Asheville Waste Paper has processed OCC and other recovered paper grades in western North Carolina for more than 80 years.
For more than 80 years, Asheville Waste Paper Co. Inc. has offered recycling services from its location in Asheville, North Carolina.
The family-owned business launched in 1941 after Carl McMahan, a garbage truck driver for the city of Asheville, noticed the city was sending what he believed was too much paper and aluminum to landfills that could be recycled. McMahan started collecting cans and paper at his home, and he eventually opened a recycling facility in Asheville.
Over the years, the company has stayed in McMahan’s family. He retired in 1962 and passed the business on to his son, Paul McMahan, and Paul eventually passed the business on to his daughter, Annette McMahan Pace, and her husband, Cam Pace. In 2020, Trey Pace and his wife, Gabe, became the fourth generation of the family to manage the recycling business.
Carl started the business by operating a hand-press baler out of a small storefront in town. Today, the company runs a recycling facility on a 2-acre site with two industrial-sized balers, an industrial-sized shredder, several trucks, a truck scale and a team of 13 employees.
Gabe describes the business as “a staple for recycling” in the Asheville community, and the company offers what she calls double-sorted recycling. In 2021, Asheville Waste Paper processed more than 15.3 million pounds of old corrugated containers (OCC) and other paper grades.
“We are one of the only non-single-stream recyclers in western North Carolina,” she says. “We offer shredding services to the public and accept recycling materials from businesses, offices and local families who will drop off their household recycling. We also handle the maintenance and installation of balers for local businesses.”
She continues, “Customer service and strong family values set us apart, and that’s what people find memorable about our company and what keeps them coming to us for their recycling needs.”
Asheville Waste Paper is focused on processing OCC and other paper grades. Gabe says the company is always navigating the ever-changing market dynamics for recovered paper.
“Some months are really good and we have a lot go out. In months where prices drop, we hold material,” she says. “But even in the good times and the bad times, we’re still shipping material. We constantly find outlets to keep revenue coming in.”
The company has two balers it uses on-site as well as an industrial shredder, two guillotines and forklifts. About three years ago, Asheville Waste Paper decided to invest in an 8043HS-10T75 single-ram horizontal autotie baler from American Baler Corp., Bellevue, Ohio, to replace one of its balers, which made operations run much more smoothly with fewer maintenance demands.
In more recent years, Gabe adds that Asheville Waste Paper has seen increased demand for the company’s shredding services. She attributes the increased demand to the pandemic.
“With COVID, everyone was stuck at home. In 2020 when everyone was under quarantine, I feel that’s when a lot of households and businesses used that opportunity to do some spring cleaning,” she says. “We saw a nice influx of documents brought in for our shredding services.”
She says the shredding business has stayed consistently busy the past three years. The company operates a top-feed shredder from St. Louis-based Williams Patent Crusher and Pulverizer Co. Inc. to serve that business segment.
Even though Asheville Waste Paper has grown in size over the years and invested in equipment upgrades, Gabe says the company has continued to sort material by hand rather than rely on equipment such as screens and optical sorters to help with processing.
“We are considered a double-sorted facility, meaning that when the material is brought to us, it is already sorted and then we pick through it by hand to ensure there [are] no contaminants, plastic or waxed coatings,” she says. “All materials we handle are sorted by hand even after they are brought in to us sorted to begin with. This allows us to only process and ship the cleanest materials possible.”
Gabe adds that Asheville Waste Paper clearly communicates what materials it can and can’t process to ensure lower contamination to make it easier on the company’s employees. She says, “We’ve started to get really strict about what’s accepted here. We have a huge sign posted on our yard fence that describes what can and cannot be left on the property. That in itself has really helped us.”
Although it can be particularly challenging for recycling businesses to find and keep workers to hand sort materials, especially in today’s tight labor market, Gabe says Asheville Waste Paper has retained most of its sorters for the past decade.
“We take amazing care of them,” she says. “These guys are the backbone of this company. We provide all their safety gear, OSHA [Occupational Safety & Health Administration] vests and new steel-toed boots each Christmas. We take care of them, making sure everything they need is provided as far as making their jobs safer and easier.”
Since becoming an owner of the company about two years ago, Gabe says she and her husband, Trey, have focused on finding unique ways to support the company’s sorters.
“For instance, in winter if it’s super cold, we make our guys come inside every hour to take a 10-minute break,” Gabe says. “We give them hand warmers and try to really make sure they have anything they need. They are in sun, rain, snow and wind. These people are the backbone of this company, so they are our top priority.
“We maintain a family feeling every day. We have a really close, tightknit group, and I think that is why some of [these sorters] have been here for 20 years or longer.”
European papermaker acquires Netherlands-based DeJong Packaging Group, which has one containerboard mill plus downstream operations.
Stora Enso says it has acquired Netherlands-based De Jong Packaging Group for a price tag of 1.02 billion euros ($1.04 billion). Stora Enso, based in Finland, describes De Jong as “is one of the largest corrugated packaging producers in the Benelux countries.”
Founded in 1996, De Jong Packaging makes corrugated trays and boxes with a focus for fresh produce, e-commerce and industry. The company has owned a containerboard mill since its acquisition of the De Hoop paper mill in the Netherlands last year. De Jong Packaging Group has 17 downstream sites in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom.
Stora Enso says the move will “advance [its] strategic direction, accelerate revenue growth and build market share in renewable packaging in Europe. De Jong Packaging Group Its product portfolio and geographic presence will complement and enhance Stora Enso’s offering, especially in fresh produce, e-commerce and industrial packaging.”
With the acquisition, the Stora Enso Packaging Solutions division will “secure a platform for continued growth in key markets,” the firm says, adding that it considers the European corrugated packaging market as fragmented, with local presences key for sustainable growth.
If Stora Enso decides to proceed with the conversion of the Langerbrugge paper production site in Belgium to containerboard, which it is studying, “further synergies will be possible,” the firm says.
“In line with our strategy, we are investing in growing our market share in renewable and circular packaging solutions,” Stora Enso President and CEO Annica Bresky says. “De Jong Packaging has a solid presence in the corrugated packaging sector and an impressive customer base. Acquiring their operations supports our future strategic direction to advance renewable packaging solutions within Europe.”
David Ekberg, executive vice president of the Packaging Solutions Division at Stora Enso, says, “De Jong Packaging Group has a solid track record of growth in corrugated packaging, which combined with our experience in innovative design, digital solutions and sustainability services, will enable us to strengthen our offering.”
Henk de Jong, owner of De Jong Packaging Group and Ad Smit, CEO of De Jong Packaging Group, says, “We are proud of what has been achieved at De Jong Packaging Group and we now look forward to the next steps in our company’s journey. Stora Enso is well positioned to drive further growth in line with our common ambition.”
The acquisition of De Jong Packaging Group has been approved by Stora Enso’s board of directors. Stifel, Allen & Overy, and KPMG acted as Stora Enso’s advisors in the transaction, the firm says.
Germany-based sorting technology firm moves and expands its showroom in Bangkok.
Germany-based Sesotec GmbH has announced that its Thailand branch has moved and opened a new location with a showroom in Bangkok. The maker of magnetic, contaminant detection, sorting and material analysis systems says its “entire portfolio of metal detectors and X-ray inspection systems for the food and plastics industries” can be viewed in Bangkok over several floors of its new location.
“The modern building provides working areas for the Sesotec Thailand team and is open to customers as well as partners who wish to receive on-site advice or training,” the equipment maker says.
Sesotec says the new building also has “excellently equipped training rooms,” with metal detectors and X-ray scanners also available for customer events and test trials.
“For Sesotec, the exchange of ideas and discussions with our customers and partners is a top priority,” Sesotec CEO Joachim Schulz says, who traveled to Bangkok for the opening.
“Only in this way can we successfully shape cooperation and the future,” says Soontronrungsan Chairat, managing director of Sesotec Thailand Ltd. Chairat says he and his whole team are proud of the new premises. “We are really looking forward to welcoming many customers and visitors in our great new location.”
The company says the upgraded Bangkok location joins its headquarters in Schönberg and a showroom in Dorsten in northern Germany as steps that make “Sesotec’s high-tech innovations a reality in suitable surroundings and close to the customer.”
Indiana-based glass packaging firm collaborates with Ste. Michelle Wine Estates on use of ECO Series bottles.
Indianapolis-based Ardagh Glass Packaging – North America, a business unit of Luxembourg-based Ardagh Group, says it has collaborated with Ste. Michelle Wine Estates so the Oregon-based winery can transition to Ardagh ECO Series glass packaging options.
Ardagh says several factors make its ECO Series a sustainable product. This includes that, on average, Ardagh – North America uses 39 percent recycled glass, or cullet, in the production of its glass bottles and jars. According to Ardagh Vice President of Marketing and Communications Gina L Behrman, “There is not a specific percentage requirement for the ECO Series bottles.”
The company says its ECO Series product line “provides all the sustainability advantages of glass – a neutral and inert material that is infinitely recyclable – while maintaining high quality, enhancing customer appeal and lessening the overall impact on the environment.”
John T Shaddox, chief commercial officer for Ardagh – North America, says, “With a passion for sustainable practices and protecting the environment, Ardagh Glass Packaging values partnering with customers like Ste. Michelle Wine Estates. Utilizing our ECO Series bottles, which meet the highest standards in technical and aesthetic quality for glass packaging, we are pleased to help Ste. Michelle achieve its sustainability goals.”
Ste. Michelle describes itself as the largest winery in the Pacific Northwest and says it has long valued sustainability and protecting the environment.
“Making sustainable packaging choices, like selecting the ECO Series glass bottles for our portfolio of wines, is a highly impactful change we can make toward reducing our overall carbon emissions,” says Juan Muñoz-Oca, Ste. Michelle’s Chief Winemaker, who also leads the organization’s sustainability practice. “Not only does it make good business sense, but perhaps most importantly, it’s the right thing to do.”
Throughout 2022, Ardagh Glass Packaging says it will celebrate the United Nations International Year of Glass (IYOG), commemorating what it calls the essential role of glass packaging in a sustainable society.
Ardagh says that for more than 125 years it has been providing “endlessly recyclable” glass bottles in the United States. It currently has 14 U.S. production facilities and offers wine bottles in a variety of colors, sizes, styles and finishes.
Detailed chemical analysis remains a priority for melt shops consuming the world’s scrap metals and alloys.
Matching purchased scrap metal with the optimal melt shop buyer is a critical part of the path toward profits in the scrap recycling business. Identifying the chemistry of metal in hand is a key part of that wider process.
In an interview with Recycling Today last year, metals identification industry veteran Don Sackett, co-founder and CEO of SciAps Inc., said, “I’d say the next frontier is to make limits of detection lower and lower.”
The more narrowly a shipment of metal can meet desired specifications, the greater the likelihood a scrap processor can receive a premium for the product shipped.
Manufacturers of analyzing equipment have continued to introduce advances designed to offer buyers of their latest models an advantage in the competitive scrap market.
Earlier this year, Germany-based Spectro Analytical Instruments introduced the SpectroMaxx LMX10 arc/spark optical emission spectroscopy (OES) analyzer for what it calls fast, accurate, advanced elemental analysis in foundry, metal producing and related settings.
Spectro says if its new model, “The LMX10 has completely new factory calibrations; extended calibration ranges and element selections; optimized source excitation parameters; and improved limits of detection (LODs).”
Spectro says its new model contains “an added ultraviolet UV optic [that] handles a lower spectral range, from 120 nanometers to 235 nanometers.” The feature “includes a new capability to analyze oxygen in copper [and] analyzes relevant wavelengths to 766 nanometers, covering potassium,” the company adds.
Those capabilities tie into an observation by Sackett that in the energy sector, “The consumers [of pipes and oil and gas equipment] are pushing [such] limits onto the foundries. We’re hearing this for certain elements in nickel and copper alloys, too.”
Recyclers often use hand-held analyzers in scrap facility settings, versus larger arc/spark devices. On that front, SciAps, which is based in the U.S., has been emphasizing speed of readouts along with detailed measurements.
The company says its X-550 analyzer gun “sorts very similar grades of aluminum alloys in up to two seconds – as fast as stainless and high-temperature alloys.”
SciAps says the system’s X-ray technology measures magnesium and silicon as fast as it measures nickel, chromium, cobalt and other high-temperature metals.
Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, Massachusetts, released its Niton XL5 Plus hand-held X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzer early last year, pointing to portability as a critical factor. It says its new model provides users with greater accessibility in hard-to-maneuver workspaces while reducing operator fatigue.
The company says it keeps the recycling environment in mind when designing its analyzers, according to Chloe Hansen-Toone, vice president with Thermo Fisher Niton. At the time the XL5 Plus was released, she said, “Inspection personnel tasked with material verification or contaminant detection are faced with constant pressure to provide quick and accurate analysis, a challenging task when considering the often harsh or remote environments that these professionals work in.”
Rigaku Analytical Devices, Wilmington, Massachusetts, says its Rigaku KT-100S hand-held laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) analyzer provides on-the-spot identification of difficult alloys, including aluminum grades, with lower detection limits and the ability to analyze more alloys than traditional hand-held identification methods.
Another major benefit to the user, according to Rigaku, is that the KT Series of hand-held LIBS analyzers use a laser excitation source, requiring minimal to no regulatory licensing (compared with some X-ray models).
Japan-based Olympus, which has a business unit dedicated to hand-held analyzers in Massachusetts in the U.S., says its Vanta Element-S hand-held XRF analyzer offers clear on-screen grade ID and comparison for the light elements magnesium, aluminum and silicon in seconds. Its silicon drift detector (SDD) can distinguish between similar alloy grades, such as 303 and 304 stainless steels, or aluminum 6061 or 6063 from 1100, according to Olympus.
As the metals-consuming energy and transportation sectors evolve at rapid rates in the 21st century, it seems likely the need for recyclers to pay close attention to metals chemistry will remain a priority.