Page 19 from: December 2007

N E W S
Recycling International • December 2007 19
The wisdom of youth
A little boy and his grandfather are raking leaves in the yard. The lit-
tle boy finds an earthworm trying to get back into its hole. He says:
‘Grandpa, I bet I can put that worm back in that hole.’ The grandfather
replies: ‘I’ll bet you five dollars you can’t. It’s too wiggly and limp to put
back in that little hole.’
The little boy runs into the house and returns with a can of hair-
spray. He sprays the worm until it’s as stiff as a board and easily puts it
back in the hole.
The grandfather hands the little boy five dollars, grabs the hairspray
and runs into the house. Thirty minutes later, the grandfather comes
back out and hands the little boy another five dollars.
The little boy says: ‘But Grandpa, you already gave me five dollars.’
The grandfather replies: ‘I know. That’s from your grandma.’
Ben Sacco’s
Joke of the Month
Sponsored by
• Sierra International
Machinery, Inc.
www.sierraintl.com
• Sierra Europe
Recycling
www.sierraeurope.com
Researchers have found a new
way of separating the different types
of shredded plastic parts from end-
of-life-vehicles (ELVs). In co-opera-
tion with Japanese vehicle manufac-
turer Toyota and German waste
technology specialist Sicon, the
Fraunhofer Institute for Process
Engineering and Packaging IVV in
Freising, Germany, has developed
the so-called CreaSolv process.
When compressed into granulate,
the plastic in auto shredder residue
(ASR) is usually too indiscriminately
mixed to permit any further use and
is normally employed as a reduction
agent in blast furnaces. But accord-
ing to the researchers, the new
process could enable granulated
plastic to be recovered and trans-
formed into dashboards and other
car parts. ‘We have developed a spe-
cial solvent that removes a particular
type of plastic from the granulate –
the polyolefins used to make air filter
housings, shock absorbers and side
panels,’ says IVV Project Manager
Martin Schlummer. ‘While this type
of polymer dissolves in the solvent,
the other plastics remain in the gran-
ulate.’ The solvent is separated from
the polyolefin and re-used.
The CreaSolv process is said to be
so effective as a cleaner that scien-
tists can also remove any toxins with
which the polymer may have come
into contact during shredding. Using
this technology, the overall recycling
rate for ELVs ‘can be increased to
over 90%’, claims Mr Schlummer.
www.fraunhofer.de
New route to reclaiming
plastics from ASR
Bartin acquired by Veolia
Veolia Environmental Services
has acquired the Bartin Recycling
Group, France’s third-largest fer-
rous and non-ferrous metals recov-
ery and recycling company. Bartin
generated revenues of Euro 249 mil-
lion (US$ 364 million) last year and
recycles around 780 000 tonnes of
metals per annum.
Denis Gasquet, Chief Executive
Officer of Veolia Environmental
Services, comments: ‘This acquisi-
tion adds to and strengthens our
capabilities and capacities in the
recycling of metals at a time when
these raw materials are of growing
importance in tense international
markets.’
According to the company,
the acquisition gives Veolia
Environmental Services a commer-
cial structure and top-quality indus-
trial technical equipment located
mainly in the central and northern
regions of France and in the Greater
Paris area. Bartin Recycling Group’s
clients include many major industri-
al companies, for which it recycles
production scrap. The company is
also involved in aircraft recycling.
Metso acquires US
equipment supplier
Global engineering and technology
corporation Metso has further
strengthened its metal recycling inter-
ests with the acquisition of Mueller
Engineering Inc (MEI) of New Berlin,
Wisconsin, USA, for approximately
Euro 6 million (US$ 8.66 million).
Mueller Engineering specialises
in servicing drive motors and related
equipment critical to the functioning
of shredders. In addition to North
America, MEI has customers in
Asia-Pacific, South America, South
Africa and Europe.
Tuwairqi Steel to start
production in 2009
Initiated by Saudi steel producer Al Tuwairqi Group, some 90% of the
civil work on the Tuwairqi Steel Mills Limited project in Pakistan has been
completed and the facility is scheduled to start production in January 2009.
The first phase of the project – involving the installation of a Direct Reduced
Iron (DRI) plant – will cost some US$ 197 million (Euro 140 million).
According to Project Director Zaigham Adil Rizvi, around US$ 300 million
(Euro 204 million) will be spent in phase two on setting up the melt shop.
Electric arc furnaces are slated to produce 1.28 million tonnes of liquid steel
per annum. The furnaces will be charged with direct reduced iron and scrap.
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RI_007 NEWS:Opmaak 1 06-12-2007 14:25 Pagina 19