Industry News

The Recycling Partnership has announced the first-ever 'roadmap' aimed at addressing systemic issues in the U.S. recycling system and catalyzing the transition toward a circular economy for packaging. The report, "The Bridge to Circularity: Putting the ‘New Plastics Economy' into Practice in the U.S." is inspired and endorsed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation whose New Plastics Economy Global Commitment unites more than 400 businesses, governments and other organizations behind a common vision and targets to address plastic waste and pollution at its source.  

According to a new survey conducted by the firm CROP and requested by the Electronic Products Recycling Association of Québec (EPRA-Québec), 62% of Quebecers have end-of-life electronics in their homes. Since significant quantities of raw materials such as palladium, gold, silver, and copper that could be used to make new products are left unused in many Québec households, EPRA-Québec invites the population to take action for Québec Waste Reduction Week which runs from October 19 to 27. Individuals who want to recycle their old electronics can bring them, free of charge, to any one of the close to 1,000 authorized drop-off points across the province. 

Enerkem Inc., the world-leading waste-to-biofuels and chemicals producer, has announced the closing of a $50 million equity investment from Suncor. As Canada's leading integrated energy company, Suncor first participated in the ownership of Enerkem in April 2019 as part of a $76.3 million equity financing alongside Enerkem's existing shareholders. With this new investment, Suncor becomes a significant, strategic shareholder of Enerkem.

Now in its second year, the Manufacturing and Production (MAP) class from Willmar High School recently toured the Rotochopper facility as part of their final day with West Central Steel, Inc. In addition to ten students enrolled in the class, the group included teachers, staff and business leaders that support the program. The day started at Rotochopper with a facility tour, which was followed by visits to a steel mill and a job site. 

Tigercat Industries Inc. based in Ontario, Canada has completed the purchase of Ragnar Original Innovations (ROI) located in New Hampshire, USA. The company, founded by Anders Ragnarsson, currently manufactures material processing machinery used in the construction, forestry and recycling industries.

Terex Ecotec, recently welcomed over 100 distributors and customers from across the world to its recent Global Dealer Conference, which took place from 25-27 September, 2019 at its brand new Terex Campsie facility in Northern Ireland. 

The Recycling Product News team was in Toronto this week for the Waste & Recycling Expo Canada (aka CWRE) annual trade show and convention. We interviewed representatives from some of the innovative companies exhibiting on the show floor. 

It's a green thumbs up for Tweed | TerraCycle. The country's first and largest cannabis packaging recycling program, launched in October 2018, has achieved incredible results in its first year of operations. Today, the Tweed | TerraCycle program celebrates a significant milestone with the collection of over one million pieces of used cannabis packaging from across the nation - recycling over 22,000 pounds of plastic containers, tubes, and bottles.

As we approach the 2019 Canadian federal election, Friends of the Earth Canada has a message for politicians. According to the organization, the electorate wants action to stop plastics pollution: 86% of Canadians want politicians to take more action on plastics as a way of reducing climate harmful greenhouse gases. And 8 out 10 Canadians will support politicians to ban production and use of single-use disposable plastic containers and packaging.

As leaders from around the world gather in New York for Climate Week NYC, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, in collaboration with Material Economics, has launched Completing the Picture: How the Circular Economy Tackles Climate Change. The paper reveals the need for a fundamental shift in the global approach to tackling climate change.

Molok North America Ltd. is pleased to announce it placed No. 396 on the inaugural Report on Business ranking of Canada's Top Growing Companies. Canada's Top Growing Companies ranks Canadian companies on three-year revenue growth. Molok North America Ltd. earned its spot with three-year growth of 45%.

Call2Recycle®, the first and largest consumer battery recycling program, which operates in the U.S. and Canada, is proud to announce their renewed commitment to responsible hazardous waste disposal by joining the e-Stewards® Enterprise program.  e-Stewards Enterprise partners commit to making best efforts to use e-Stewards Certified Recyclers and Refurbishers, who operate to the highest industry standard for the management of end-of-life electronic assets and materials under their control.  

At the end of September, CBC's Marketplace aired a story exposing the challenges related to plastics recycling in British Columbia. As part of the story, Marketplace executed one-time, business-to-business transactions with three waste management companies for the recycling of bales of soft plastics. The report described outcomes, whether material was recycled, incinerated or landfilled, and suggested that the three companies involved (Merlin Plastics, GFL and Waste Connections Canada) are an accurate representation of how materials are handled in B.C.

Metso has been awarded with an order to deliver a Texas Shredder PS for Tata Steel's planned steel scrap recycling plant, currently being built. The order marks the first steel scrap shredding facility in India, according to Metso.

Bunting is proud to announce the hire of Robert Clausing as the company's new Lean Manufacturing Coordinator. Clausing will be responsible for focusing on utilizing a lean manufacturing mindset in order to reduce and eliminate waste.

ChemCycling is the name of a new pilot project, being undertaken in partnership with Mondi, the global packaging and paper group, and COROOS, a food-industry supplier, by which Germany-based chemical producer BASF is further developing their process for the chemical recycling of plastic waste. Plastic waste that is difficult to recycle, such as mixed or contaminated plastics, is converted into a pyrolysis oil through thermochemical processes. This secondary raw material can be used as input in BASF's production process, thereby partly replacing fossil resources, to manufacture numerous chemical products. 

Sensoneo, a provider of smart, enterprise-grade waste management solutions operating in 40 countries worldwide, has ranked OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries according to the environmental impact of their waste management. The findings aim to hold the world's largest polluters accountable for their actions and push for investment in waste management techniques that prioritize the health of our planet. 

The Timken Company has reached an agreement to acquire BEKA Lubrication for approximately $165 million. The company serves a diverse range of industrial sectors including wind, food and beverage, rail, on- and off-highway and other process industries. BEKA sales are expected to be around $135 million for the full year 2019.

Alberta's recycling sector generated $700 million in economic value in 2018, as well as supporting over 7,500 direct jobs, a new analysis has found. The analysis also highlights the potential to increase this contribution in future to $1.4 billion in economic value, and to 13,000 jobs. In addition to the benefits to the Alberta economy, materials collected in Alberta that are processed and utilized in neighbouring jurisdictions provide additional jobs in those areas which were not included in the study. 

On September 24th, the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) briefed the Recycling Caucus on The State of U.S. Recycling. Hosted by Recycling Caucus Co-Chairs, House Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Representative John Shimkus (R-IL), the event focused on the many of the economic and environmental benefits of recycling while addressing how changes to global environmental and trade policies are changing the industry's landscape.

The International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI)has announced the publication of a report by the consortium's Value Recovery from Used Electronics project participants describing how the project successfully used end-of-life hard disk drives (HDDs) to demonstrate a viable process toward the development of a multi-stakeholder circular economy. 

Control Engineering is a publication for automation engineers who design, implement, maintain, and manage control/instrumentation systems, components, and equipment for a wide range of industries and manufacturers. The magazine's Engineering Leaders Under 40 Program recognizes professionals under the age of 40 who are making a significant contribution as control and plant engineering professionals. 

Recycling continues to power the American economy based on a new study conducted by John Dunham and Associates and released by the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI). In addition to its positive environmental benefits, the recycling industry is responsible for more than 531,500 jobs and an overall economic impact of nearly $110 billion.

Petro-Canada Lubricants, a HollyFrontier business, has expanded its TRAXON and DURON product lines with the launches of DURON Advanced 5W-30 and TRAXON Synthetic 75W-85. The introduction of the new oils demonstrate continued product innovation from Petro-Canada Lubricants to help fleets meet new and emerging market trends.

Today Peterbilt Motors Company announced the appointment of Kate Rahn as the head of Sales and Marketing for Canada.

The Canadian operations of GEEP Canada and The Shift Group of Companies (consisting of Shift Recycling and Revolution) have merged to form Canada's most vertically integrated electronics recycler and ITAD services provider.

Stellex Capital Management, a middle market private equity firm, has announced that it has entered into an agreement to sell Morbark, LLC,  the manufacturer of high-performance equipment and after-market parts for the forestry, recycling, tree care, sawmill, land clearing and biomass markets, to Alamo Group for $352 million. The sale includes all assets and operations of Morbark and its affiliate brands. 

Czech recycling company OZO Ostrava s.r.o., recently commissioned a new line for processing pre-pressed plastic bales. At the heart of the line is a SENNEBOGEN 818 M powered by an eGreen electric drive.

The Government of Canada says it is dedicated to protecting Canada's land and waterways from plastic waste and marine litter. According to a recent press release, there are currently few options for recycling and disposing of boats made of fibreglass. As a result, most of these boats end up in a landfill, or worse, abandoned on land or in the water. 

An important new report issued by the Solid Waste Association of North America's (SWANA) Applied Research Foundation (ARF) provides a number of significant observations and insights regarding the impacts of China's National Sword Policy on curbside recycling programs in the United States and Canada, and the resets that can be made to address them.

The Recycling Partnership has announced the public beta launch of DIYSigns, the debut of a free online resource that anyone can use to help people know what to throw into their recycling bins. Whether at home, at the office, at school, at a sports stadium, or anywhere, education is needed to show what is recyclable and where.

After the success of last year's inaugural event in Canada, the Environmental Research & Education Foundation of Canada (EREF-CA) is excited to once again hold its Silent Auction, October 9 and 10, at the Canadian Waste & Recycling Expo (CWRE) in Toronto, Ontario. Proceeds from this event, which is being held in partnership with the Ontario Waste Management Association (OWMA), support solid waste research needs in Canada.

Croatia's 6th of September deposit of ratification of the 1995 Basel Ban Amendment has allowed this global waste dumping prohibition to finally enter into the force of international law. The Ban Amendment, adopted by the parties to the Basel Convention in 1995, prohibits, the export of hazardous wastes from member states of the European Union, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and Liechtenstein to all other countries.

GFL Environmental Inc. has announced that it has acquired the Windsor Disposal Services group of companies (WDS).

A recent agreement with SENNEBOGEN LLC has concluded James River Equipment's two-year search to expand its range of OEM lines with the right complementary machines for its customers in the Virginia region.

According to the United Metal Recyclers of California (UMRC), a newly proposed agency action targeting metal shredders and recyclers would eliminate California's thriving scrap metal operations and force tons of metal into state landfills.

The Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA) has released a report that illustrates the resilience of the Canadian recycling infrastructure in weathering the significant market challenges that have affected the industry over the past two years.

Walmart and TerraCycle are joining forces to launch the nation's largest car seat recycling event in nearly 4,000 Walmart stores across the country.