Equipment company will display its sorting technology for packaging, metals and wood at German trade fair.
Germany-based Steinert GmbH will display equipment and conduct demonstrations to promote the latest iterations of its sorting technology for discarded packaging, scrap metal and scrap wood at the 2022 IFAT trade fair in Munich. The company says it also will provide information on its app for Steinert machinery owners.
Steinert says its sorting machines “help to recover pure and clean secondary raw materials, both when sorting streams of metal and during waste processing.” Its new app, the processing of nonferrous metals (including removing heavy metals), wood sorting and steel recycling will be “the main focal points” at its display in Hall B6 at the IFAT trade fair in Munich, May 30 to June 3. Several live presentations will take place on those topics.
When processing automotive shredder residue (ASR) and incineration bottom ash, Steinert says its sensor-based and magnetic technologies allow recyclable material to be sorted and put back into circulation. Steinert says its SteelMaster magnet can help create “the purest iron scrap from shredded scrap.”
In the C&D sector, the UniSort PR EVO 5.0 has a hyperspectral imaging (HSI) camera, designed to recognize and separate different types of wood. “When combined with AI-assisted sorting programs, it allows chipboard made from oriented strand board (OSB), medium-density fiberboard (MDF) or multiplex as well as fresh wood to be sorted by type from coated and painted wood,” the company staes.
The company says its mobile app, Steinert.view, allows customers to monitor their sensor-based sorting machines from any location. Customers can test the app on various devices while visiting the IFAT stand.
Steinert staff members will present new products and features at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. during the days the IFAT exhibition area is open.
Global waste and recycling association will convene in Singapore Sept. 21-23.
The Vienna-based International Solid Waste Association will be holding its 2022 World Congress at the Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre in Singapore Sept. 21-23.
ISWA describes the World Congress as “a global meeting [that] includes high-level plenaries, innovative solutions, technical site visits and business to business programs where waste management professionals, government officials, industry leaders, policy makers, scientists and young professionals meet to exchange views and opinions to advance scientific and technical knowledge for sustainable solid waste management.”
The global association’s regional host for the event is the Waste Management & Recycling Association of Singapore (WMRAS).
Fang Wei Goh, business development and training manager of the WMRAS, says “Don’t Waste Our Future” is the theme of the Singapore event, which she says “is scoped to highlight the importance of human impact to the environment, with targets to promote economic growth, increase efficiency in production and consumption, sustainably managing waste and resources and taking action to support climate change.”
Continues Goh, “In line with ISWA’s mission of promoting sustainable waste management worldwide and transitioning to a circular economy, the congress [serves] to bring together Individuals, organizations and governments worldwide that work toward a sustainable future.”
That, she adds, is “in line with ISWA’s vision where no waste exists and waste should be reused and reduced to a minimum, then collected, recycled, and treated properly.”
More information about the ISWA World Congress in Singapore can be found on this website.
Florida-based firm ranks fourth in a publication’s list of largest family-owned companies in central Florida.
Longwood, Florida-based Waste Pro has been named the fourth largest family-owned company in Central Florida, according to rankings compiled by regional publication the Orlando Business Journal.
John Jennings, board chair of Waste Pro, founded the company in 2001. The company describes him as “the son of an Irish immigrant who worked as a garbage man on Long Island, New York.”
Under John’s leadership, Waste Pro became a growing company, with its revenue expected to reach $900 million in 2022. Waste Pro currently operates in 11 Southeastern states and says it serves more than 2 million customers in that region while employing more than 4,000 people with a fleet of more than 3,000 trucks operating from 80 locations.
John Jennings’ son Sean Jennings followed in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps. “He grew up in the garbage business and, upon graduating from the University of Alabama, began his career working in collection and landfill disposal in Costa Rica for a year before returning to the United States,” says the company.
Sean continued to work in operations and landfill construction in Georgia and Mississippi before officially joining Waste Pro in 2014 as a division manager in the Tampa/Clearwater, Florida region, and later in Sarasota, Florida. He now serves as president and CEO.
In 2018, the Orlando Business Journal recognized Sean Jennings in its annual “40 Under 40” list.
“I’m proud to be recognized as a strong, family-owned company,” comments Sean Jennings. “We want our team to feel like they are more than just a cog in a machine. We want to recognize and reward our employees who get involved in their communities or practice safe habits – support them in a way that family does.”
The Orlando Business Journal also recognized Waste Pro as the third-largest privately owned company in Central Florida in 2021. That same year, Waste Today listed Waste Pro as the nation’s 12th largest waste hauler.
California sorting technology provider’s system at Des Moines, Iowa, facility includes screens, optical sorters and air drum separator.
CP Group, based in San Diego, has helped equip a new material recovery facility (MRF) commissioned by the Des Moines, Iowa-based Metro Waste Authority (MWA).
The California-based equipment and technology provider says MWA was challenged by an uncertain future after China adopted its National Sword policy banning the import of some scrap materials. The agency chose to develop a new MRF “to provide a sustainable solution” for the Des Moines metro area in response to the challenge.
MWA, which was established in 1969, offers solid waste and recycling services to more than 30 communities and two counties in the Des Moines region consisting of nearly 100,000 households. Its staff began discussions with its board of directors about a new, agency-owned recycling facility in 2018, as the disruptive aspects of National Sword were becoming clear.
“Metro Waste Authority has a strong history of solving industry problems with innovative solutions and, when it became difficult for our third-party processor to recycle the materials our Curb It! recycling program brought in, we dug deeper to create market partnerships and find a way to keep those materials out of the landfill,” says Michael McCoy, MWA executive director. “We knew that if we wanted to provide a sustainable future for recycling in the metro going forward, it would require a change in course for the processing and sale of material.”
After a feasibility study supported a new, technologically updated facility for the region, MWA’s board of directors decided to move forward with building a MRF owned and operated by the agency.
To create a successful program, MWA strived to emphasize advanced technology, strong partnerships and outstanding education as it developed the new facility.
The agency sought a partner to engineer, manufacture and install processing equipment in the new facility. After requesting proposed solutions from sorting system technology firms, MWA’s board selected CP Group. “CP Group understood our vision for an enhanced sorting system—one that would capture more material, reduce contamination and provide safe, pleasant working conditions for staff,” McCoy says.
CP Group developed a system designed to improve purity on recovered commodities, be low maintenance and protect workers.
At the front end of the system, a Primary Auger Screen and OCC Auger Screen work together after the infeed conveyor to fractionate material prior to being handled by manual sorters, “eliminating the presort and creating a safer environment,” CP Group says.
The Primary Auger Screen creates a 6-inch-minus fraction that sends overs to the patented OCC Auger Screen and unders to the CP Glass Breaker (which removes glass and fines) and then to the CPScreen that has new anti-wrapping discs to separate two-dimensional from three-dimensional material. MWA is the first in the world to incorporate the OCC Auger Screen into a single-stream sorting application, according to CP Group.
The patented OCC Auger Screen has steel cantilevered augers generating high agitation to create an OCC-rich stream while fractionating out smaller materials. “This machine does not wrap or jam and requires very little maintenance,” CP Group says.
The 8-inch cut sends unders, instead of going to instead of a traditional paper screen, to a Fibermax optical sorter made by CP subsidiary company MSS. The MSS Fibermax sorts out contaminants, while overs go to the OCC quality control area, where large rigids, metals and residue are pulled out.
Additionally, a CP LightsOut Air Drum Separator cleans the glass, and two MSS Plasticmax units sort containers.
Also installed in Des Moines are CP’s new auger silos, designed to maximize silo storage volumes. The augers act as a material metering system that eliminates half- and quarter-sized bales by emptying the correct amount of material to be baled.
“This advanced equipment package from CP Group reduces contamination early in the sorting process, allowing us to produce the best output for material sales and supporting the strong partnerships we’ve cultivated with brokers and end-market users,” McCoy says.
In addition to establishing a state-of-the-art recycling operation, the new recycling facility also builds upon MWA’s commitment to education by including space dedicated to learning. The space features a permanent exhibit that includes educational kiosks, interactive infographics and a hands-on sorting station for visitors of all ages to learn about accepted recyclables and the recycling process. The center also boasts an observation deck above the sorting floor, a mural designed by a local artist and multipurpose space intended for community talks, presentations and other meetings.
“The facility is the result of collaboration and a shared philosophy by the cities and county, and it will improve recycling and benefit communities throughout the state for years to come,” McCoy says. “Just like when our agency was formed to create a regional approach with one landfill, we are excited to have this same opportunity with recycling.”
MWA officially began operations at the MRF in late 2021. The new 101,100-square-foot single-stream facility processes material at 25 tons per hour and has room to grow as the region’s needs for enhanced recycling processing evolve.
“Metro Waste Authority has a MRF to be proud of, and we are happy to be their partner in bringing the latest innovations in recycling technology to the region,” says Terry Schneider, president and CEO of CP Group. “This facility will serve the greater Des Moines metro area with sustainable solutions for many years to come.”
Facility has been designed to produce 120,000 tons of recycled-content aluminum annually.
Norway-based aluminum producer Norsk Hydro ASA has broken ground on an aluminum recycling plant in Cassopolis, Michigan. The plant has been designed to produce some 120,000 metric tons of aluminum extrusion ingot per year, using what Hydro calls 75 percent postconsumer scrap.
Hydro’s President and CEO Hilde Merete Aasheim was among those present at a ceremony held in Cassopolis April 20. Hydro says it will invest an estimated $150 million to complete the project. The ingots made there will be used in automotive applications, other transportation uses, consumer and building system applications, the firm says.
“Aluminum is a key enabler in the green transition,” Aasheim says. “Recycling aluminum scrap reduces energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions whilst promoting a more circular economy. Our plant in Cassopolis will be an example of sustainability and profitability going hand in hand.”
The Cassopolis plant will be the first large-scale producer of Hydro Circal in North America. That branded aluminum extrusion ingot contains at least 75 percent postconsumer scrap, certified by third-party auditors, and has what Hydro calls a market-leading CO2 footprint. “With a growing focus on sustainably produced aluminum, several North American customers have expressed interest in Hydro Circal,” the company says.
Hydro calls itself a leader in low-carbon recycled aluminum and says it can expand that status by bringing Hydro Circal to the United States market
“Our state-of-the-art technology allows us to dig deep in the scrap pile and re-create value by bringing low-value scrap types back to life as value-added products to demanding customers whilst supporting them in delivering on their sustainability ambitions,” says Eivind Kallevik, an executive vice president with Hydro.
Hydro predicts aluminum will play an even greater role in electric vehicles, and it has set up shop in Michigan because that is where it estimates some 90 percent of automotive suppliers have a presence. “Hydro has been in business for as long as Michigan has been making cars,” Kallevik says.
He continues, “The automotive industry is where the benefits of lightweight and infinitely recyclable aluminum really can make a difference to consumers looking to reduce transport costs and emissions. We are seeing interest from several aluminum extrusion companies and leading OEMs and look forward to partnering with them to further expand production of automotive products with our new capabilities at Cassopolis.”
While the company is piloting technology in Germany that will allow it to use a wider array of obsolete scrap, Gjellesvik says the Michigan site does not include plans to deploy similar separation and sorting technology currently. Instead, he says, Hydro is working with different partners to procure end-of-life scrap, with further developments in the area of scrap sorting occurring in the future at the current site in Cassopolis or nearby.
Gjellesvik says Hydro will be purchasing primarily 6000-series alloy obsolete scrap for use at the site, including aluminum wheels and power cables, as well as postindustrial scrap from extrusion-producing facilities.
"We typically like to work directly with the scrap providers" rather than brokers, he says. Hydro is in discussions with many scrap processors that have shredding capabilities, Gjellesvik adds.
From 40 percent to 50 percent of the site's scrap will be postindustrial material with some primary ingot from Canada used as a "sweetener," he says. This primary aluminum will be produced using hydropower to lessen the carbon footprint of the products produced on-site.
Operations at the site are expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2023.
At the groundbreaking ceremony, Hydro says it was joined by guests from local and state government, the Norwegian embassy to the U.S., industry partners and potential customers. Guests included Congressman Tim Walberg (MI-7); Norwegian ambassador to the United States Anniken Ramberg Krutnes; Charles Johnson, president of The Aluminum Association; Emilie LaGrow and David Johnson from the Village of Cassopolis; and Bob Hance, president and CEO of electricity provider Midwest Energy & Communications.
*This story was updated April 25 to include comments from Trond Gjellesvik, North American president of Hydro Aluminum Metals.