Tire Stewardship British Columbia says material from nearly 15,000 scrap tires will be used in 13 projects in the province.

Tire Stewardship BC (TSBC), headquartered in Victoria, British Columbia, says it has finalized the 13 B.C. organizations that will receive TSBC grants for community development projects. In total, nearly 15,000 B.C. scrap tires will be used to complete the projects, the not-for-profit group says.

Projects include the surfacing of playgrounds, walkways, parks and other gathering spaces.

“Tire Stewardship BC is pleased to provide financial support to organizations across the province that have chosen to use recycled tire rubber for their upcoming projects,” says Rosemary Sutton, executive director of the organization.

“These grant recipients will use B.C. rubber for the surfacing of various communal areas making them durable, nontoxic, and low maintenance,” Sutton adds. “Rubber surfacing made from B.C. scrap tires is also nonslip, making it safer for everyone, and it creates a soft landing in playground areas. Additionally, rubber surfacing is cost effective and visually attractive.”

The TSBC community grant program has been designed to support municipalities, registered nonprofit community groups or organizations, schools and First Nations and Métis settlements who can use products derived from scrap tires as they are building or upgrading facilities. To date, TSBC says it has awarded more than CA$5.8 million in community grants.

“TSBC will continue to look for opportunities to partner with businesses that are making environmentally conscientious decisions and understand the importance of utilizing recycled products in the development of their community infrastructure,” Sutton says.

The provincial B.C. scrap tire program has been recycling tires for more than 30 years and is described by TSBC as the oldest recycling program in Canada. Since the scrap tire recycling program was first established in B.C. in 1991, more than 100 million tires have been recycled in the province, according to the group.

Canadian battery recycling firm opts for new name.

American Manganese Inc. has announced it intends to change its name to RecycLiCo Battery Materials Inc. at its upcoming shareholders meeting in early July.

“Over the last five years, we have pioneered the development of lithium-ion battery recycling-upcycling of cathode materials through our RecycLiCo patented process,” says Larry Reaugh, president and CEO of the firm. “To reflect the work we have achieved, we decided on a name change that better represents the company’s focus on our RecycLiCo process.”

In an update provided in late May, the company, which is based in Surrey, British Columbia, said it had begun testing the first stage of its RecycLiCo demonstration plant project with lithium-ion battery cathode production scrap feed material. The demonstration plant is designed with a 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) per day input capacity of lithium-ion battery scrap.

“Kickstarting the first stage of our demonstration plant project is an incredible milestone, and we look forward to showcasing our scaled-up technology to existing collaborators across the lithium-ion battery supply chain as we diligently progress through the demonstration plant processing steps,” Reaugh said at that time.

In 2021, American Manganese expressed confidence in its ability to upgrade black mass into “cathode precursor” lithium-ion battery material.

The company, which describes itself as a critical metals company focused on recycling lithium-ion battery scrap into high-value battery cathode materials to achieve more than 99 percent extraction of lithium, cobalt, nickel and manganese, will continue to trade under the stock symbol AMY despite the name change, adds RecycLiCo.

Waste and recycling company says $30 million will go toward optical scanners and glass recovery.

WM, based in Houston and formerly known as Waste Management Inc., has announced it will invest approximately $30 million in its material recovery facility (MRF) in Oakwood, Ohio, near Cleveland.

The company says the investment will be used to install optical sorting scanners for fiber and plastic designed to optimize the recovery and quality of recycled materials. The project also includes system upgrades to support what WM calls sophisticated glass recovery and cleanup, as well as a fire-detection system designed to detect and put out fires before they spread.

Additionally, the current recycling center’s baled commodity storage space is expected to increase from approximately 7,000 square feet to 32,000 square feet.

Construction on the expanded facility already has begun, and the project is expected to be completed by March 2023, WM says.

“WM works with our customers to help achieve their recycling needs, and with more than half a million customers in Ohio, it is critical that we continue to invest in our communities and expand our recycling infrastructure,” says Aaron Johnson, Great Lakes area vice president for WM. “At our core, WM is a sustainability company, and with this investment in the Cleveland community our team is proud to reinforce our commitment to the environment.”

The waste and recycling firm says the project is part of its planned $275 million investment in recycling infrastructure in 2022, bringing the company’s overall investment in new and upgraded recycling facilities to more than $1.3 billion since 2018.

With the demand for recycled content products continuing to rise, the investment is expected to enable WM to capture more recycled materials and increase access to recycling for its customers, the firm says.

A brand-new recycling education room also is planned for the Cleveland MRF, which will be open to the public for scheduled education sessions and tours.

Currently, WM operates four MRFs in Ohio. With this expansion, WM’s Cleveland facility is projected to become the primary recycling processing hub in the state. WM anticipates adding an additional 40 positions at the site and providing “the opportunity to upskill current roles as technology is added.”

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) recently announced the award of a $200,000 Market Development Grant to support the planned recycling processing improvements. The grant award continues what WM calls strong collaboration between WM and the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste Management District to improve recycling capabilities in Ohio.

“The Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District is thrilled that WM chose to expand recycling capabilities in Northeast Ohio, as it will serve as a catalyst for other sustainability efforts in the area,” says Elizabeth Biggins-Ramer, executive director of Cleveland-based Cuyahoga Recycles. “Additionally, WM’s education center will provide residents, businesses and community leaders the opportunity to experience how to recycle right.”

“This facility will provide a greater opportunity for local solutions for single-stream recycling,” WM’s Johnson adds. “We are proud to bring cutting-edge equipment and technology to the people and businesses we serve in Cuyahoga County and beyond, helping to make Ohio cleaner and greener for all.”

WM describes itself as North America’s largest comprehensive waste management environmental solutions provider via its subsidiaries that provide collection, recycling and disposal services to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers in the United States and Canada.

The company says its third-quarter performance benefited from strong global demand for recycled metals.

Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc., Portland, Oregon, has released financial results for the third quarter of its 2022 fiscal year, which ended May 31. The company calls the results the best third-quarter earnings in its history.

The company says its third-quarter performance benefited from strong global demand for recycled metals and robust West Coast market conditions for finished steel products. This was reflected in higher average selling prices for ferrous, nonferrous and finished steel products. Average ferrous and nonferrous selling prices in the quarter were at or near multiyear highs, while average finished steel selling prices were the highest on record.

“Our record results this quarter reflected excellent operational performance during a quarter marked by strong movements in demand and prices, reflecting both short-term disruptions and underlying positive structural trends supporting increased use of recycled metals in manufacturing,” says Tamara Lundgren, chairperson and CEO of Schnitzer. “At the end of April, we acquired the assets of Encore Recycling in Georgia, including our first metal shredding operation in the Southeast, which increases our Southeast regional footprint to 24 facilities across five states. We expect this region to see an increase in steelmaking and in auto and industrial manufacturing in the coming years.”

The company is reporting net income of $76 million and adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $119 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2022. This reflected significantly higher year-over-year average net selling prices for ferrous, nonferrous and finished steel products.

Schnitzer says the strong performance is because of year-over-year sales volumes increasing for nonferrous metals and an expansion in metal spreads on certain ferrous sales contracted before the market price declines that occurred during the end of the quarter. In addition, contributions from recent acquisitions and productivity initiatives helped to partially offset inflationary pressure on operating costs. The benefit from average inventory accounting was approximately $4 per ferrous ton in the quarter compared with $7 per ferrous ton in the prior-year quarter.

According to the report, ferrous sales volumes were up 5 percent sequentially, supported by contributions from acquisitions, but down 7 percent year-over-year arising from the impact of market volatility on demand in the second half of the quarter, which delayed contracting and shipping bulk cargoes. Nonferrous sales volumes were up 29 percent year over year, benefiting from strong global demand and an easing of supply chain and logistics disruptions. Average ferrous and nonferrous net selling prices were up year over year by 35 percent and 15 percent, respectively, supported by strong global demand.

Finished steel sales volumes were down year over year by 12 percent, reflecting ongoing logistics challenges, but up sequentially 27 percent as sales volumes benefited from an improvement in supply chain disruptions and the resolution in April of the Seattle concrete industry drivers' strike. The mill achieved an average utilization of 96 percent in the quarter. Average net selling prices for finished steel products increased year over year by 41 percent.

Schnitzer reports that operating cash flow in the quarter was $45 million, as cash flows associated with profitability more than offset the increase in working capital resulting primarily from the higher price environment and inventories. Capital expenditures were $29 million in the quarter, including investments in advanced metal recovery technologies, and maintaining the business and environmental projects. Total debt at the end of the quarter was $322 million and debt, net of cash, was $306 million.

Schnitzer says the increase in debt in the third quarter was primarily driven by the acquisition of the assets of Columbus Recycling and Encore Recycling and higher working capital.

During the third quarter, the company returned capital to shareholders through its 113th consecutive quarterly dividend and the repurchase of 243,792 shares, or 0.9 percent, of its Class A common stock in open market transactions under its authorized share repurchase program.

“The use of recycled metals, which require less carbon to produce than mined metals, provides an important solution for companies, industries and governments that are focused on carbon reduction and are committed to reducing material directed to landfills," Lundgren says. "Our investments in advanced metal recovery technology systems and the expansion of our operating platform are providing us with recycled ferrous and nonferrous products that can serve this increasing demand.”

The company says the move reduces capital cost and the project execution schedule, with operations expected to begin early 2025.

Empire Recycled Fiber has announced it is relocating its recycled containerboard mill from Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania, to Dayton, Ohio, after securing a 700,000-square-foot building at a former manufacturing site.

Empire CEO Jim Austin tells Recycling Today the decision to modify its strategy from a greenfield facility to an existing industrial building has substantially reduced the capital cost to execute the project and reduced the timeline for completion by approximately a year.

"We have identified an existing industrial building with all the necessary infrastructure to support process water, electricity, natural gas and WWTP [wastewater treatment plant] capacity," Austin says.

"We are in the process of negotiating the necessary offtake sales contracts to support the financing requirements for the project," he says, adding that he expects the company to meet its financial closing expectations late in the fourth quarter of this year.

The project initially was announced in 2020 as a recycled pulp mill that was to produce 440,000 tons per year before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic forced Empire to adjust its plans. The company, which is based in Springboro, Ohio, then turned its focus to developing a manufacturing facility that will produce approximately 350,000 tons per year of recycled containerboard while consuming 400,000 tons per year of old corrugated containers (OCC) and mixed paper.

According to a June 24 report in Fastmarkets RISI's Pulp & Paper Week, Austin cites new containerboard capacity in the mid-Atlantic region as creating too much competition for OCC tons. Upcoming projects include a Domtar containerboard mill in Kingsport, Tennessee, which is expected to produce 600,000 tons per year and be operational by the end of this year. The facility already has started buying some OCC and other recovered fiber grades, RISI reports. 

Mike Butler, who manages containerboard sales for Domtar, previously told Recycling Today that Domtar is working with International Forest Products, headquartered in Foxborough, Massachusetts, to source furnish for the mill. 

Relocating its project to Dayton, Austin says, puts Empire within a 600-mile radius of 57 percent of the total United States population, creating one of the largest regional supplies of recovered paper, as well as a large regional box market.