Page 10 from: April 2008

The Chinese government has clari-
fied that a plastic waste import ban
will be restricted to used agricultural
film and to plastic bags, films and net
collected from households or munici-
pal waste. As a result, European and
US waste plastic traders can heave a
sigh of relief, according to Surendra
Borad, Managing Director of
Belgium-based Gemini Corporation
NV and Chairman of the Bureau of
International Recycling’s Plastics
Committee.

China’s SEPA environment min-
istry added plastic waste to the list
of goods which are banned for import
via regulations introduced on March
1. SEPA states in a note to BIR: ‘We
believe the new lists will affect very
slightly waste transboundary move-
ment.’ According to the ministry, all
waste shipments with existing
SEPA licences will be accepted with-
out problem so long as they meet

environmental standards imple-
mented in China three years ago.

In related news, China’s largest
producer of plastic bags, Huaqiang
of Henan province, is understood to
have closed down shortly after the
government announced in January
a high-profile ban on stores handing
out free bags. The factory, which
belongs to Guangzhou-based
Nanqiang Plastic Industrial Ltd,
was capable of producing 250 000
tonnes of plastic bags each year
worth more than US$ 300 million.

The ban comes into effect on June
1 – two months before Beijing hosts
the Olympic Games – and is
designed to eliminate the flimsiest
carriers and force stores to change to
more durable bags.

Members of the ISRI and BIR can
read the details of the import ban on
their websites www.isri.org and
www.bir.org

N E W S

Recycling International • April 2008 10

Shipping of discarded agricultural film and
plastic bags to China is banned as of June 1

China clarifies plastic
waste import ban

Approval for EAF dust project
UK zinc processor ZincOx has

received the final permit from the
Ohio Environmental Protection
Agency to enable it to start up an elec-
tric arc furnace dust (EAFD) recycling
project in the US state to complement
a sister project in Turkey. ZincOx’s
Chairman Andrew Woollett com-

ments: ‘ZincOx and its supporting
partners have made excellent
progress on the project, and the
award of this permit is a major mile-
stone towards successful completion.’

The company, which is headquar-
tered at Bagshot in Surrey, is plan-
ning to treat EAFD using a rotary

hearth furnace (RHF) for the pro-
duction of impure zinc concentrate
(HZO) and pig iron. The HZO will be
treated at ZincOx’s Big River
smelter in the USA to produce zinc
metal while the pig iron will be used
in steel production within Ohio.

ZincOx says that an economic

model has been generated for a fur-
nace treating 200 000 tonnes per
year of EAFD, deriving an estimated
45 000 tonnes of zinc contained with-
in the impure concentrate. The cur-
rent schedule envisages production
commencing in the third quarter of
this year.

AERT opens plastics
processing facility

In order to reclaim post-industrial
plastic materials for use in the com-
pany’s building products, Advanced
Environmental Recycling Technologies,
Inc (AERT) has opened a plastics recy-
cling plant at Watts, Oklahoma, USA.
Designed to LEED standards, the new
facility will clean, process, analyse and
reformulate polyethylene.

Joe Brooks, AERT’s outgoing
Chief Executive Officer, has received
the Oklahoma Governor’s Award in
honour of the company’s major
investment in the state’s growing
economy and its commitment to a

lasting partnership with the State of
Oklahoma. ‘The Native American
community has lived on this land for
hundreds of years and left only a
small footprint,’ says Mr Brooks.
‘That’s what this factory is built to
do. Preserve what part of nature we
have and reuse what we can for a
greater good.’

In addition to providing AERT
with low-cost raw materials in an
environmentally-friendly manner,
the plant will also create a signifi-
cant number of new jobs.

www.aertinc.com

Major e-waste recycling
deal in the UK

UK water, sewerage and waste
management group Pennon has
extended its interest in the recycling
market with the purchase of Shore
Recycling of Perth in Scotland – a
processor of refrigerators and other
electrical items. Pennon is paying
£23 million (US$ 46 million) for the
business, which will be integrated
into Pennon’s subsidiary, Viridor
Waste Management Limited.

According to Shore Recycling, its
annual recycling capacity amounts to
600 000 fridges, 600 000 cathode ray
tubes and 40 000 tonnes of small
electrical and electronic appliances.
With modern recycling facilities in
Perth and Manchester, the company
handles a full range of waste electri-
cal and electronic equipment
(WEEE). In January this year, Shore

Recycling acquired WEEE process-
ing specialist M Baker Recycling of
St Helens in England after the latter
ran into financial difficulties.

Of the acquisition, Viridor’s Chief
Executive Colin Drummond says:
‘The UK’s waste strategy demands
ever-increasing levels of recycling,
particularly now in the area of waste
electrical and electronic equipment.
Shore has an excellent track record
in leading the way in this market in
the north of the UK and is well
placed to capitalise on this opportu-
nity. The acquisition has an excel-
lent geographic and business fit with
Viridor’s existing operations and is
expected to be earnings enhancing
before amortisation of intangibles in
its first full year.’

www.pennon-group.co.uk

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