Belgium-based Ad Rem says its Vulture can add $75 per metric ton in value to mixed metals.

Menen, Belgium-based Ad Rem says its new Vulture heavy media plant offers a “compact and efficient installation” system for the separation of metals in zorba and incinerator bottom ash (IBA).

Ad Rem says, according to one recent study, the global market for aluminum scrap will vastly expand over the next five years, with an expected annual growth rate of more than 7 percent. Zorba, which is a nonferrous shredded metal mix containing predominantly aluminum, is one of the major sources from which more aluminum scrap can be extracted. Ad Rem says its Vulture can help with the task.

In the Vulture process, zorba or IBA is separated by means of a flotation drum operating at a density of 3,000 kilograms per cubic meter, or 5,050 pounds per cubic yard, using ferro-silicon (FeSi) as a medium. The aluminum floats and is ejected at the front of the drum. The sinking fraction, consisting of red and heavy metals, is transported through the drum and evacuated at the back. The medium is drained from the material in baskets connected to the medium drum, and the material is rinsed on vibratory screens. An internal water treatment system maintains what Ad Rem calls a clean closed loop rinsing circuit. The system has a capacity of from 10 to 40 metric tons per hour.

Ad Rem says its design team focused on reducing the medium consumption, saving 5 kilograms of FeSi for every metric ton of zorba material, when compared to many other flotation systems. This effectively enables recyclers to save more than $300,000 worth of FeSi annually for a 10-metric-tons-per-hour system, says the company.

“By separating zorba or IBA into aluminum and heavy metals, we can create an added value of at least $75 per metric ton,” says Brian Noppe, general manager at Ad Rem. “It also avoids sending zorba to China, helping the environment and the local economy,” he adds.

Ad Rem says many of its predecessor heavy media plants are currently in operation throughout Europe. “With their high efficiency, they have proven to be capable of producing a very high-grade aluminum concentrate requiring only a marginal operating cost,” says Noppe, adding, “With the Vulture, Ad Rem is ready to tackle the ever-increasing demand for clean aluminum scrap.”

Ad Rem NV was founded as a joint venture between Menen-based equipment maker Valvan Baling Systems and Menen-based recycler Group Galloo. Active since 2008, the company designs and supplies machines for feeding, treating and separating scrap and waste materials.

A recycler asks whether more processing in developed nations can help keep plastic out of the ocean.

I’m surprised to find out that less than 10 percent of the wonder material, plastic, is recycled each year. [According to study published in July 2017 the journal Science Advances.] I lined up alongside many others to contemplate with alarm the possibility that plastic will outweigh fish in the ocean by 2050! I’m keen to discuss what can be done to make sure this dire prediction never happens, but first a comment or two on why it’s there.

Prior to getting personally involved in plastic recycling, as a naive consumer I felt morally righteous to see the magic recycling triangle on the bottom of my squeezy honey bottle, as I spread its contents on my toast, in blissful ignorance to what “widely recycled” actually means. I’ve learned two things about this that have made me feel very uncomfortable.

Recycling, to the ill-informed old me, meant that my bottle was going to become another bottle and then another bottle, round and round the recycling loop. Sadly this, it turns out, is rather unlikely since the vast majority of plastic that is recycled becomes a lower grade material. My squeezy honey bottle is thus much more likely to end up as fabric and a milk bottle to become a timber replacement product, such as a railway sleeper or sheet material used in the building sector.

But this “cascade recycling” or “down cycling” as its often called, is not a bad thing. On the whole, it is good. It allows the material to have another life, but, at the end of this new life this material seems to be un-recyclable and suitable only for fueling an energy from waste plant. Well, until now that is, as the new approach of “chemical recycling” or “feedstock recycling” can give even this low-grade material a fresh start, as technology means we can turn such material into clean hydrocarbons that can used as feedstock for the production of new polymers.

The second thing I have learned about “widely recycled” is, in my mind, alarming. Living in the United Kingdom, I imagined a factory in say Birmingham doing this recycling, turning what they could into recycled pellets and responsibly paying to send the rest to an energy-from-waste facility. The reality is that 67 percent of the U.K.’s 2016 “recycled” achievement actually meant “put on a ship bound for the East Asia.” And the EU figures are not too dissimilar. Lay alongside this the list of the world’s worst ocean polluters: China, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand. An Ocean Conservancy report states that these countries account for 60 percent of plastic going into the ocean each year. Now I’m not saying that everything we send to Asia ends up in the ocean, but how certain are we that an appreciable amount does not?

This “exported” is equivalent to “recycling” construct begs the question: Why export this resource at all? Do they have technology in Asia that allows them to separate, wash and granulate more efficiently or more effectively than we can do in the EU? If not, then the reasons for sending it make me feel very uneasy as I munch on my honey-laden toast. If not a technological advantage their ability to recycle our material more economically than us at home has to be they are prepared to use low-cost labor to sort through this material by hand, avoiding the cost of the technology, or because there is no cost to the recycler for disposing of the material that they can’t recycle or a combination of both.

Whichever way you look at it, “widely recycled” cannot categorically be dissociated with plastic in the ocean. It’s within our ability to do something about this. We could keep the economic value of this material at home, create the jobs to recycle it where it has been used and, in the process, gain certainty that our material is not exacerbating the plastic ocean situation.

So rather than looking disapprovingly at the ocean polluting statistics from the five Asian countries, perhaps we do well to remember the Biblical question, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” Let’s agree to work together to recycle our resources at home.

The author is the founder and CEO of United Kingdom-based Recycling Technologies , which converts plastic scrap into fuel oils, recycled-content liquid polymers and waxes.

July updates name companies facing import scrap restrictions and suspensions.

China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) has begun posting to its website the names of recycling companies and manufacturers that have been found to fail inspections pertaining to how they handle imported scrap materials.

In the overall month-long inspection effort, as of July 22, 2017, MEP says “a total of 1,556 enterprises were examined [and] 954 companies cited for proposed punishment, accounting for 61 percent of the total number of enterprises.”

The update posted to the MEP’s website July 24, 2017, states that most recently, “Sixty inspection teams [were sent] to check a total of 77 enterprises and found 43 enterprises suspected of environmental violations.” The inspection teams also have “put forward the proposed handling of punishment” in those cases, the MEP says.

Each of those 43 companies found in violation is then listed by the MEP, in a rundown that includes the company’s name, location and violations cited by the inspection team. Some violations involve machinery allegedly installed without proper licensing, while others are as minor as missing signage.

Examples from the last two detailed MEP reports posted include:

Recyclers who wish to remain anonymous say they are experiencing or know of other companies that are experiencing postinspection penalties that include scrap import restrictions or suspensions lasting either six months or one full year.

Bill Bryan will lead supply chain efforts, which include TimkenSteel’s recycling subsidiary.

Canton, Ohio-based TimkenSteel has announced several executive personnel changes, including a new appointee who will oversee the steelmaker’s scrap recycling operations.

In mid-July 2017, TimkenSteel announced that Bill Bryan has been named executive vice president of manufacturing and supply chain, a position that includes responsibility for the company’s metal recycling subsidiary. This position also includes overseeing the company's supply chain, information technology and overall manufacturing operations duties, areas which Bryan has been overseeing for several years.

Other leadership changes announced by TimkenSteel include the retirement of Shawn Seanor, executive vice president of sales and business development. Also, Tom Moline is assuming the role of executive vice president of commercial operations.

“I speak for the entire organization in thanking Shawn for his contributions over 33 years of distinguished service,” says Tim Timken, chairman, CEO and president of the firm. “Shawn has helped strengthen our leadership in niche markets that value our clean steel and has built strong personal and technical relationships with our customers.”

Regarding the promotions for Bryan and Moline, Timken comments, “Tom and Bill worked closely with Shawn over the last year in developing a broader growth strategy for the company. These leadership changes will further fuel the execution of that strategy.”

He continues, “In assuming responsibility for manufacturing, Bill will further integrate supply chain and operations to gain even greater efficiency while maintaining a primary focus on safety, quality and service.”

TimkenSteel uses scrap-fed electric arc furnace steelmaking technology to create tailored steel products and services, including large alloy steel bars and seamless mechanical tubing made of special bar quality (SBQ) steel. TimkenSteel operates warehouses and sales offices in five countries but makes all its steel in the U.S. The company posted sales of $870 million in 2016.

FRED software adds blockchain features to connect recycling supply chain.

FRED (Fast Remote Entry of Data), which its developer Increase Computers says is the most widely used recycling software in the United Kingdom, is incorporating blockchain technology into its product “to help connect parties involved in the recycling supply chain, from supplier and shipper right through to port operator.”

The integration is happening as part of a proof of concept trial being conducted by Marine Transport International (MTI), the developer of blockchain-enabled technology for the container logistics industry. In the trial, FRED software used by Welshpool, U.K.-based scrap company Parry & Evans Recycling captures data from shipments including weight, container number, commodity, seal number, piece count, load and container imagery, Annex VII documents, port of call and truck driver details.

Through MTI’s blockchain connection, this information is then shared with the hauler, shipper, port operator and ocean carrier “instantly,” according to a press release from MTI. Without the connection to the blockchain network, all the data would need to be uploaded into the individual parties’ systems, entailing dozens of emails and ways of formatting the information, says MTI.

“By incorporating blockchain into a live process, we’re tapping into a major opportunity to help the recycling industry hugely simplify the way it transports material,” says Phil Short, managing director of Increase Computers. “There has been a huge amount of hype about blockchain – with this proof of concept we’re involved in a real, practical application with significant global potential.”

After the trial, Increase says it intends to offer the feature to its customer base, which includes many of the largest recyclers in the U.K. “We now own a plug-in to the MTI network, which means we can support our customers to share their shipment information with everyone involved in the supply chain,” says Short. “The beauty of MTI’s technology is that it can integrate with other systems, so while it’s preferable that everyone is part of the same network, if they aren’t, we can still connect with them via EDIFACT [Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport, established by the United Nations], and take out the laborious process of booking shipments and moving recovered materials.”

Comments Jody Cleworth, CEO of MTI, “FRED is the U.K. market leader in recycled materials software, and we’re delighted to be partnering with them on this proof of concept to demonstrate the practical application of our blockchain technology in the recycling supply chain. Working with Phil and his team has meant we’re able to share all the data shippers, carriers, haulers and ports need to process shipments, without the accompanying workload. The shipping of recovered materials is necessarily heavily regulated, and we’ve had a real impact in simplifying the process while remaining compliant. The potential savings in time and money for less regulated commodities is huge.”

Woking, U.K-based MTI, which also has an office in New Jersey, says it specializes in moving cargo around the world by bringing technology and logistics together.

Gateshead, U.K.-based Increase Computers developed recycling-specific software FRED in the 1980s, with the latest version having been released in 2012. FRED is now operated by more than 500 users daily, according to Increase.