BCA Industries will rent its portable model for one week or longer.

BCA Industries Inc., Milwaukee, is now offering a rental program for its PD1000 model portable tire shredding plant. “Now processors, haulers, scrap yards and start-ups can rent the PD1000 ‘true portable’ tire shredder by the week, month or multiple months as well as rent to own,” says the company in a news release. The PD1000 hydraulic electric shredder is powered by a 100 hp diesel generator and can be pulled by a standard truck, says the company. PD1000 shredders will be available for rent starting Oct. 1, 2012. “This rental program has been requested for years by industry veterans and start-ups alike,” says Doug Bartelt, president of BCA Industries. “It will fill needs that have long been neglected in the recycling marketplace and provides an option at a time when finding financing is difficult.” Adds Bartelt, “Our PD1000 machine can help many business models succeed both short and long term, but we had to make it affordable.” The PD1000 will shred from 300 to 400 tires per hour and also can be used to shred wood, electronics, plastics, construction materials and paper, according to BCA Industries. The rental program is designed to “serve the site clean-up market, disaster, demolition, reduction and recycle markets where temporary machine placement may be a perfect solution,” says the company. BCA Industries says it is currently negotiating to add rental outlets and sublet agreements to increase its geographic distribution. Companies can inquire about rates by visiting www.bca-industries.com.  

New system allows the company to produce food-grade flakes from post-consumer recycled HDPE.

The Austrian company Starlinger has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its deCON decontamination dryer that makes food grade flakes from post-consumer recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE) milk bottles. The company notes that the cleaning efficiency of the deCON enables the reuse of post-consumer recycled (PCR) HDPE for food packaging applications under a number of conditions. According to Starlinger, because of its higher diffusion and absorption behavior, PCR HDPE faces stricter safety criteria than PCR PET (polyethylene terephthalate). Because of that, a prerequisite for the production of food grade HDPE is a strictly defined input material stream. The Starlinger LNO (letter of nonobjection) is based on PCR HDPE milk bottles with sorting purity of greater than 99 percent. The LNO is granted for the use of up to 50 percent of recyclate content in the HDPE container under conditions E through G (for definitions of the different conditions, click here). Starlinger says the recycled HDPE market is promising within the food packaging industry. In 2010, the HDPE recycling rate in the United Kingdom was 76 percent. To further boost HDPE recycling rates, Starlinger viscotec, a division of Starlinger, has seven years of experience in decontamination and IV-increase of post-consumer PET material. The company has sold two deCON modules for food grade recovery of PCR HDPE. Due to the sophisticated technology of the viscotec equipment, cleaning efficiencies of around 99.9 percent are achieved, making the recyclate comparable with virgin material. The solid state reactor viscoSTAR processes pellets, and flakes and can be installed in front of a production extruder, after a pelletizing line, or as a stand-alone unit. The decontamination dryer deCON can be used to make recycled bottles into dry, food-grade PET or HDPE, to feed a production extruder or as a stand-alone unit. More information on the product line is available at www.starlinger.com.

Inaugural event addresses environmental challenges in Asian cities.

The inaugural CleanEnviro Summit Singapore 2012 and WasteMET Asia (WMA) 2012, held July 1-4, attracted some 18,000 participants representing a wide variety of government, industry and waste management organizations from around the world. The theme of the event was “Innovative Clean Enviro-Solutions for Asia’s Growing Cities.” Key strategic discussions focused on environmental challenges in Asia. The conference also included exhibitions of equipment and technologies in waste management, recycling and resource recovery solutions. Attendees represented such organizations as the World Bank, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD) and International Solid Waste Association (ISWA). Held in conjunction with the World Cities Summit and the Singapore International Water Week, the event attracted participants from 104 countries or regions. Close to 100 exhibitors from international and local companies took part in the inaugural WMA, which attracted national pavilions from Canada, Australia/New Zealand and Germany. The events also facilitated the sharing of insights on the latest market trends and sustainable solutions through various plenary sessions, conferences and business forums. “We are very encouraged by the positive response to the inaugural CleanEnviro Summit Singapore and WMA,” said Andrew Tan, chief executive officer of the National Environment Agency NEA. “The growing interest in sustainable waste management solutions in many cities in the region is borne out by the strong turnout for the event at all levels. Likewise, concerns over environmental issues such as pollution have led to calls for greater exchange of expertise among cities. This presents a good opportunity for Singapore to position itself as a hub for innovative environmental solutions, leveraging on the nation’s good track record in tackling its own environment challenges as well as its clean and green reputation.” One unique platform at the event was the Clean Environment Regulators Roundtable, during which high-level policy makers and regulators from countries such as Belgium, China, Malaysia, Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong shared their experience, including challenges faced in dealing with environmental pollution and waste management issues, and best practices on sustaining a clean environment. According to a recent World Bank study, 1.3 billion metric tons of solid waste are currently generated in Singapore per year. This volume is expected to double to 2.2 billion metric tons by 2025. During the event food waste management company Eco-Wiz of Singapore signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with three companies from Asia and Europe with a total value of more than $10 million. The Eco-Wiz technology recycles food waste into reusable water. Similarly, Dowa Eco-Systems, founding sponsor of the CleanEnviro Summit Singapore, also opened their second plant in Singapore. This new facility is designed to recover precious metals from electronic scrap and trimmings generated by local electronics manufacturers. This new plant is expected to have a processing capacity of about 150 tonnes of e-waste and industrial solutions annually. The second CleanEnviro Summit Singapore and WMA is to be held in 2014, in conjunction with Singapore International Water Week 2014 and World Cities Summit.

Japanese firm looks to match electronics firms with recycling services in India.

The board of directors for Ecoreco, based in Mumbai, India, has announced that Nippon Magnetic Dressing Co. Ltd. (NMD), based in Japan, has taken an equity stake in Eco Recycling, also based in Mumbai. NMD, a metals pre-processor, has extended consent to invest in the equity capital of the company. NMD says it has existing relationships with several producers of electronic and electrical equipment in Japan, which will help Ecoreco approach producers in India to provide them with recycling services. Ecoreco says the investment will likely be the first and only strategic investment in any electronics recycling company in India. “The strategic investment will not only set the strategic road map of e-waste management in India but will also link give material security to the country”, says Amit Jain, managing director, IRG Systems South Asia Pvt. Ltd., a company that provides technical assistance in environmental projects in Asia and Southeast Asia. "We build partnership with Ecoreco and want the e-waste recycling business in India to be successful together by this strategic investment," says K. Baba, NMD general manager of treasury.

Northern Metals seeks adjustments to its air emissions permit.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) will hold a public meeting Aug. 9, 2012, on the Environmental Assessment Worksheet that has been published for the proposal by Northern Metals LLC to obtain a major amendment to the facility’s air emissions permit that involves the scrap metal company’s auto shredder in Minneapolis. An informal open house begins at 6:30 p.m., followed by a brief MPCA presentation. There will be an opportunity for citizens to share their comments regarding the EAW and proposed project following the presentation. The primary purpose of the meeting is to provide an update on the status of the EAW for the proposed project and is informational in nature; however, comment forms will be available for those who wish to submit written comments. The MPCA will accept public comments on the EAW until Sept. 10, 2012. Only timely written comments will be considered. Evidence of timely receipt includes: (a) a date/time stamp imprinted by MPCA support staff on the first page of a written comment letter; (b) the date and time printed on a fax; or (c) the date and time of an e-mail. Comments on EAW should be in writing and sent to: William Lynott, Environmental Review Unit – 4th Floor, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, 520 Lafayette Road North, St. Paul, MN 55155-4194, email william.lynott@state.mn.us, Fax: 651-297-2343. A copy of the draft permit is available on the MPCA’s website at www.pca.state.mn.us/news/data/index.cfm?PN=1, or can be mailed in hard copy to any interested person upon the MPCA's receipt of a written request.