Page 7 from: March 2015
N E W S
7March 2015
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ZIMMER KATALYSATOREN – RECYCLING GMBH
World Steel Association
Having peaked at 2.5% during the fi rst half of last year, the 2014 increase in
global steel production narrowed to just 1.2% in the fi nal analysis, according to
the World Steel Association. The output total of 1.662 billion tonnes for the whole
of 2014 compared to 1.642 billion tonnes for 2013, with Asia contributing 1.132
billion tonnes for a year-on-year gain of 1.4%. www.worldsteel.org
3S International/IMS Electronics
US e-scrap recycling firms 3S International and IMS Electronics have
joined forces to orchestrate a ‘new era of recycling’ in the USA. The move pools
the former’s access to cutting-edge BLUBOX technology with the latter’s product
expertise and extensive network, including Kuusakoski Recycling. 3S has expe-
rienced ‘nothing short of an exponential boom’ during the fi rst months of the
partnership, with more than 1 million pounds of e-scrap being collected.
www.3srecycling.com and www.imselectronics.com
DS Smith
‘The politicians that have responsibility for resource management must have
enough power to make it happen’, stresses Jim Malone, the new director recycling
at packaging major DS Smith. He succeeds Peter McGuinness, who becomes
director of sustainability for the group. www.dssmith.com
Erema
Austria-based plastics recycling technology specialist Erema has added a new
company brand to its group. In addition to Erema and 3S, the group now com-
prises Pure Loop – a division specialising in the recycling of clean production
waste using shredder and extruder technology. www.erema.at
O2
Mobile operator O2 has saved 142 000 kg of e-waste from UK landfi lls through
its O2 Recycle initiative. Over 1.4 million devices have been sent in to the group’s
recycling service since the initiative was rolled out in 2009. In 2014 alone, 420
000 devices were recycled by O2, with iPhones topping the list in representing
41% of the total volume. www.o2.co.uk
Lexus
The EU has awarded UK plastics recycler Luxus a grant worth £600 000 (more
than US$ 900 000) to enable the company to commercialise its Hycolene range
of lightweight polypropylene, which includes a 60% recycled content. The
Hycolene product will serve the car interior trim market. www.luxus.co.uk
Call2Recycle
In 2014, North American battery stewardship programme Call2Recycle managed
to increase the total weight of the material it collected for an 18th consecutive
year, accumulating nearly 12 million pounds or 5400 tonnes of batteries and
mobile phones from across the USA and Canada. In fact, Canadians recycled
more batteries in the fi rst 10 months of 2014 than in the whole of 2013.
www.call2recycle.org
Pakistan Ship Breakers Association
Pakistan’s shipbreakers have welcomed a new 15% tax on imported steel
billet, bar and wire rod which has been introduced to boost stability in the local
market and to counter the fl ood of cheap imports from China. Although India
reduced its basic customs duty on imported scrap ships from 5% to 2.5%, the
infl ow of cheap products has continued to undercut the ship steel market.
Chinese steel producers are said to be ‘bracing themselves’ to cut prices to
‘nullify the impact’.
Business
Back in 2013, implementation of
China’s ‘Green Fence’ import quality
controls led to a decline in incoming
volumes of plastics scrap from America.
However, latest statistics from the US
Commerce Department reveal a marked
recovery in these fl ows last year.
In total, America’s plastic scrap exports to
China and Hong Kong exceeded 1.5 mil-
lion tonnes across the opening 11 months
of 2014, thereby capturing 76% of all US
overseas shipments. Volumes dispatched
to China climbed 9% year on year while
the increase for Hong Kong was 32%.
In 2013, the stricter ‘Green Fence’ con-
trols in China had precipitated an upturn
in plastics scrap fl ows to alternative mar-
kets in Asia such as Indonesia, Thailand
and Vietnam, and US exports to these
three markets also showed year-on-year
increases in the fi rst 11 months of 2014.
Overall, US exports of plastics scrap
climbed some 15% to more than 2 mil-
lion tonnes in January-November last
year, carrying a value of approaching
US$ 880 million. Its overseas shipments
of PET scrap recorded the largest year-
on-year increase of 35%.
China rediscovers appetite
for US plastics scrap
US company Energizer Household
Products has introduced the world’s fi rst
AA battery made with 4% recycled bat-
teries. Energizer EcoAdvanced is the
company’s highest-performing alkaline
battery and is said to represent ‘a fi rst
step towards creating value for recycled
battery material, which until today has
had little or no economic value’.
Industry experts ‘long believed it was
impossible to create a battery made with
recycled batteries while maintaining per-
formance’, states Energizer’s chief market-
ing offi cer Michelle Atkinson. ‘Our scien-
tists welcome a challenge and have spent
the past seven years creating just that.’
The Energizer research team created pro-
prietary partnerships and an innovative
approach to refi ne and transform recycled
battery material into ‘a high-performance
active ingredient’ which, when used in
combination with energy rings, results in
a long-lasting battery.
‘Our future innovations will continue to
reduce the impact Energizer batteries
have on the planet,’ Atkinson continues.
‘By 2025, our vision for Energizer EcoAd-
vanced is to increase the amount of
recycled battery material
tenfold to 40%.’
www.energizer.com
Energizer launches first-ever
recycled content battery
RI 2-NEWS.indd 7 04-03-15 11:43
