Recycler Altech says it expects new shredder to increase its recovery rates for several materials.
With 10.3 million tonnes of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) produced every year in the European Union, WEEE is posing a growing environmental and compliance challenge for the recycling industry. As little as one-third of generated WEEE is collected for processing throughout the EU each year.
One firm in the south of England is attempting to make strides in the WEEE sector and has invested considerably in technology it says will boost its WEEE recovery, recycling and revenue figures.
With more than 30 years’ industry experience, Altech Trading Co. is no stranger to the nuances of WEEE recycling. Predominantly handling redundant telecoms infrastructure and information technology (IT) devices ranging from servers to circuit boards, Altech’s secure facility in Southend-on-Sea, England, has been designed to provide a turnkey WEEE recycling service from collection to disposal.
The company’s focus is to ensure legislative and environmental compliance for its clients. By typically processing some 2,500 tonnes of WEEE per year, Altech says it strives to maximise recycling rates for optimum sustainability and revenue yield.
Altech says it has demonstrated its commitment to the local processing of WEEE materials with a recent investment in a shredder and downstream sorting system.
“WEEE is one of the world’s fastest growing waste streams, largely because of continued technological innovation in an era of ‘must have’ gadgets and appliances,” says Altech Managing Director Colin Warren. “Also, as disappointing as this sounds, we live in a somewhat ‘throwaway’ society. Yes, there are many people who will invest in the repair of electrical equipment when things go wrong, but there are also plenty others who will simply dispose of the device in favour of a new replacement.”
Like many WEEE recyclers, Altech has acknowledged that whilst people may no longer have a use for an electrical item, that doesn’t mean the equipment has reached its end of life. In fact, even if the device itself is no longer functional, it can still retain significant value.
The team has therefore worked hard to establish a best-practice process to liberate the high-worth composite materials found within WEEE. High-grade units are manually stripped for optimum recyclate extraction, but this approach alone is not enough. That’s why, alongside this labour-intensive process, Altech also mechanically breaks down some of its WEEE items. This aids the further sorting and segregation of precious metals and other commodities that would otherwise remain difficult to recover.
On this mechanical processing side, Altech’s first asset investment was a second-hand hammer-mill-style shredder. The company says the machine couldn’t achieve the particle refinement necessary to support an efficient recyclate recovery process.
The Altech team therefore went back to the drawing board, and further marketplace research brought it to the high-torque, slow-speed shredder design.
The company researched several brands that could provide four-shaft, high-torque machines, searching for precision cutters and screens that could achieve “a more sophisticated shred than if the WEEE was simply shattered with the hammer.”
Altech eventually selected an RS100 model shredder made by Austria-based UNTHA. The second-largest of UNTHA’s four-shaft machines, UNTHA says the RS100 is built to withstand tough applications but is equipped with a shredding system that can achieve fraction homogeneity “down to the millimetre.”
Because every shredding scenario is different, the RS100 is built to be configured. So, on the basis of the requirements outlined during initial discussions, UNTHA’s Austrian headquarters specified what it determined was the best blade configuration for Altech’s complex WEEE application. But as the heavyweight shredder processed the varied and multifaceted waste streams, the cutters became less effective after 400 hours.
UNTHA’s WEEE shredding specialists therefore visited the site to re-evaluate the machine set-up. A new cutter configuration was devised and installed and, more than 12 months later, the blades are still in successful operation.
Devices ranging from modems and servers to computer towers and telecoms modules are all processed in the RS100, at a rate of up to 1.5 tonnes per hour. The machine’s capacity could allow for greater throughputs, but with a keen eye on quality, says Altech, the firm is “keen to not overwhelm the downstream sorting equipment within the plant.”
The particle size can be adjusted by using different screen configurations. When the WEEE fraction exits the discharge conveyor, it then travels past an overband magnet to extract ferrous metals, an eddy current separator (ECS) to remove the circuit boards from nonferrous materials and an optical sorter to clean anything that the ECS hasn’t already refined.
“The RS100 now feeds our downstream segregation equipment with a high-quality, homogenous fraction that can be handled with ease,” says Warren. “These segregated material streams are then sent for recycling [melting], with steel and aluminium handled in the U.K., for example, and precious metals refined in Germany.”
Warren continues, “Whilst this project was far from straightforward, operators within our industry need to work harder to tackle the mounting problem that complex WEEE presents. I am delighted that we now have a sophisticated, easy-to-use shredding system in place that has improved our recyclate recovery rates and presented us with new business opportunities.”
Altech’s recycling throughputs have risen dramatically since the system was installed, and further company growth is projected over the next 12 months, according to the firm.
“We have been very ambitious in our attempts to change the face of WEEE recycling, and, whilst such difficult projects don’t always go 100% right the first time, our continued perseverance, plus the knowledge and tenacity of the UNTHA team, has meant we now have a comprehensive shredding system in place,” says Warren. He adds, “This isn’t the end of our recycling story – in fact it is the very beginning.”
Palfinger will focus on manufacturing and marketing its core business.
The Palfinger Group has announced the restructuring of its business in North America, which includes an agreement to transfer its four service body distribution and upfitting business to Reading Truck Group. The four PalFleet sites are located in Council Bluffs, Iowa; Indianapolis; Louisville, Kentucky; and Nashville, Tennessee. The transaction is expected to close in March 2017.
With the sale, Omaha Standard LLC will exit the service body business in North America. The company says it plans to focus its efforts on manufacturing and marketing Palfinger’s core products, including the Palfinger brand PAL Pro Mechanics bodies, telescopic service cranes and liftgates. The future strategic direction of PalFleet will include a strong focus on these core products, in addition to the sales, installation and service of Palfinger articulating cranes and truck-mounted forklifts through its remaining locations.
The service body has been part of the Palfinger product portfolio since 2008, when it was acquired as part of the Omaha Standard. In the course of Palfinger’s restructuring measures launched last year, the decision was made to optimize the product portfolio and focus on its core business. The transaction with Reading Truck Group will support the restructuring process.
For Reading Truck Group, the acquisition of the four PalFleet locations increases the number of facilities it owns to 14 in 11 states.
“The acquisition of these PalFleet locations expands chassis pool availability in the Midwest, enhances service accessibility and elevates brand awareness, from which all Reading distributors can benefit,” says Tom Reynolds, president of Reading Truck Group.
Reading Truck Group, Reading, Pennsylvania, designs, engineers, manufactures and markets service/utility truck bodies, as well as other vocational truck bodies and related truck equipment.
Customers turning in qualified refrigerators or freezers will receive $35 toward the purchase of a new appliance.
Appliance Recycling Centers of America Inc. (ARCA) Minneapolis, has announced a partnership with Focus on Energy, Wisconsin's statewide energy efficiency and renewable energy program, to relaunch the group’s appliance recycling program. Through the program, customers can schedule a free pickup of old, working refrigerators or freezers. Appliances will be recycled and disposed of in an environmentally friendly way. Customers will be awarded $35 per qualifying refrigerator or freezer recycled by ARCA.
"ARCA is proud to work with Focus on Energy to serve Wisconsin residents, where this program will prevent recyclable materials in old appliances from entering the waste stream and landfills," says JP Harper, ARCA senior vice president and chief operating officer. "There are huge environmental benefits associated with recycling refrigerators and freezers, including reduced energy consumption and responsible management of hazardous materials. We look forward to this program making an impact in Wisconsin and helping reduce electric bills for state residents."
"Appliance Recycling is a program that has always been in high demand from both customers and our utility partners," says Andrea Hansen, Focus on Energy's marketing and communications director. "We are excited to be offering this program again as part of our residential portfolio."
To receive the $35, refrigerators and freezers must be in working order and between 10 and 30 cubic feet. Minirefrigerators do not quality for the award.
Two units are allowed per household, per year.
To schedule a pickup, click here.
Organization leverages holiday to increase battery recycling awareness and education.
Call2Recycle Inc., North America's first and largest consumer battery stewardship and recycling organization with headquarters in Atlanta and Toronto, is encouraging consumers across the U.S. and Canada to Lead the Charge on National Battery Day, Feb. 18, 2017, by collecting and recycling used batteries. National Battery Day is a celebration of the vital role batteries play in our everyday lives while also drawing attention to the ease and importance of recycling them at the end of their useful lives. In a recent Nielsen survey commissioned by Call2Recycle, only 4 out of 10 North American consumers classify themselves as battery recyclers. For many, one of the main barriers to recycling is not knowing how or where to recycle certain items.
Call2Recycle says battery recycling is increasingly important to:
Call2Recycle is teaming up with its numerous battery collection partners to raise consumer awareness of how and where to properly dispose of old batteries. Through its network of collection partners and industry stewards, battery recycling is designed to be easy and convenient. The Call2Recycle program ensures that batteries and cellphones are collected and responsibly recycled, thereby keeping potentially hazardous materials from entering the waste stream, the organization says. The Call2Recycle program is designed to make it easy to be a responsible battery user with its network of more than 30,000 drop-off locations including community centers, depots and retail stores that many consumers may visit regularly, such as Best Buy, Jean Coutu, London Drugs, Lowe's, Staples, The Home Depot and more. When your batteries run out, find a battery collection site to recycle them by visiting www.call2recycle.org/locator. "Batteries afford us many every day conveniences and are essential in powering our daily lives, and this freedom to go unplugged comes with a responsibility," says Linda Gabor, vice president of marketing and customer service at Call2Recycle Inc. "Eighty-eight percent of North Americans live within 10 miles of a Call2Recycle drop-off location – a convenient and effective way for people to get involved in recycling not just on National Battery Day but all year long." The battery stewardship organization recently announced that a record-setting 14 million pounds of batteries and cellphones were collected throughout the U.S. and Canada in 2016. This significant milestone marks the 20th consecutive year of increased collections by Call2Recycle, contributing to the 129 million pounds of batteries diverted from landfills and responsibly recycled over the past two decades.
India’s ministries are introducing several online services to change the way the government interacts with importers, but on the ground logistics challenges remain.
India’s import and export community is getting familiar with an alphabet soup of initiatives being introduced by India’s customs and transportation ministries in their attempts to make international commerce in that nation easier.
Attendees of a logistics-focused session at the 2017 Paper Recycling Conference India, held in February in Mumbai, heard about port clearance and customs initiatives designed to allow traders and consumers of scrap paper to get raw materials to each other faster.
Sharat Chandrayan of CONCOR said the Indian shipping firm operates the largest rail freight network in India and has been investing to increase the capacity and speed of its inland routes. In particular, CONCOR has been setting up a Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) between Mumbai and Delhi to reduce the average journey time for rail freight between those two cities from 48 hours to 24 hours.
The DFC also includes the construction of industrial parks, known as multi-modal logistic parks (MMPLs), with warehouse and assembly space, says Chandrayan. He says those in the paper recycling and paper converting chain will be encouraged to locate there. “That is the essence of the MMPLs,” he commented.
CONCOR also is involved with setting up the DPD (Direct Port Delivery) program, which Chandrayan says is designed “to cut out the fat” between the shipping lines and end customers. With its intention to “cut down the layers” of the shipping process, the DPD system already has captured 50% of the market, said the CONCOR vice president.
Sohel Khazani of Mumbai-based Bharat Freight said the DPD can continue to grow its market share, as prior criteria that reserved the service for higher-volume shippers has been dropped.
He said several “gaps” remain in India’s shipping and logistics systems, including India’s crowded holiday schedules, roadway congestion (especially leading to and from seaports), and a lack of training on how to use new online interfaces set up by government ministries and shipping lines.
Anil Radhakrishnan, CEO of Gurgaon, India-based Adani Logistics Ltd., cited the 2016-2017 Indian government fiscal year budget of 2.41 trillion rupees ($36 billion) for infrastructure development as one reason why he feels “there is a concerted effort” to reduce logistics costs in the nation. “They are listening,” he said of government officials.
Radhakrishnan also pointed to India’s unifying goods and services tax (GST) structure as another reason to be optimistic. “That is a positive—a government that is willing to listen and is ready to move.”
S.C. Joshi of Mumbai-based Ajay Logistics Pvt. Ltd. urged conference delegates to consider the transportation sector as “a partner to the paper industry.”
Nonetheless, with shipping lines consolidating and some routes now with reduced capacity after the Hanjin bankruptcy, “the cost of freight will be going high,” stated Joshi.
Conference delegates confirmed that point of view in the question-and-answer and discussion periods afterward, with several expressing concerns that shipping costs have made it impossible for mills to buy imported recovered fibre in early 2017.
The 2017 Paper Recycling Conference India was 6 and 7 February at The Leela Hotel in Mumbai.