Page 7 from: January / February 2015
N E W S
7January/February 2015
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Eco Plastics
Eco Plastics, the UK’s biggest supplier of recycled PET, has been sold to German
investment fi rm Aurelius. As a result, Aurelius becomes the full owner of the
Continuum recycling joint venture established with Coca-Cola two years ago,
reports Plastics News. www.ecoplastics.com
Alcoa
Aluminium major Alcoa has predicted that global demand for the metal in 2015
will replicate last year’s growth of 7%. It expects 2015 global aerospace sales
to increase by 9-10% over 2014 on continued ‘robust’ demand for large com-
mercial aircraft, regional jets and jet engines. Alcoa projects a global automotive
production increase of 2 to 4% while building and construction sales will grow
5-7%. www.alcoa.com
International Copper Study Group
Global refi ned copper production from scrap soared 12% from 2.783 million
tonnes in the fi rst three quarters of 2013 to 3.113 million tonnes in the corre-
sponding period of 2014, according to the International Copper Study Group
(ICSG). Worldwide, refi nery capacity utilisation averaged 81% in the fi rst three
quarters of 2014 versus 78% in January-September 2013. www.icsg.org
Noris Metallrecycling
The European Commission has approved the creation of Noris Metallrecycling,
a joint venture between German companies Scholz Recycling and Thyssen Alfa
Rohstoffhandel München. Noris Metallrecycling of Germany will be active in the
collection, processing and trading of non-ferrous and iron-nickel alloy scrap. The
European Commission argues that ‘the proposed acquisition would not raise
competition concerns because of the negligible activity of the joint venture in
the European Economic Area and the moderate combined market shares on the
relevant markets’. www.scholz-recycling.de
Kuusakoski/Vintage Tech
Kuusakoski Recycling, the US subsidiary of Finland’s Kuusakoski Group Oy, has
signed an agreement to acquire the remaining shares of its joint venture partnership
with Illinois-based Vintage Tech Recyclers in a move that will enable the merging of
processes as well as customer service expertise. www.kuusakoski.com
Suez Environment
French major Suez Environnement wants to double its production of recycled
plastics in Europe within fi ve years. In order to move towards this goal, the com-
pany has opened PLAST’lab – a laboratory dedicated to plastics recycling. The labo-
ratory will analyse, test and classify plastic materials and formulate new ranges from
recycled plastics that meet the demands of manufacturers. www.gdfsuez.com
Bulk Handling Systems
Jarshire Environmental and Recycling Division has been appointed as distributor
and service partner for Bulk Handling Systems (BHS) in the UK and Ireland.
Jarshire will represent BHS and its subsidiary companies, namely Netherlands-
based air separation specialist Nihot and US optical sorting expert NRT.
www.bulkhandlingsystems.com
Tetra Pak
Packaging solutions company Tetra Pak won not one but two prizes at the World
Beverage Innovation Awards held recently in Germany. The judges praised the
Tetra Top with Separable Top in the ‘Best Carton’ category and also regarded
Tetra Pak’s bio-based caps as ‘Best Closure’ for their innovative use of high-
density polyethylene derived from sugar cane. www.tetrapak.com
Business
The Alang ship recycling hub in
Gujarat, India, will upgrade 70 ship-
breaking yards over the next four years
thanks to a US$ 180 million loan, IHS
Maritime has reported.
According to Atul Sharma of the Gujarat
Maritime Board, some 85% of the funds
will be provided by the Japan Interna-
tional Cooperation Agency (JICA), with
India investing the remaining 15%. Cur-
rently being processed by federal and
state governments, the proposal envis-
ages that the loan will be repaid over 40
years at an interest rate of 1.4%.
Planned upgrades will cover: the con-
struction of a pre-treatment facility for
the removal and treatment of those
hazardous materials from ships that
raise ‘special concerns’; and expansion
of the current treatment storage dis-
posal facility such that it will be possible
for 25 tonnes of waste to be incinerated
daily. According to Sharma, part of the
funding will benefi t the ongoing con-
struction of a pilot housing project to
accommodate 1000 labourers at fi rst
and up to 5000 workers over the next
three years.
Thus far, four of Alang’s recycling yards
have completed the fi rst phase of an
international standard certifi cation pro-
cess. Once approved, the yards will offi –
cially meet the standards of the Interna-
tional Hong Kong Convention for the
Safe and Environmentally Sound Recy-
cling of Ships.
‘Japanese companies own 2000 out of
the total 3000 major ships in the world,’
points out Keiji Tomoda, chairman of the
Ship Recycling Sub-Committee of the
Japanese Ship Owners’ Association.
‘Most of the Japanese-owned ships go
to China for recycling after their life. But
we want to sell end-of-life ships to India
because India offers better prices than
China.’ www.gmbports.org
Shipbreaking at Alang
in line for major facelift
Over 2 million tonnes of unwanted
electrical and electronic items litter the
streets of the USA. However, New York
City will be fi ghting back in 2015 by
launching a ban on placing e-scrap at
the kerbside from January 1 onwards.
With the volume of dumped computers
and other appliances scaling new heights
in the Big Apple, the city will be imposing
a fi ne of US$ 100 per e-scrap littering
offence. Included on the no-go list will be
items both big and small, including last
season’s laptops and e-readers as well as
dusty video recorders and fax machines.
With snow-covered cathode ray tube
televisions a regular sight in urban areas
of the USA around the holiday period,
residents of New York City are being
given a three-month ‘grace period’ to
get used to the new rules as fi nes will
not be charged until April 1.
Meanwhile, apartment buildings with
10 or more units will be able to enrol in
a free electronics recycling pickup pro-
gramme called e-cycleNYC.
www.bit.ly/NYCrecycles
E-scrap litter ban is New
York’s New Year resolution
RI1_NEWS.indd 7 22-01-15 12:24
