.

“Normally, in Europe, the sorting line is in an enclosure, with conveyors that are about one metre wide, so based on the enclosure restrictions you need a smaller robot,” explains Smith.

He adds that wherever it is located, the Machinex’ SamurAI robotic sorter is particularly ideal for paper, plastics and aluminum recyclers looking to purify their streams and reduce output contamination.

September 2020 www.recyclingproductnews.com

29

TECH FOCUS: OPTICAL AND ROBOTIC SORTING THE ROBOTIC SORTER AT WORK

The SamurAI robotic sorter is taught to recognize various materials via its camera and its AI (artificial intelligence.) Smith explains that different materials are labelled according to their size, shape and composition, and then loaded into the AI of the robot. Based on this information the robot recognizes various materials.

Key features of the SamuraAI include its unique multi cyclone vacuum system and its ability to positively pick and remove plastic film from a line. Other robotic sorters on the market currently use compressed air to induce their vacuum.

“The way our system uses a blower to induce a vacuum works similar to a multi-cyclone,” explains Smith. “Many would know this concept from Dyson vacuum cleaners. It’s a similar principle to that. Our system sucks the objects through the tubing into the multi cyclone, which causes the heavy material to go to the sides and then drop down.

The clean air exits, and thus efficiently removes film from the line.”

THE RECIPE FOR SUCCESS

In today’s MRF, materials can be sorted for quality control (picking out what should not be in a stream) or positively sorted (picking out the desired material for capture).

“We can pick all different types of plastics, cartons, film or aluminum,” explains Smith. We can do a positive sort or we can do quality control.

“We’ve got some robots doing the QC sorting on different plastics.

They’re removing unwanted materials and purifying the plastics stream. We’ve also got one that’s processing aluminum cans, doing QC on an aluminum line.

It’s picking anything that is not an aluminum can and removing it to get a purer stream; this is quality control.”

He continues by describing positive sorting. “If you’ve got a stream with many different types of material, and you’re going for natural HDPE, you can target and pick out this material first, resulting in a very pure stream of that material. We can also positively sort a second material. So, if the robot is programmed for natural HDPE, but

30 Recycling Product News September 2020

Machinex’ SamurAI robotic sorter at the Pratt Recycling MRF, Atlanta, installed spring 2020. doesn’t see any, a second priority can be set, such as coloured HDPE, and it will automatically pick the second material on its list and place it in the desired chute.”

Currently, positive sorting of plastics in North America focuses largely on HDPE or PET. The SamurAI will also sort PP (polypropylene tubs and lids), but Smith says this choice would depend on the market. Recyclers currently are getting a better price on HDPE than they do for PP. “We create different recipes according to customers’ needs. The type of material a robot is programmed to pick at a given facility is best determined based on the market prices of certain materials.

“Natural HDPE is currently the highest priced recovered plastic, so if a facility is picking both HDPE and PET, they

may not want to set the robot at a recipe to pick 50:50.

“If the market dictates, and there is enough material, it might be better to pick 70:30 (natural HDPE:PET). The SamurAI would then be programmed to pick 70 percent of the natural HDPE from the line and only 30 percent of the PET. This way, recyclers will get a better return than if they were to pick at a rate of 50:50.”

ALLEVIATING LABOUR CHALLENGES

Currently at most MRFs, there’s a policy in effect for keeping a 2-metre distance between colleagues.

“It’s about making sure that you can actually get the staff in to do the job and have enough space to do it.” Smith says that normally a robot can do 70 picks per minute, while an average person does 35 to 40 picks a minute. “With

one robot, you’ve almost doubled your manpower.” It also helps avoid the risk of having employees in close quarters, inside a dusty, very-hard-to-sanitize environment.

Smith agrees that the industry has been moving toward increased automation for decades now, and that in the future it’s going to become almost completely automated.

“A recycler can get $75 per ton for a certain quality or purity, or spend a little bit more money to automate and produce very pure output. Then the return can go up to $120 per ton. That is a huge impact.”

He also agrees that levels of purity demanded by the market for MRF output are challenging for current systems to achieve.

“You need a high level of quality control. To do that with a person who has a limited pick rate, you then have to employ two people to do the job. With a robot, maybe you only need one. And they’re just going to get faster and more efficient. The current status is that our robots are doing 70 picks per minute. In a year, we might be up to 80 or 85 picks per minute. This could be done with the same equipment bought today. It’s just a case of software upgrades and programming in better recognition.

According to Smith, with 80 to 85 picks per minute, you’re definitely replacing two people. “The robot doesn’t need a break and maybe it works two shifts. Social distancing in the workplace could be around for some period of time. In this scenario, one robot can potentially free up two people to work in other areas of the MRF where manpower is now needed.”

recognition capability for example, or programming in new types of materials to be recognized, or different flight paths that the robot takes toward the bin) can be updated simultaneously, for all new users and subscribers, wherever they are located.

“For new packaging materials entering the market, the robot won’t rec-

ognize it until it is programmed in,” continues Smith. “You could have a recycler in Quebec who notices something new. We teach their robot about the new item, generate all the data, and then through MACH Cloud, everyone that is signed up receives the new data. As part of the MACH cloud, all our customers benefit off each other.”

TIRES IN 00:00:35

KEEPING UP WITH AN EVOLVING STREAM

A unique feature of SamurAI robots is that they are connected to the MACH Cloud, through which Machinex updates the system on an ongoing basis.

MACH Cloud is offered free for the first year, and then it’s cost is based on a subscription.

“With this system, any new developments made in regards to improvements in the software (adding better

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September 2020 www.recyclingproductnews.com

31

TECH FOCUS: OPTICAL AND ROBOTIC SORTING FINANCING THE ROBOT

For most MRFs and other recycling facilities, an automated robotic sorting unit is an add-on piece of equipment.

“It’s not like you’re building a complete new MRF from scratch, which costs millions, but it is a big investment,” says Smith. “For those with an existing MRF, generally they are adding a robot to their system. The opportunity to find the capex [capital expenditure] in the current market can be really tough.

There’s also the fact that the value of the end material being sold is down compared to what it used to be. So, for MRF owners to go out and get that capital investment to invest in a robot can often be difficult.”

Machinex now offers leasing options for their robots to help make the technology viable for more recyclers.

“To add a robotic sorter to a MRF using a leasing program and spread the cost out to three, four or five years, can be really beneficial,” he says. “The expenditure per month is based on a fixed rate, so there’s no big surprises.”

Smith agrees that leasing is an interesting, newer strategy which may well extend to other types of equipment in the near future and become a more regular way of doing business in the recycling industry. “Many big companies can just go ahead and buy what they need. But other ones, maybe a smaller MRF, or small privately owned facility, it’s a really good option to go for a leasing program.

“It’s also a case-by-case situation,” he continues. “One MRF might want to lease just the robot, but immediately pay off the costs for installation and any upgrade to their structure. When it comes to that, we’re flexible. It all depends on what the customer requires.”

When asked if Machinex is working on any new recycling equipment that will incorporate AI, Smith says Machinex now offers a vision system that was first installed this past spring in a U.S. facility operating their equipment.

This unique device is powered by AI and uses a combination of a hyperspectral infrared camera and a high-definition RGB camera to identify and label items on the belt into material catego-

32 Recycling Product News September 2020

Machinex’ SamurAI artificially intelligent sorting robot uses a vacuum system induced by a blower to capture and purify fibre, plastics, aluminum and film. ries. The unit will ultimately generate real-time information in regards to the stream composition.

Smith concludes by emphasizing, “We’re not just a robot manufacturer here at Machinex. We understand the whole process of recycling. We see the robot as a unique piece of equipment, but we can also see the start and the

end of the entire recycling process. We make sure a robot, as a piece of specialized equipment, is integrated in with the rest of the equipment in a MRF or other recycling facility. If needed, we’re also going to tune a facility’s optics or ballistics.

“We can change a lot to best suit the robot, so we get the very best out of the MRF.” RPN

New REDWAVE sensor improves detection of dark scrap glass by more than 50 percent

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ccording to REDWAVE, until now the glass sorting process in recycling facilities has caused a significant loss of good cullet, especially into the CSP reject stream (ceramics, stone and porcelain) with glass content of up to 90 percent. The company points to the reason for significant loss in glass as being the result of outdated sorting techniques and low transmission value, whereby dark and thick glass pieces cannot be distinguished from CSP and are ejected along with the CSP by optical sorters. This results in lower output rates and increased disposal costs for the CSP reject stream due to the higher volume.

To meet the need for improved glass sorting in recycling facilities, REDWAVE has, through continuous research and development of its glass sorting sensors and software, introduced the new REDWAVE CX. The Austria-based manufacturer says this sensor-based (optical) sorting machine for the glass recycling industry is the next generation of intelligent glass sorting and uses enhanced recognition technology for dark glass. With their new technology, the company says detection of dark glass can be improved by more than 50 percent, with no losses when it comes to semi-coloured glass or thin porcelain. REDWAVE’s new sensor and software can easily be upgraded, thus eliminating costs on facility extensions and avoiding the need to purchase additional sorting machines.

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33

TECH FOCUS: OPTICAL AND ROBOTIC SORTING

NRT COLORPLUS INTEGRATES AI INTO ESTABLISHED SORTING TECHNOLOGY The newly released ColorPlus with Max-AI from National Recovery Technologies (NRT) integrates artificial intelligence (AI) into the company’s successful ColorPlus sorter, which employs a high-resolution RGB colour line-scan sensor to identify and sort recyclables by colour. Max-AI technology, launched by NRT parent company Bulk Handling Systems (BHS) in 2017, employs a camera and deeplearning-based AI to identify recyclables similar to the way a person does, and is already at work in more than 100 installations worldwide. BHS says while most of these installations use the technology in collaboration with robotic sorters, the Max-AI VIS (Visual Identification System) can also be installed as stand-alone equipment.

“From the beginning we realized Max was a game changer, not just for robotic sorters, but really for the industry on a system-wide level,” said BHS CEO Steve Miller. “This is another step forward as

we continue to integrate Max into more of our equipment and intelligent system controls. NRT optical sorters are the best in the world at identifying material at very high confidence levels by colour or material composition, but sometimes the most effective sort requires the type of characterization that a person can make – that’s where Max comes in.

Cardboard isn’t always brown and a clear PET container isn’t always desired in the end product. The ColorPlus with Max-AI is going to solve a lot of sorting challenges for our customers and we are thrilled to introduce it to them,” Miller concluded.

The first ColorPlus with Max-AI is installed in a European paper recycling facility to purify the fibre stream by removing non-paper fibre. In this case, Max-AI technology identifies material by type (such as pizza box, cereal box, OCC, craft board, book, etc.), and the ColorPlus technology is tuned to aggressively detect brown fibre. According to NRT, the

AUTOSORT CYBOT COMBINES FOUR TECHNOLOGIES TOMRA’s newly introduced AUTOSORT CYBOT combines four technologies: Near Infrared (NIR) and Visible Light (VIS) spectroscopy, DEEP LAISER, and induction for ferrous and non-ferrous metals recovery.

According to TOMRA, it is the first robot on the market that combines those four technologies at once. AUTOSORT CYBOT’s robotic arm is capable of simultaneously sorting material into four different streams or fractions depending on the infeed material size, colour and criteria of the target fractions.

According to Valerio Sama, VP and head of product management for TOMRA Sorting Recycling, “The addition of a robot arm to our AUTOSORT system opens up a wealth of new opportunities for highly automated applications within the sorting process and will deliver an even higher level of quality control of recyclables such as HDPE, PET and PP.”

34 Recycling Product News September 2020

combination of proven colour detection and the added layer of AI ensures the ultimate removal of non-spec fibre.

Additionally, the technology has the flexibility to change what material types are targeted, allowing the customer to adjust along with market and material fluctuations.

LATEST SESOTEC OPTICAL SORTING SYSTEM PROVIDES HIGH-LEVEL ACCURACY

The VARISORT+ optical sorting system for plastic bottles and trays separates plastic types, colours and shapes, as well as metals and foreign objects. According to Sesotec, this technology provides high-level accuracy and reliability, even when working at a material throughput of up to 8 tph.

This new VARISORT+ has been optimized for reliable system availability, quick cleaning and easy maintenance. A rejection accuracy of up to 99 percent ensures that sorting fractions achieve the highest degrees of purity.

Another advantage of the VARISORT+ system is its flexibility, allowing for the combination of up to three sensors (N = near infrared, C = colour/form, M = metal). The optical sorting system can also be equipped with innovative new FLASH technology for optimal colour recognition, which can even detect bottles made with additives.

Retroactive sensor upgrades are available at any time and the optional tri-shaft construction enables simultaneous sorting into three material fractions.

BOLLEGRAAF’S ROBB-AQC ROBOTIC SORTER FIRST TO COMBINE NIR AND AI-POWERED LEARNING

Introduced at the beginning of 2020, the Bollegraaf AI-powered RoBB-AQC is the first sorting robot to combine the accuracy of NIR (near-infrared) detection with the adaptability of AI-powered learning, according to Van Dyk Reycling Solutions, North American distributor and product support for Bollegraaf equipment.

The fully automatic AI-powered RoBBAQC is ideal for use as a final quality control step on a container line, and one RoBB unit will recover up to 70 picks per minute, considered to be equivalent to rates from two average human sorters.

The new RoBB-AQC system is designed with flexibility in mind, as it can be placed on top of existing sort lines

with very minimal retrofit costs and minimal downtime. Material selection only requires the touch of a button, and ranges from PET, HDPE, LDPE, PS and PP to Tetra Pak, OCC or paper/cardboard of various shapes and sizes.

OUR STRENGTH IS IN OUR STRUCTURE

ABB IS USING ROBOTS TO RECYCLE ROBOTS, MAKING MANUFACTURING MORE SUSTAINABLE

ABB aims to create more environmentally friendly manufacturing facilities across the world by enabling existing robot users to sell inactive or legacy robots to ABB with a buyback service, rather than scrapping them or leaving them unused.

Over the last 25 years, thousands of robots have been refurbished and upgraded

by ABB’s remanufactured robot teams to give them a second life. As well as previously owned robots, peripheral equipment such as controllers and manipulators are refurbished to like-new conditions at one of ABB’s Global Remanufacture & Workshop Repair Centers.

Before being labelled as an ABBcertified remanufactured robot, every second-hand unit undergoes rigorous checks, including a detailed inspection and a minimum 16-hour functioning test.

Each remanufactured robot comes with a two-year warranty and comes with the same level of support from local service teams as they would with the purchase of a new ABB robot.

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35

PAPER RECYCLING

SCRAP FIBRE PRICES REMAIN VOLATILE BUT FARE BETTER THAN MANY COMMODITIES DURING COVID-19 CHANGE IN CONSUMER HABITS, BOOMING E-COMMERCE AND A SHIFT AWAY FROM PUBLIC SPACES SINCE MARCH WILL MAINTAIN VOLATILITY IN THE RECOVERED PAPER SECTOR GOING FORWARD

BY KEITH BARKER, EDITOR

T

his year’s ISRI Spotlight on Paper was held virtually on June 3, with the aim of providing valuable insights for paper processors, MRF operators and mills on how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting commodity prices for containerboard, tissue, pulp and various recovered paper (RCP) grades, both in the short- and long-term.

Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries’ (ISRI) Chief Economist, Joe Pickard started the session by providing an introductory overview of the recovered fibre sector so far this year, and was followed by an in-depth sector-by-sector breakdown from industry analysts Jose Gonzalez and Sanna Sosa, both from AFRY Management Consulting.

As of April 2020, according to Pickard, recovered paper prices were up 50 percent for this past April, compared to March 2020, and up about 40 percent overall compared to April 2019 numbers, based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics information.

“That’s significantly different than other major scrap commodities that ISRI members are processing,” said Pickard. “Most non-ferrous metal, including copper and copper-based alloys for example, are down about 21 percent as compared to this time last year.

Aluminum based scrap is down about 20 percent, and iron and steel scrap are down almost 28 percent. Compare that to a 40 percent increase in recovered fibre prices, and it shows you a little bit of the changing dynamics that we’re seeing, not just across the recycling

36 Recycling Product News September 2020

stream, but within different major scrap commodities.”

According to Pickard, looking at the domestic market, numbers from the American Forest and Paper Association show that in 2019 about 49.2 million tons of paperboard was recycled, compared to about 52.7 million tons in 2018. Most of this decline is attributed to the drop in recovered paper exports, which were down to 13.6 percent, mainly as a result of China’s import restrictions. He went on to say that if we look at the big picture in terms of exports from the United States so far in 2020, by major commodity type, for the first quarter, paper and fibre exports were down 14.5 percent. But he said there’s a large disparity within the different commodity grades. Pulp from recovered paper is up about 75 percent year over year for the first quarter of

2020, as compared to OCC, which is down about 17 percent. He also said, comparatively, newsprint is down 23 percent and mixed paper is down approximately 20 percent.

“We’ve got a couple of different market dynamics going on, both domestically and overseas,” continued Pickard. “And then we’ve got all these other sources of resistance in terms of economic forces, but also in terms of society at large.” He said according to consultants John Dunham & Associates, preliminary estimates on the potential impact of COVID-19 on the paper recycling industry in the United States are that direct employment, in terms of U.S. paper recycling, has declined by about 8,000 jobs as a result of the pandemic.

According to Jose Gonzalez, senior principle at AFRY, based out of Atlanta,

the change in consumer habits since March is a key factor that will most likely impact the recovered paper sector going forward, for all segments, including tissue, packaging, pulp and recovered paper.

He said that while the outlook has changed frequently since March, almost daily at the start, for the majority of 2020 prices have been on the downward trend. Based on a combination of more than 60 different forecasts from leading investment banks, researchers and economists, the median projection (as of late May) for GDP growth is -5.7 percent for 2020. This compares to April, when the median projection for GDP growth was -4 percent.

“To put the numbers into perspective, during the financial crisis of 2008, the worst GDP decline that we had was 2.8 percent,” he said. “For 2020, this will mean a significant contraction in the economy.”

Gonzalez emphasized the significant

effect COVID-19 has had on consumer habits. “The new COVID consumer is really what we all have been living during the last two months or so. For so many people, unfortunately, disposable income is lower given job losses.” But the stayat-home mandate, he said, has led to a significant increase in e-commerce.

“If we continue to work at home and do all these things from home and limit our travel, all of these will have potential impact in many sectors,” said Gonzalez.

According to AFRY’s Sanna Sosa,

also a senior principle at the company, “COVID-19 will have a dramatic impact for the pulp and paper sector in 2020, and potentially beyond that as well, as we navigate through a very challenging economic environment, worse than during the financial crisis (2007–2008).

“We at AFRY are strong believers in the opportunities in this sector.

Unfortunately, in our new normal we might be seeing a much smaller awayfrom-home sector for tissue, which is a big user of recovered fibre, versus the

“

COVID-19 WILL HAVE A DRAMATIC IMPACT FOR THE PULP AND PAPER SECTOR IN 2020, AND POTENTIALLY BEYOND THAT AS WELL, AS WE NAVIGATE THROUGH A VERY CHALLENGING ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT, WORSE THAN DURING THE FINANCIAL CRISIS (2007–2008).

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37

“

PAPER RECYCLING at-home sector.”

For packaging, she said booming ecommerce is great for packaging. “We trust it will definitely support a strong recovery and strong demand in the grocery channel for packaged food, and provide a boost for the cartonboard sector.

“We are very optimistic for the athome sector,” continued Sosa, but she stipulated that there are clear concerns over the away-from-home sector, even after COVID-19. We could see a longterm scenario where people continue to work from home and take classes online from home, and with more people choosing to work, eat and entertain from home, and there may be fewer large public events.

“We think the total tissue demand will continue to grow long term, but there is certainly a risk that the recycled fibre market for the away-from-home sector could be smaller than it was before the pandemic.”

“Packaging is a dynamic sector where we expect a negative impact for containerboard, after this initial uptake that we have had in demand,” said Gonzalez, adding that overall there are good prospects going forward for both containerboard and cartonboard, post COVID-19.

With respect to recovered paper (RCP) markets, including recycled

Inside DS Smith’s paper recycling facility in the U.S. pulp, according to AFRY, they will be impacted during COVID-19, but there are also positive indicators for postCOVID-19.

“COVID-19 has brought back volatility to prices,” said Gonzalez. “They had been depressed for most of 2019, mostly driven by the China ban, and weak containerboard demand.” He said prices in several regions earlier this year have spiked from almost record lows in 2019, to above $100 in a matter of weeks.

“What we expect is volatility to actu-

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ally continue for the rest of the year, especially in Q2 and Q3, given the increased risk of supply shortages, but also from the swing in demand of different grades, particularly containerboard, which has the downside risk of impact from COVID-19.

“However, given that China will continue with its full implementation of the RCP ban, it will leave a significant gap, and they will have to close this gap because they will need close to 15 to 20 million tons.”

Gonzalez said they have identified planned projects requiring close to five million tons of feedstock in the U.S. and in Southeast Asia, which will be focusing on serving China and which will consume significant amounts of OCC and mixed paper from North America.

“We actually expect more projects like these could be announced in the next month or year to come, to really offset the economy, as it gets back on track and China also increases consumption,” he said.

As an example, Gonzalez said at one current project in Malaysia, the company has announced that they have entered into a framework agreement to buy more than 380,000 tons of imported recycled paper from various vendors, including in the U.S. “We expect that many of these projects will need a good quality and good source of fibre,” he concluded. “Of course, in North America we have that source.” RPN

ISRI INITIATIVE AIMING FOR STANDARD DETERMINATION OF RECYCLABILITY PROTOCOL AND CERTIFICATION TO REDUCE MARKET CONFUSION WILL START WITH PAPER-BASED PACKAGING

T

he Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) is developing a recyclability protocol and certification system for paperbased packaging products entering the recycling stream, to help solve what the organization calls the ongoing confusion in the marketplace over what products are or are not truly recyclable. The protocol and certification will be phased in over the course of the next year, and once developed, ISRI says the protocol will be expanded to other products made from recyclable commodities.

“Under the current system, there is no standard to determine a product’s recyclability from beginning to end, which is an obstacle for increasing packaging

“

HAVING ONE UNIVERSAL DETERMINATION FOR RECYCLABILITY CREATED BY THE RECYCLERS THAT COLLECT AND PROCESS THE MATERIAL, IN COORDINATION WITH THE MILLS THAT CONSUME IT, WILL BE AN ENORMOUS STEP FORWARD IN THE EVOLUTION OF RECYCLING.

“

ROBIN WIENER

recycling rates,” said Robin Wiener, president of ISRI. “Products are labelled recyclable that are not, consumers are confused, and the residential recycling stream is weakened by excessive amounts of products and materials that do not belong. Having one universal determination for recyclability created by the recyclers that collect and process the material, in coordination with the mills that consume it, will be an enormous step forward in the evolution of recycling.”

Working with Moore & Associates as a third-party consultant, ISRI says it is currently undergoing a thorough review of existing certifications and standards to aid in the integration of the protocol with any applicable programs. This will be followed by a survey of Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) in the U.S. to gain an inventory of packaging that is recycled, from the standpoint of materials and shape/size, as well as regional variances in technology and capacity.

With the data, the certification protocol, including testing methodologies and procedures, as well as the application process for obtaining certification, will be developed. The process for obtaining certification by brands will be fully documented and transparent.

“Once in place, the recyclability protocol will assist packaging manufacturers in understanding what is and what is not recyclable, especially in the design stage,” said Wiener. “This will lead to a revolution in design innovation as more brands seek ways to not only use recyclable content in production, but meet consumer demands for easy-to-recycle goods. As more products are developed with recycling in mind, consumers will rediscover recycling and the vast benefits it provides.”

As part of this comprehensive undertaking, industry expertise on material supply and processing, as well as demand challenges and needs is being considered, as is ISRI’s Design for Recycling initiative, which encourages manufactures to factor in a product’s recyclability in the design stage. The initiative will also determine the role of newly updated ISRI Specifications, which are used globally to buy and sell recyclable commodities. ISRI is consulting with the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA), the Foodservice Packaging Institute, The Recycling Partnership, and other stakeholders during the development of the protocol and certification.

“This protocol is just the start of an effort that has the potential to really change the world,” concluded Wiener.

“Additional customizable protocols can be developed for packaging made from other materials, including aluminum and other metals. When put together we can expand the benefits of recycling and see further reduction in greenhouse gases, improved environmental conservation and an economic boost.

We encourage all paper and packaging brands to join in these efforts to make it easier for all to recycle.”

September 2020 www.recyclingproductnews.com

39

PAPER RECYCLING

Carton-only bales in Lévis, Quebec, where Sustana Fibers is the first Canadian recycler to process recovered cartons in more than 20 years.

Recycling cartons in Canada is positively significant THE FIRST CANADIAN MILL IN TWO DECADES TO PROCESS RECYCLED CARTONS COULD VERY WELL SPARK A TREND, ACCORDING TO CARTON COUNCIL OF CANADA’S ISABELLE FAUCHER

BY KEITH BARKER, EDITOR

T

his past spring, the Sustana Fibers paper mill in Lévis, Quebec, became the first in two decades to accept sorted recovered cartons in Canada.

Formerly, with 33,000 tonnes of cartons collected, all sorted bales sold for recycling in Canada were sent to three recyclers in the U.S. or other international buyers.

Sustana says the decision to begin accepting recovered cartons at their Lévis facility reflects their strategic commitment to innovation and sustainability, as well as an overall increased demand

40 Recycling Product News September 2020

for paper products, such as toilet paper and paper towels. This demand has increased since the onset of Covid-19 in March 2020, and at the same time SOP (Sorted Office Paper) volumes have diminished significantly as businesses have slowed down considerably. Recovered cartons are a good alternative to SOP. “By recycling alternative fibres, we are proud to enhance our support for a thriving circular economy and help conserve precious resources,” commented Michele Bartolini. “We are also keen to do our part, supporting the supply chain working to make the products people need. By sourcing the cartons locally we reduce CO2 emissions and create new jobs locally.”

According to Isabelle Faucher, managing director of the Carton Council of Canada, who has worked with Sustana Lévis in making the transition to carton recycling, “Local end-markets go handin-hand with the concept of a lowcarbon, circular economy. While there are buyers for used cartons in other jurisdictions, having a recycling option closer to home further strengthens the sustainability of the carton recycling supply chain.”

She says Sustana’s recycling of cartons in Quebec is significant environmentally, providing an added “pull” for domestic materials recovery and waste diversion, and economically supporting local jobs and contributing to the

production of high-demand domestic paper products. It’s also significant on a symbolic level. “It’s carton recycling on Canadian soil,” she says. “With cartons now being recycled in eastern Canada, there’s a good chance it could inspire recyclers in other parts of the country.”

Currently, Sustana is buying and processing positively sorted carton-only bales supplied by MRFs in eastern Canada.

They are running tests and are in the process of establishing how much they can process and what their capacity for this grade will be on a yearly basis. “They already know they can probably take all of the positively sorted cartons generated in Quebec, and some of the volumes generated out of Ontario,” says Faucher.

One question is: to what extent will offices and businesses in Canada resume pre-pandemic activities?

“If we see gradual return for offices and businesses to more or less what it was before the pandemic, then it won’t be such a driver for additional mills to come online as carton recyclers, given cartons are an alternative feedstock for SOP,” says Faucher. “But many observers are saying that we’ve now proved that there is an alternative way to work.

People can work from home in instances where they weren’t being given that option before. So there may be a high chance that office activities do not resume to where they were before, hence cartons are likely to remain an attractive feedstock alternative to mills.”

Ultimately, she says, the decision on what grades to work with is one the individual mills make.

In the U.S., there are two mills that have been taking cartons in recent years.

Sustana Fibers’ Wisconsin mill, and Great Lakes Tissue in Michigan, both of which Faucher says made the business decision to use recovered cartons based on the demand for finished products and the value of the grade. “It makes sense for them, based on the cost, to process it and the return.”

“The second consideration for a mill is whether it is equipped to process cartons. Cartons are different from other fibre grades in that they consist of 20 to 30 percent non-fibre materials. Things like agitation time, pH levels, and water temperature all have to be adapted. It

requires some testing and some commitment on the mill’s part to say, ‘Okay, we’re going to try this and work with it.’

It requires an investment in time and, in some cases, equipment.”

“From our experience, we do know that it’s very possible to adapt the equipment that a mill already has in order to pulp cartons. They don’t necessarily need to buy a new pulper.”

On the MRF side of the equation, as the suppliers of carton bales, Faucher

says they are hoping the presence of a Canadian recycler will act as an incentive to encourage those MRFs that are not currently sorting cartons to begin doing so.

“We offer resources to MRFs who want to go in this direction. We can work with a facility to understand their process and suggest changes.

Sometimes only very small changes are required to make positive sorting of cartons possible.” RPN

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41

TIRE RECYCLING

ECO GREEN DEBUTS COLOURIZER AND OTR TIRE RECYCLING MACHINE

ECO Green Equipment has introduced a new Rubber Colorizer Equipment line as well as the Eco Razor 63, a compact machine designed to facilitate the efficient cutting, separation and recovery of mining and other very large off-the-road (OTR) tires.

According to Eco Green president Brad Swenson, the new Rubber Colorizer line is designed to handle rubber chunks, shreds and buffings efficiently, colouring up to 10,000 pounds of rubber per hour for use in mulch and surface construction.

“This is by far the most versatile and effective colouring line in the market. In keeping with our company’s goal to help our

users do more with less, we are very proud of this innovation.

Its high yield, efficiency and ease of use are like nothing else in the industry.”

“It’s very rewarding to be turning waste into something useful,” said Swenson. “Old tires are now powering paper mills, beautifying parks and forming athletic surfaces for people to play on. The more we can keep out of the landfill, the better.”

THE ECO RAZOR 63 FOR OTR TIRES The patent-pending EcoRazor 63 is equipped with an articulating head that facilitates three-sided rubber removal from OTR tires. Its adjustable knives allow for control of output size, allowing clients to target the most valuable size on the market.

Once the high-quality rubber has been retrieved by ECO Green’s specialized mining tire equipment, the remaining tire can be sent for additional processing or be converted into products such as water tanks or wear strips.

Commenting on the new Eco Razor 63 designed to facilitate the efficient recycling of mining and off-the-road tires, Swenson says that while his company is constantly innovating new equipment for efficient rubber recycling, he is especially excited about the unique capabilities of the Eco Razor 63.

“This machine is able to break down some of the biggest tires on Earth,” said Swenson. “It has some proprietary features that allow it to remove all of the valuable rubber from these tires with unprecedented efficiency and prepare them for downstream processing.”

COMMODITY FOCUS: RECLAIMED RUBBER

Global reclaimed rubber market projected to reach $4.9 billion within a decade According to a July report compiled by reportlinker. com, the global market for reclaimed rubber will reach US$4.9 billion by 2027. Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for reclaimed rubber estimated at US$2.7 billion in the year 2020, is projected to reach a revised size of US$4.9 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 8.7 percent over the analysis period 2020–2027.

Whole Tire Reclaim (WTR), one of the segments analyzed in the new report, is projected to record a 8.6 percent CAGR and reach US$2.1 Billion by the end of the analysis period. After an early analysis of the business implications of the pandemic and its induced economic crisis, growth in the Butyl segment is readjusted to a revised 9 percent CAGR for the next seven-year period.

According to the report, the reclaimed rubber market

42 Recycling Product News September 2020

in the U.S. is estimated at US$735.5 million in the year 2020. China, the world’s second-largest economy, is forecast to reach a projected market size of US$1 billion by the year 2027 trailing a CAGR of 11.6 percent over the analysis period 2020 to 2027. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, forecast to grow at 5.9 percent and 7.5 percent respectively over the 2020–2027 period.

Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 6.8 percent CAGR.

SAFETY CORNER

LINDNER FIRE PREVENTION SYSTEM USES OPTICAL SENSORS TO COOL HAZARDOUS HOT SPOTS

I

t’s hard to imagine life without batteries. They’re used in smartphones, cars, toothbrushes and so much more, but only 45 percent of all batteries are disposed of correctly.

Lithium batteries, along with other highly flammable materials, such as tar-soaked textile waste, have therefore become one of the most common hazards for serious fires in recycling facilities and those processing and converting waste into solid recovered fuels (SRF). This is largely due to the increasing number of lithium batteries in the general waste stream. When a lithium battery is damaged, a chemical reaction is often initiated, which leads to incredibly high temperatures. This may cause severe damage to facilities and plants and, in the worst case, start a major fire.

To minimize such fire hazards, Lindner’s FPS (Fire Prevention System) detects overheated particles in the material stream, cools them to a safe temperature and makes sure that objects that cannot be cooled can be safely removed by hand.

The continuous monitoring of surface temperature at several relevant points has proven to be highly successful in combating potential fire hazards and actively improving safety in facilities, including those that produce solid recovered fuels. Lindner’s FPS uses optical sensors that constantly monitor the temperature on the conveyor belts and automatically trigger a water sprinkling system to cool overheated particles in the material stream.

Each unit also has its own control sensor for detecting objects that cannot be cooled, such as lithium-ion batteries, where the thermal runaway has already been initiated. This triggers an alarm, stopping the conveyor belt under an active cooling nozzle so the hazard can be manually removed. Depending on the application, the threshold value can be chosen freely. To counteract even a delayed reaction of the energy cells, it’s possible to install as many sensor pairs as needed depending on the size of the facility.

To minimize fire hazards, Lindner’s Fire Prevention System detects overheated particles in the waste material stream, cooling them to a safe temperature.

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GE RA E OV XC 3 S / NE ED AD NGI QUIR E E H EL E RE ZZL IES TOR O D A N • 3 4 HP ENER 7 • OG •N

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Pete the dog returns home in joint effort by Rubicon, Walmart, and Best Way

44 Recycling Product News September 2020

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BU FFA LO TU RB IN E.C OM

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COMING UP IN THE OCTOBER ISSUE OF RECYCLING PRODUCT NEWS FOCUS ON SCRAP METAL, PLASTICS, HAULING & COLLECTION

ADVERTISER INDEX American Baler................................................................33

LBX Co..............................................................................2

Bateman Manufacturing..................................................14

Machinex...........................................................................3

BM&M Screening Solutions............................................41

Mack Trucks......................................................................4

Brown Bear Corporation.................................................17

OverBuilt Inc....................................................................27

Buffalo Turbine................................................................44

Paradigm Software..........................................................45

Calhoun Super Structure Ltd..........................................35

PMR Inc...........................................................................21

ELV Select.......................................................................31

R.M. Johnson Co............................................................23

Gensco Equipment..........................................................24

Scott Equipment..............................................................13

Industrial Netting.............................................................43

Sennebogen LLC...............................................................9

Kensal Carbide................................................................47

Shred-Tech......................................................................48

Kernic Systems...............................................................38

Van Dyk Recycling Solutions.............................................7

LeFort America................................................................37

Vermeer Canada Inc........................................................15

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LAST WORD

EPR: CAPITALIZING ON UNFINISHED BUSINESS

BY JODI TOMCHYSHYN LONDON AND LISA GROTKOWSKI

“

WITH EPR, WE SHOULD BE TALKING ABOUT A FUTURE RIPE WITH PROFIT, PARTNERSHIPS, AND POSSIBILITIES THAT BENEFIT BUSINESSES, CONSUMERS, MUNICIPALITIES AND THEIR TAXPAYERS

“

JODI TOMCHYSHYN LONDON

E

xtended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a mouthful. It’s an industry term often expressed as producers paying the full cost to collect and recycle the products they sell into the marketplace. The benefits of EPR are often trumpeted as reducing the burden on municipalities and, thereby their taxpayers, to collect and find markets for these products once they become waste.

When we talk about EPR this way, we’re reducing it to a public sector or taxpayer issue. We’re also missing the point – at its core, EPR is simply unfinished business that, when managed by businesses, benefits all of us.

Let’s talk about this. Without EPR, large businesses produce materials and sell them into the marketplace. Consumers, like you and I, buy these materials, use them and, if recyclable, either take them to a collection point or, if it’s an option, put them out for curbside pickup. Without EPR, we pay our cities, towns or villages to collect and find recycling markets for these materials. We’re also deeply frustrated when we learn that it can be really challenging for our municipal governments to find viable recycling markets and, more often than we want, the materials go to landfill.

This is how EPR ends up being viewed as a solution to reduce the burden on municipalities and their taxpayers.

With EPR, we shouldn’t be talking about fixing today’s problems. We should be talking about a future ripe with profit, partnerships, and possibilities that benefit businesses, consumers, municipalities and their taxpayers.

EPR at its core celebrates the incredible strengths of businesses. It recognizes them as the best there is when it comes to innovation, finding low-cost and high-return solutions, and delivering exceptional customer experiences. The recycling industry is unto itself big business. It is enhanced by innovation and technology. It creates green jobs. It supports local economies. And, done well, it builds goodwill with consumers.

When provinces embrace EPR, they embrace the fact that the company that makes the products is in the best position to ensure they are collected and recycled into new

46 Recycling Product News September 2020

products. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking product design, product collection, or the economics of the system, it’s all best imagined, created and managed by the businesses that develop and sell the products into our provinces.

But what about the businesses themselves?

If they’re paying for the costs of EPR, then why would they support it?

The reason is simple – EPR is a big factor in social licence. Social licence, sustainability, and corporate social responsibility were all once buzzwords or hopes for the future. Today, they are consumer expectations. While the average consumer might not be familiar with EPR, we are all becoming more familiar with media stories about “recyclable” products with no end market that end up in landfill. Consumers are looking for a “hero” in this story. They want to know that the time, energy and money they put into recycling systems leads to recycled products.

EPR does this – it puts businesses, once the villains for creating waste, into a hero’s role that, truthfully, only they can fill.

If businesses taking accountability for their unfinished business is so good for business, then why is a pro-business province, like Alberta, so slow to adopt EPR? The problem, as we see it, is we’re touting small-scale solutions to problems rather than capturing imaginations with visions of profits, partnerships and possibility for everyone. EPR can and should be exciting for government, businesses and consumers. It’s the promise of positive environmental outcomes, market forces driving green jobs and innovations, and large producers bringing the prospect of a circular economy within grasp. It’s capitalizing on unfinished business in a province that has long recognized the power of the marketplace to not only solve problems but find better ways.

EPR is our ticket to modernize, profit from, and see unprecedented results from our recycling systems. Alberta, it’s time for EPR. Jodi Tomchyshyn London is the current President of the Recycling Council of Alberta and the Principal for JTL Squared Consulting. Lisa Grotkowski is the Principal for Write to Communicate.

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