U.K.-based recycler refers to a rise in illegal scrap collectors in the region and how this trend affects legitimate recyclers.
United Kingdom-based Bradford Waste Traders, a recycling and trading company specializing in scrap metals, is encouraging U.K. businesses to recycle their scrap materials both professionally and legally in light of what the company describes as a rise in illegal scrap metal collections in the region. The company says it is working to help the European Union reach a 90 recycling rate target for all ferrous metal by 2030. As such, Bradford Waste Traders says it is vital for local businesses to ensure they are recycling their possessions with legitimate scrap collectors, thereby reaping all environmental benefits while also supporting local businesses. A spokesperson for the company observes, “It is so important to ensure the collector you are working with is qualified and has the correct license to collect scrap metal. This means that everything is legal and you know your scrap metal is recycled sufficiently and effectively.” The U.K. implemented the Scrap Metal Dealers Act in 2013 and created a regulatory regime for scrap metal recycling industries across the nation. In a bid to clamp down on illegitimate collectors, U.K. magistrates are now able to fine illegal scrap collectors up to £5000 for dealers who trade in cash, Bradford Waste Traders points out in a press release issued by the company. “With the tighter regulations on scrap metal collecting, hopefully this will lead to a decrease in businesses using traders without a license and make it clear what is expected from waste traders," the Bradford spokesperson says. For more than a decade, Bradford Waste Traders has used its authorised vehicle treatment facility centre (AFT) and other specialised equipment to remain complaint with best practise disposal. The company says it treats, depollutes, destroys and disposes of old vehicles and other scrap metal in an environmentally sound manner. Bradford points out this may not be the case with illegitimate scrap metal collectors and that, often, smaller waste collectors lose income to unlicensed traders. The environmental benefits of using recycled metals include a reduction of 86% in air pollution, 40% in water use and 76% in water pollution, according to the company.
The addition of Gresham Smith, PPG and Valspar brings membership to a record 107 companies.
The Aluminum Association, based in Arlington, Virginia, has added three new member companies—Gresham, Smith, and Partners, PPG Industries and Valspar Corp. The additions bring total membership in the association to 107 companies, a record for the 82-year-old trade association, according to a press release issued by the association. The three firms join as associate members—firms that supply the North American aluminum industry with goods and services. “Continuing to grow the membership is a key priority of the Aluminum Association,” says Heidi Brock, president and CEO of the Aluminum Association. “As aluminum expands into new and diverse markets, the more voices we can have at the table representing the industry, the better off we are as a trade association.” Gresham, Smith, and Partners, with offices throughout the eastern U.S., provides engineering, architectural and planning services to diverse manufacturing industries, including services for many major aluminum producers and secondary aluminum processors. Both PPG Industries, based in Pittsburgh, and the Valspar Corp,, headquartered in Massillon, Ohio, produce industrial coatings for a range of products, including aluminum products. The association says the additions come at a time of continued domestic demand growth for aluminum. According to preliminary Aluminum Association data, domestic industry shipments have increased nearly 4 percent, while mill product orders are up nearly 6 percent, year to date in 2015. Since 2013, Aluminum Association member companies have announced domestic plant expansions and planned investment totaling more than $2.3 billion. The increase in investment is intended to capture and meet anticipated demand growth for aluminum in the automotive sector, the association says. According to the Aluminum Association, investments announced to date could increase industry auto sheet capacity by more than 2 billion pounds over the next decade.
Ragger wire is made during the pulping process at paper mills.
Wendt Corp., Buffalo, New York, and strategic business partner MTB of France have designed, manufactured and installed a ragger wire chopping line at Niagara Falls, New York-based Santarosa Group, a family-owned and operated industrial waste and recycling company.
In business since 1951, Santarosa Group comprises a number of companies that have experience in a number of industries, including tire recycling, hazardous and radioactive waste management, biomass procurement and processing, transfer stations and environmental cleanup. Today, the company’s primary focus is on managing industrial waste streams, reprocessing them into valuable commodities, and managing hazardous materials throughout the country.
Santarosa Group invested in the chopping line to process ragger wire. Ragger wire, also referred to as ragger tail and pulper rope, is made during the paper/pulping process when trash is cleaned from the pulper vat. The waste material wraps around itself, creating a compact rope-like chain. Ragger wire consists of plastic trimmings, steel baling wire, staples, foil, insoluble papers and other impurities found in recovered fiber.
“We needed a heavy-duty chopping line to size and separate materials,” says Aaron Santarosa, president of The Santarosa Group. “We are putting waste streams which contain various materials that can destroy a typical shredder, and the MTB Shredder was able to withstand those materials without ruining the machine in addition to providing the specialized materials for our end users.”
Santarosa Group’s chopping line features an MTB BDR 2400 shredder, MTB TMR 600 ferrous extractor and belt conveyors. The MTB shredder cuts the tough-to-process ragger wire into 2-inch long pieces, while the TMR 600 extracts the ferrous metals. The company also recently purchased an eddy current separator to recover nonferrous metals from the ragger wire. Along with the ferrous and nonferrous metals recovered, this process provides a finished paper/plastic product that the company can sell as a fuel source, Wendt says.
“Our revenue has increased dramatically since we started the operation, and now that we are fully operational we have been able to grow our markets and experiment with different products,” Santarosa says.
In addition to using the chopping line for the ragger wire application, Santarosa Group is shredding numerous aluminum products, plastic and paper rejects, plastics, ferrous wire, coiled ferrous wire, tires, wood and MRF residue, among other materials.
Operating five-to-six days per week, the shredder is running at a rate of 1,300 tons per month.
“Our long-term goal with this investment is to develop niche businesses to process and upgrade numerous waste streams into useful commodities,” Santarosa says. “With the tight spec that our customer requires, we have been able to be a dominant supplier at an efficient price. The MTB shredder has allowed us to not only recognize value as a preferred supplier, but we have done it at a lower than anticipated cost.”
Wendt Corp. is the exclusive strategic partner and distributer for MTB equipment, parts and service in North America. MTB has more than 35 years of experience manufacturing wire and cable chopping systems and is France’s largest processor, processing more than 40,000 tons of copper and aluminum cables each year.
Drew Holland Tigner joins company as accounts manager.
U.S. Shredder and Castings Group, Miramar Beach, Florida, has hired Drew Holland Tigner as an accounts manager. She will be based in Nashville, Tennessee, and will be responsible for supporting customers’ shredder castings, wear parts and systems needs.
Drew, daughter of U.S. Shredder President Bill Tigner, graduated from the University of Alabama in 2013 and worked at orphanages in Uganda and Mexico for one year. Most recently she worked as an account manager for a management firm in Nashville.
Bill says, “We are pleased to add Drew to the U.S. Shredder team. There is a strong tradition in the scrap industry for a new generation to come into a family business. Drew’s work ethic, intelligence and attention to detail will be a strong asset for our company.”
Drew can be reached at drew@usshredder.com or at 205-910-7055.
The U.S. Shredder and Castings Group offers scrap shredders, control systems, downstream systems, nonferrous recovery systems and air systems, as well as shredder castings, service, engineering, construction and installation to the worldwide scrap industry.
Operator says the handler has cut operating costs virtually in half while increasing handling capacity.
Stevedoring company Ahtapot Denizcilik of Turkey handles a variety of scrap for the proprietors of the port of Mersin using a Sennebogen electric drive material handler. Rehandling capacity is greater than before, and the work climate is continuously improving, the company says. Zübeyde Pamuk controls the joysticks in the Mastercab, seated 14 meters above the trucks that continuously deliver bauxite and dump it into containers. She expertly grabs the material and loads it into the 60,000 DWT (deadweight tonnage) hull of the Julia Oldendorff. In less than a minute, she has finished and signals to the next driver that she needs material faster. The Sennebogen 880 EQ offers an operating range of 35 meters and the equipment kinematics to transport scrap to ships such as the Julia Oldendorff, Sennebogen says. Depending on the grapple attachments, Pamuk and her colleagues can handle bauxite, coal, plaster, grain, wood chips or cement clinker. The 250-metric-ton machine allows a handling capacity of 1,500 metric tons per hour, reports Erkan Dogan, managing director of Ahtapot. Pamuk says that in the past, when working with port cranes using rope grapples in the past, she could achieve only half the handling quantity. Conversely, Pamuk says the hydraulic 880 EQ, is both fast and quiet, thanks to the electric drive. The machine also features Sennebogen’s Powerpack on the undercarriage, providing power to take the machine in for servicing. “We were promised that our operating costs would be cut virtually in half and handling capacity considerably increased. And we got both. The machine needs very little maintenance and servicing, thanks to the electric drive. Looking back, today we can say that it was the right decision. The material handler is very reliable and economical,” explains Dogan. “We also receive first-rate support from Forsen, the Sennebogen sales and service partner in Istanbul, whose employees stand behind the machine, its design and our company. That is the best guarantee of good service,” he adds.