The construction of Aurubis Richmond is the starting point of a longer term collaboration between the two companies.
Aurubis AG of Hamburg, Germany, and the SMS Group of Dusseldorf, Germany, have signed a contract for the construction of Aurubis Richmond, a multimetal recycling plant in Georgia.
Aurubis announced its plans to build the plant Nov. 10, noting that construction would start in mid-2022 in Augusta, Georgia, in Richmond County. Upon commissioning, which is scheduled for the first half of 2024, the plant will process about 90,000 metric tons of complex recyclables annually.
The two companies have agreed to work together on the greenfield project, with the SMS group planning the facility concept, delivering it and implementing it on-site. The SMS Group also is delivering the technology for the top-blown rotary converter, or TBRC, which Aurubis describes as a state-of-the-art piece of equipment for processing complex recyclables to recover copper, nickel, tin, zinc, precious metals and platinum group metals. The scope of delivery also includes the sampling and off-gas cleaning facilities.
The construction of Aurubis Richmond is the starting point of a longer term collaboration between the two companies. Aurubis and the SMS Group also signed a cooperation agreement, through which both partners say they will be able to quickly implement the planning, construction and development of additional modular recycling facilities in Europe and North America in the case of a positive investment decision from Aurubis.
“With the investment in Aurubis Richmond, we reinforce our ambitions to continue expanding the recycling of complex, valuable metal-bearing materials and returning them to the material cycle,” says Hans Rosenstock, managing director of Aurubis Richmond. “The SMS Group is an extremely competent partner for the setup of the site, a partner that will support us in implementing custom-fit solutions for ecologically sustainable business activity and accelerated decarbonization.”
“We’re pleased to bring the state-of-the-art recycling plant in Richmond to life, together with Aurubis,” Michael Rzepczyk, a member of the management team at the SMS Group, says. “In addition to technological expertise, we’re united as partners by our strategic orientation toward continued growth in the circular economy and the recycling business, as well as contributing to climate protection with new technologies. Furthermore, our intelligent and efficient digital concepts enable us to optimize the production processes. This modular facility sets new international benchmarks in recycling electronic scrap and is planned for additional sites as well.”
With the construction of Aurubis Richmond, Aurubis says it is tapping a market with strong growth potential and expanding its international integrated smelter network. The investment of about 300 million euros, or $33.8 million, also will help Aurubis meet its sustainability targets. Aurubis Richmond is expected to generate an annual contribution to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of about 80 million euros, or $90.2 million, at full production capacity starting in fiscal year 2025/26.
The site will process circuit boards, copper cable and other materials containing metals will into 35,000 metric tons of blister copper annually, the company says. Aurubis will further process the intermediate products into various industrial and precious metals at its European smelter sites and also will sell them directly in the U.S.
The Saudi Arabian company is working with Malaysia-based HHI to chemically recycle mixed and used ocean-bound plastic into certified circular polymers.
Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has partnered with Malaysia-based Heng Hiap Industries Sdn Bhd (HHI) to create certified circular polymers produced through the advanced recycling of recovered mixed and used ocean-bound plastic.
SABIC reports that the certified circular polyolefins from ocean-bound plastic from the company’s Trucircle portfolio of solutions will be used by its customers in new products over the coming months. SABIC’s Trucircle portfolio features mechanically recycled products, certified circular products from advanced recycling of used plastic and certified renewables products from bio-based feedstock.
According to a news release from SABIC, the ocean-bound plastics for this partnership are being recovered from ocean-feeding waterways and inland areas within a 50-kilometer radius of the ocean by HHI partners predominantly in Malaysia. That material is sent to HHI for it to convert the used plastic into pyrolysis oil through advanced recycling methods. SABIC says it will use that pyrolysis oil in its production process to make certified circular polymers. The company states that this material has been certified under the Zero Plastic Oceans accreditation.
“We are acutely aware of the challenges we face globally to stop plastic from becoming waste. Developing an entirely circular recycling system is a huge but necessary step we need to take together and will require all players across the value chain to collaborate. That’s why we’re committed to developing long-term solutions and working with new partners like HHI to significantly upscale the production of more sustainable materials, including those produced using recycled ocean-bound materials, for the benefit of our customers, society and the environment,” says Abdullah Al-Otaibi, general manager of ETP & Market Solutions at SABIC.
HHI is focused on collecting ocean-bound plastic through its network, converting that material into high-quality materials, collaborating with partners to create new products, providing customers with a platform to champion their use of sustainable materials and encouraging consumers to use sustainable materials.
“At HHI, our circular economy model helps to guide us in all of our endeavors, from business planning and collaborations with partners such as SABIC to eco-initiatives, as we strive to protect our ocean and communities. We believe that we have the ability to work towards a cleaner future that views plastic as a valuable resource to keep within the value chain,” says Kian Seah, CEO of HHI. “We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved so far with SABIC but also realize that we are early into our journey towards enabling a circular economy, and it is by no means a straightforward one. Our common spirit and passion has helped us overcome significant challenges to make this innovative process a reality and to ensure the reliability of technologies, quality of the end material and viability of the circular consumption model.”
The study was published earlier this fall in Joule.
Recycled materials recovered from end-of-life lithium-ion batteries can outperform new commercial materials, according to research published in Joule, an energy research journal, in October. Yan Wang, a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Massachusetts, led the research, which used materials recovered from a recycling process that Battery Resourcers Inc. of Worcester is commercializing.
Wang also is the chief scientist and a co-founder of Battery Resourcers, and his earlier research into recycling technologies received multiple patents that WPI licensed to the company.
According to WPI Today, the researchers used physical tests, imaging and computer simulations to compare new cathode materials to those recovered from end-of-life electric vehicle batteries.
“As demand grows for lithium-ion batteries, it will be important to recycle materials from used batteries, especially batteries from electric vehicles,” Wang told WPI Today. “Battery manufacturers want to know that recycled cathode materials are not inferior to new cathode materials. This research shows that recycled materials can electrochemically match or outperform pristine, state-of-the-art cathode materials from tier 1 suppliers.”
Wang collaborated on the paper with researchers from A123 Systems, Battery Resourcers, Argonne National Laboratory, Rice University, Brookhaven National Laboratory and the United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC). USABC is supporting his work.
Through the program, Rubicon estimates 10 million Halloween candy wrappers will be diverted from landfill.
Rubicon, Lexington, Kentucky, announced that its annual Trickor Trash campaign was a success for the third consecutive year, reaching more schools, small businesses and community organizations than ever across all 50 U.S. states.
Designed to help reduce the waste that accumulates every year around Halloween, Rubicon’s Trick or Trash campaign provides safe and easy-to-assemble recycling boxes to schools, universities, small businesses, community organizations and individuals for discarding candy wrappers.
It is estimated that each year, 600 million pounds of candy are consumed in the United States during the Halloween season, and research from the National Retail Federation shows that in 2020 alone, $2.4 billion dollars was spent on candy during the holiday. The film plastic materials used for candy packaging are notoriously difficult to recycle, with the vast majority ending up in landfills, as well as America’s waterways and oceans. To address this challenge, Rubicon enlisted the help of students, teachers, and small businesses around the country to collect candy wrappers and inspire communities to recycle.
Rubicon’s says its Trick or Trash 2021 campaign reached significantly more individuals this year, with almost 2,000 collection boxes being sent to more than 1,250 schools, small businesses and community organizations. This substantial increase in boxes—up from 730 in 2020 and 450 in 2019—increases the potential for the number of candy wrappers saved. A new enhancement to this year’s program is advanced reporting ensuring that all participants receive a certificate of recycling confirming how much would-be waste they diverted. Early reporting indicates that once all of this year’s boxes have been returned for processing, participants will have diverted an estimated 10 million candy wrappers from landfills.
Rubicon’s partners on the project include Cox Communications, The Arby’s Foundation and The National Wildlife Federation. This year’s campaign also welcomed g2 revolution as Trick or Trash’s recycling partner. According to the company, g2 develops sustainable “Second Life” solutions to divert waste from landfills through reuse, recycling or recovery of usable ingredients to make new products or to generate energy.
The educational component of the campaign, co-created by Rubicon and the National Wildlife Federation, focuses on the role of recycling within the circular economy, and was expanded in 2021 to include K-12 lesson plans and other content from prior years, a reading list for university and college students, and a useful factsheet for business participants. The National Wildlife Federation also introduced campus sustainability teams to the Trick or Trash program as part of its Campus Race to Zero Waste initiative, a nationwide recycling competition which Rubicon also supports.
“We are thrilled by the level of enthusiasm that Trick or Trash has once again generated from students, teachers, small-business owners and local communities across the United States,” Nate Morris, founder and CEO of Rubicon, says. “Now in its third year, Trick or Trash embodies Rubicon’s mission to end waste in its purest form. From the thousands of pounds of candy wrappers that are diverted from landfills, to the campaign’s core educational component that is being taught in schools and universities across the country, Trick or Trash has proven itself to be a central part of the American conversation where it comes to teaching future generations about the importance of sustainability.”
“This is my school’s third year participating in Trick or Trash,” Lori Rubio, a K-6 teaching assistant at Elmcrest Elementary School in Liverpool, New York, says. “Students love to see the box filling up. Just when they think it is full, we push the wrappers down and can add more. Elmcrest students are very knowledgeable about recycling and its importance because we pride ourselves on being one of the best schools in our district when it comes to recycling.”
Rubicon noted that for any schools, small businesses, community centers or other organizations that are interested in diverting hard-to-recycle materials away from landfills, the RUBICONMarketplace powered by g2 revolution is now live. The marketplace makes recycling items such as aerosol cans, used batteries, plastic bags, and personal protective equipment (PPE) easier for interested parties, the company says.
The companies say they will work on R&D efforts to improve lithium-ion battery recycling and the efficiency of the EV battery supply chain in the U.S. and Europe.
Toronto-based lithium-ion battery recycler Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. says it is collaborating with London-based Arrival, a company that seeks to replace vehicles with affordable electric solutions produced by local microfactories.
According to a news release issue by Li-Cycle, the two companies will work together on thought leadership initiatives and R&D efforts to improve lithium-ion battery recycling and the efficiency of the electric vehicle (EV) battery supply chain in the U.S. and Europe.
Deepen Somaiya, global vice president of sustainability at Arrival, says, “Ensuring end-to-end sustainability for electric vehicles is something we are very passionate about at Arrival. This is why we are so thrilled to partner with Li-Cycle to drive sustainability in the EV industry through the advancement of EV lithium-ion battery recycling.
“Arrival is changing the fundamentals of the automotive industry with our new method for the design and production of EVs, and we see Li-Cycle’s cutting-edge, commercial lithium-ion recycling technology as an extension of that transformational approach,” he continues. “We look forward to working together with them to create sustainable, end-to-end solutions that will help us drive radical impact.”
Using Li-Cycle’s commercial lithium-ion battery recycling technologies, end-of-life batteries from Arrival’s EV fleets in the U.S. and Europe can be transformed into battery-grade material for use in the production of new batteries for new Arrival vehicles. Li-Cycle’s technologies will facilitate Arrival’s ability to minimize the life cycle impact of batteries, improving its recycling and resource recovery infrastructure, while Arrival will support Li-Cycle’s ability to advance its patented technologies in line with next-generation battery technology and improve its resource recovery efficiency.
“We’re excited to collaborate with Arrival to drive technological innovation in battery recycling while creating a truly sustainable closed-loop battery supply chain in the EV industry,” says Kunal Phalpher, chief strategy officer of Li-Cycle. “This strategic commercial partnership demonstrates our ability to meet emerging new customer demands as we continue to scale our proven, commercial lithium-ion recycling technology globally.”