The company says the acquisition expands ADS’ reach into the southern region of the United States.

Hilliard, Ohio-based Advanced Drainage Systems Inc. (ADS), a provider of water management solutions in the stormwater and septic wastewater industries and plastics recycler, has acquired Jet Polymer Recycling, a privately owned recycling company located in Fort Payne, Alabama.

“We are excited to welcome Jet to ADS,” says Scott Barbour, president and CEO of ADS. “This acquisition advances our strategic priority to expand the ADS Recycling capabilities to support future growth while also underpinning ADS’ commitment to environmental sustainability.”

According to a news release from ADS, the transaction secures high-quality recycled plastic to leverage in the on-site septic wastewater business. It also provides the company a platform to obtain additional high-density polyethylene (HDPE) in the southern region of the United States, which remains a key growth area for both ADS and Infiltrator Water Technologies, a subsidiary of ADS.

The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Jet Polymer has three locations in Alabama and Georgia. Jet Polymer is currently the largest supplier of recycled polypropylene (PP) for Infiltrator Water Technologies.

ADS Recycling, formerly Green Line Polymers, purchases high-density polyethylene (HDPE) bales, flakes and pellets from postconsumer and postindustrial sources. According to ADS' 2020 sustainability report, in its 2020 fiscal year, the company reprocessed 81 percent of the recycled HDPE purchased by ADS through its recycling operations. ADS subsidiary Infiltrator mainly buys recycled HDPE flakes and pellets and PP from postindustrial and postconsumer sources. In the company's 2020 fiscal year, its recycling operations reprocessed 27 percent of the recycled plastic purchased by Infiltrator. 

The bill revises provisions related to the nation’s ocean shipping policies in an effort to strengthen shipping supply chains.

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bipartisan bill designed to strengthen shipping supply chains. The Ocean Shipping Reform Act, H.R. 4996, was passed in the House in a 364-60 vote.

The bill, introduced Aug. 10 by Rep. John Garamendi (D-California), revises provisions related to ocean shipping policies and is designed to support the growth and development of U.S. exports and promote reciprocal trade in the foreign commerce of the United States.

The bill would require shipping companies to adhere to minimum service standards that meet the public interest and block them from unreasonably declining cargo. Under the proposed legislation, shipping carriers and port operators cannot retaliate against a shipper, a shipper’s agent or a motor carrier by threatening to withhold available cargo space.

Additionally, improved data collection and reporting practices will be put in place under the bill through the creation of a shipping exchange registry. The Ocean Shipping Reform Act also requires the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) to publish and annually update all of its findings of false certifications by ocean common carriers or marine terminal operators and all penalties assessed against such carriers or operators. Ocean common carriers also will be required to report to the FMC each calendar quarter on total import and export tonnage and the total loaded and empty 20-foot equivalent units per vessel that makes port in the United States. FMC would be authorized to initiate investigations of an ocean common carrier’s fees or charges and apply enforcement measures as necessary.

The bill now moves to be reviewed by the Senate.

The Washington-based Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) says it supports the House’s passage of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act. ISRI states that it has been advocating on behalf of the recycling industry regarding unfair ocean shipping detention and demurrage charges.

“This is an important first step towards addressing both the long-term unfair shipping practices employed by ocean carriers and helping to solve the nation’s supply chain disruptions that are impacting the recycling industry as well as every sector of our nation’s economy,” ISRI states. “We urge the U.S. Senate to move quickly to also pass this bill. ISRI will continue to work with our coalition partners to advance this bill and improve our nation’s transportation networks.”

The company’s refinery is expected to produce 5,000 metric tons of cobalt contained in battery-grade cobalt sulfate beginning in 2022.

Electra Battery Materials Corp., a battery material provider based in Toronto, has announced it will expand its operations to recycle lithium-ion batteries with an initial investment of about $3 million. The announcement comes following engineering studies and metallurgical test work in support of the expansion.

The company says it will start refining the components of electric vehicle (EV) batteries, known as black mass, in 2022. The expansion is the second phase of a four-part strategy to turn the company’s facility into a low-carbon North American battery materials park.

Electra says it will grow its recycling business in a staged, modular fashion, initially targeting black mass from consumer electronics and subsequently targeting primary battery scrap material from North American EV cell manufacturers. The facility is expected to have a low carbon footprint in light of the hydrometallurgical process and hydroelectric power source.

“A secure, sustainable and domestic solution for recycling lithium-ion batteries is essential as North America shifts to electric mobility,” says Trent Mell, CEO of Electra. “At present, there is no industrial-scale hydrometallurgical facility in North America to recycle the black mass material that is recovered when lithium-ion batteries are dismantled and shredded.”

Electra’s processing team has developed a flow sheet targeting lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper, graphite and manganese. The company developed the process with consultancy groups Hatch in Mississauga, Ontario, and SGS Lakefield, a subsidiary of SGS in Geneva.

“We plan to demonstrate the ability to make products containing, nickel, cobalt, copper, lithium and graphite all from recycled lithium-ion batteries,” says Mark Trevisiol, vice president of project development for Electra. “This would be the first industrial-scale operation in North America to recover this list of recycled products for resale. Our first circuit will treat black mass from suppliers that we have identified as potential partners and can then be expanded to treat battery scrap from [cathode active materials] and cell manufacturers.”

The company says the plant will make existing equipment and infrastructure with an experienced processing team on-site, developing the company’s cobalt sulfate plant. Additional investments will allow the facility to produce battery-grade materials that can be directly returned to the lithium-ion battery supply chain.

Electra says the refinery can produce 5,000 metric tons of cobalt contained in battery-grade cobalt sulfate beginning in 2022. The company’s Battery Materials Park will host cobalt and nickel sulfate production plants, a large-scale lithium-ion battery recycling facility and battery precursor materials production. The company says all of these entities will serve North American and global customers.

The initial capacity of the cobalt, nickel and precursor facilities at the Battery Materials Park will supply raw materials for more than 1.5 million electric vehicles per year. 

“With our existing facility in Canada, Electra can be the first recycler to establish a closed-loop supply of battery materials, making electric vehicles more sustainable and more reliant on domestic material,” Mell says. “Our first concrete steps on that path will be a commercial-scale demonstration plant in 2022 utilizing existing facilities and equipment.”

The company says Purif-Eye will help recoup contamination fees, reduce recycling contamination and protect the environment.

3rd Eye, a route optimization services company based in Downers Grove, Illinois, that is part of the Dover Environmental Solutions Group, has launched Purif-Eye, a camera system that can collect images of commercial container content and process them to identify potential contamination in recycling streams, assisting haulers in optimizing collection.

According to a news release from 3rd Eye, the images captured from Purif-Eye help fleet owners educate customers by monitoring their waste streams to reduce recycling contamination. 3rd Eye says it developed this solution to assist recycling haulers with recycling loads that were rejected at material recovery facilities (MRFs).

The company says haulers that already monitor for contamination do so at the expense of route productivity, often requiring the driver to exit the cab, flip the container lid and manually capture images.

“Getting contamination out of recycling streams is absolutely imperative to making recycling sustainable,” says Morgan Holl, Environmental Solutions Group digital vice president. “MRF technology has improved tremendously over the past couple of decades, but without addressing contamination at the point of collection, you can’t drive the behavioral change necessary to make real progress.”

The company says about 15 percent of all commercial recycling pickups are contaminated, based on data provided by several national and regional fleets. This can cost haulers up to $100 per contaminated ton.

“Collecting noncontaminated feedstock like cardboard, plastics and newspaper is both beneficial for the environment and helps haulers drive profitability,” Holl says. “At 3rd Eye, we’ve been working on technology that helps commercial haulers identify contaminated recycling, allowing them to recoup the costs associated with disposal while also providing a forum to educate their customers.”

Holl says fleets vary on the fees they charge end-users; but, based on the data collected, Purif-Eye fleets can recognize almost $6,500 of additional revenue per month for each commercial front loader assigned to recycling collection.

Do you really know what you’ve got?

One of the bigger challenges with understanding returns from catalytic converters is knowing what you have before anyone else evaluates your material. Most automotive and scrap recyclers do not have an in-house expert who is able to quantify the material. This article offers solutions to take charge of your cats and gain insights that ultimately will make your business more profitable and the core more secure. 

To start, we all need to agree that tick marks on a sheet of paper, while seemingly accurate, do not provide real averages or anything close to inventory control. Using an average number of units per box is another miscalculation. These are not boxes of copper wire or starters that have a consistent weight or size. When it comes to converters, too many variables must be considered, and you cannot rely on simplistic calculations.

In my experience visiting scrap yards, most have dismantlers removing converters and placing them in a central bin that eventually gets moved to a secure location by a manager. It is at this point that the units are counted into a gaylord box or holding container. Respectfully, how many yard owners/managers can honestly say they know what type of material is going into the box? After years of yard tours, my answer is very few.   

Here is where the problems start. One tick mark, one converter, right? However, there are several different types of converters, and some are two units that look like one.

 A number of questions should be answered prior to the material leaving your facility:

 Is the converter an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) gasoline/diesel/foil?

For those of us in the converter business, it is easy to tell the difference between the material types. Many on the front lines don’t want their employees to know the difference or to make any judgment calls when it comes to counting and securing the material. So, how can a yard reasonably and securely take stock? More importantly, why is converter inventory knowledge so important?

Understanding this core is important because in today’s market the converter is factored in when purchasing the car for its parts or recycling value.  From my interactions with recyclers, they tend to build in pricing from core buyers or what they think/have been told the can average is. Problem being, if the reporting from the vendor is a feel-good high average number, then the pricing going into the car purchase can be exaggerated or undervalued. In either case, it can mean a financial loss or a missed opportunity to purchase the vehicle.

If a yard is to have any chance of understanding what it has, the choice of vendor is critically important. Is your vendor willing or able to act more as a consultant, assisting you with material identification/separation prior to handling your cats? If the answer is no, then you need to ask yourself how transparent your vendor is.

To evaluate your converter inventory, you must:

With proper material separation and counts, you have a place to start. As you are tracking month to month, you can start observing patterns in your material type averages. Working with a toll refiner will give you even more information because they offer weights of material and precious metal loadings that can be applied to current metal markets. Only with historic averages and proper counts can a yard know where it is with a projected inventory value.  If you always have wondered what happened with cats this month but don’t have proper inventory control and history, it is easy to place the blame on your buyer.

I can almost hear the reactions from busy yard owners reading how material should be inventoried and tracked: “We just don’t have the time or resources to manage this type of in-depth tracking!”

Admittedly, it seems like a large task, which is why PMR has designed a platform, Supplier Services Platform (SSP) to assist with these steps. If your employees can operate a smartphone, they can track all the information required to take control of inventory.

Our SSP offers a way for recyclers to visually track every converter that comes into inventory and assign a value for managers and owners to view, with the ability to keep these values hidden from frontline workers. We also provide extensive catalogs on the values of converters by serial number and can give instant evaluations with our photo grading tool.

If you are tired of never being sure what happened with converters this month, we have a solution that involves a knowledge-based approach that allows you to take control of your converter inventory and start making better purchasing and selling decisions.

Cliff Hope is senior account manager at PMR Inc., Boisbriand, Québec. He can be contacted at 855-901-5050.