Prestige Auto and Metal Recycling will operate company’s 7090 model auto shredder.

The Recycling Technologies business unit of Houston-based Industrial Service Solutions (ISS-RT) says it will supply a 7090 model automobile shredder plant to Prestige Auto and Metal Recycling in its hometown of Houston.

The system will be driven by an ISS-AmeriMex 4000-horsepower AC medium-voltage “Enforcer” variable speed drive and will be able to process up to 100 tons per hour, depending on feedstock, according to ISS-RT.

The ferrous processing line and the nonferrous plant will include electro-drum magnets and eddy current separators provided by SGM Magnetics, an Italy-based company with its United States office in Florida.

The nonferrous plant also will feature a Taper-Slot Screen provided by Oregon-based Action Vibratory Equipment. That device is designed to eliminate the need for a trommel screen to perform materials separation, says ISS-RT.

”The 7090 was designed to fit the gap between a 6090 shredder and an 80104,” says Bill Tigner, vice president of ISS-RT. “The 70-inch diameter rotor gives an operator 32 percent more hammer impact than a 60-inch rotor and is built with the same thicknesses as our heavy-duty 80-inch mill.”

Prestige owner Keny Daniele, who says he researched different shredder suppliers for years, comments, “Looking at our needs for capacity as well as the need for processing heavier scrap, there was no comparison in the 7090 and the 60- inch shredders. The 7090 will give us years of growth potential.”

ISS designs, engineers and manufactures motors and drives in-house at its Houston facility. Shredder controls including the housing, control chair, monitors, camera system and electrical panels will be supplied by the ISS-CPL facility in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Industrial Service Solutions describes itself as serving a broad range of industry applications with multiple types of equipment. The company operates from 45 locations and provides field services, service shops, supply shops and parts. For the scrap metal industry, ISS offers stationary shredders, castings and wear parts, AmeriMex motors and controls, emission controls, shredder explosion mitigation technology and the Taurus US line of scrap shears and balers.

Florida-based waste and recycling company names Tracy Meehan to new post.

Longwood, Florida-based Waste Pro USA Inc. has announced the promotion of Tracy Meehan to communications director. In her new role, Meehan will oversee internal and external corporate communication strategies, including press releases, public/media relations, social media, branding, marketing and company newsletters, according to the firm.

Meehan joined Waste Pro in 2014 as municipal marketing manager covering Waste Pro’s West Coast Region of Florida. In that role, she helped in the growth of one of Waste Pro’s largest markets through building and maintaining relationships with communities and municipalities, searching for new areas for potential opportunities for growth, interacting with customers, and coordinating and attending community events, says Waste Pro.

“It is a privilege to support the people who work to perform collection services to our community, municipal and commercial customers,” says Meehan. “I’m excited to be more involved with our companywide communications and marketing efforts.”

In addition to her work at Waste Pro, Meehan serves on numerous organizations and committees, including Keep Citrus County Beautiful, Keep Pinellas Beautiful, Recycle Florida Today, the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) and St. Petersburg Young Professionals. In 2020, Meehan was re-appointed by the Pinellas County Commission to its Solid Waste Technical Management Committee. 

Waste Pro says it serves more than 2 million residential and 100,000 commercial customers from more than 80 operating locations in 10 Southeastern states.

Smartphone and battery collection specialist will work with Canada’s Lithion Recycling on EV battery recycling in North America.

Atlanta-based Call2Recycle and Montreal-based Lithion Recycling Inc. say they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to collaborate on providing a recycling collection and handling system for electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

“The combination of Lithion’s patented and innovative hydrometallurgical battery recycling process and Call2Recycle’s existing North American collection, transportation and logistics network will make this an ideal comprehensive whole-industry solution,” state the two companies.

The two companies cite “various clients within the EV sector, whether at the dealer level, manufacturing or dismantling [stage]” that can tap into the alliance’s projected safety and compliance, training, container arrangement, tracking and storage capability services.

“We have heard from vehicle and EV battery manufacturers that a combination of battery recycling innovation and the logistics expertise of managing the flow of these end-of-service batteries and the scrap material from the manufacturing process is the ultimate win,” says Benoit Couture, president and CEO of Lithion Recycling. “Together, our organizations will be able to provide a best-in-class, full-service solution and fill an important need for the industry, ultimately making it easier to contribute to the circular economy.”

Comments Joe Zenobio, Call2Recycle Canada’s president, “Our organization has a solid track record of managing the end-of-life logistics process and recycling of household and e-mobility batteries in a regulatory compliant manner, and we are excited to augment our full-service management capabilities to the EV sector. This industry is growing at a tremendous pace, and by collaborating with Lithion we feel our mutual expertise is stronger together.”

Remarks Leo Raudys, Call2Recycle United States CEO and president, “The rapid adoption of EVs across North America creates new challenges and opportunities to encourage safe and responsible end-of-life management of those batteries. The agreement with Lithion will set the formal foundation for Call2Recycle’s expansion into electric vehicle battery logistics.”

In 2022, the two organizations say they expect to explore opportunities “for efficient integration for their respective services to collect, transport and recycle batteries from the EV industry across North America.”

Lithion Recycling says its process allows up to 95 percent of lithium-ion battery components to be recovered and treated so they can be reused by battery manufacturers.

Call2Recycle says in the past 25 years it has helped collect for further processing and recycling some 110,000 tons of batteries in North America.

Steelmaker says it also foresees good conditions in the final quarter of 2021.

Charlotte, North Carolina-based electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaker Nucor Corp. has announced what it calls record quarterly consolidated net earnings of $2.13 billion for the third quarter of this year. That figure surpasses the prior quarter’s net earnings of $1.51 billion and is 680 percent higher than the $193.4 million earned in the third quarter of 2020.

In the first nine months of 2021, Nucor’s consolidated net earnings have totaled $4.58 billion, or $15.34 per share, which is more than 1,300 percent higher than net earnings of $322.6 million, ($1.06 per diluted share) earned in the first nine months of 2020.

“During the third quarter, we once again achieved record results,” states Leon Topalian, Nucor's president and CEO. “Our third-quarter performance surpassed our previous record of $5.04 set in the second quarter of this year and almost matched our full-year earnings record of $7.42 that we set back in 2018. Congratulations to the entire Nucor team for delivering the phenomenal results we have seen so far this year while staying focused on our safety goals. I am incredibly proud of our team and what we have accomplished.”

In the third quarter, the company says its average scrap and scrap substitute cost per gross ton was $511, a 12 percent increase compared with $457 in the second quarter of 2021 and an 84 percent increase compared with $277 in the third quarter of 2020. Year-to-date, the average scrap and scrap substitute cost per gross ton has been $457, a 60 percent increase compared with $285 in the first nine months of 2020.

On the steelmaking side year to date, Nucor’s consolidated net sales of $26.12 billion were an increase of 76 percent compared with consolidated net sales of $14.88 billion reported in the first nine months of 2020. The company’s more than 21.8 million total tons shipped to outside customers in the first nine months of 2021 marks a 15 percent increase from the first three quarters of 2020, while the average sales price per ton in the first nine months of 2021 increased 53 percent from the first nine months of 2020.

Looking ahead, Nucor states, “We expect continued strong results for the fourth quarter of 2021, potentially exceeding the net earnings record set in the third quarter of 2021. Demand remains robust across most end-use markets, a trend we expect will continue well into 2022. Backlogs in our steel mills and steel products segments remain elevated compared to historical levels.”

On its raw materials side, the company does not mention its scrap operations, but says of the overall raw materials segment’s earnings in the fourth quarter of 2021 “are expected to decrease compared to the third quarter of 2021 due primarily to margin compression at our direct reduced iron (DRI) facilities.”

State’s DTSC says SA Recycling's Southern California shredder and export yard creates metal residue, affecting soil and water quality.

The Sacramento, California-based Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) says SA Recycling must investigate residual metal pollution levels at its metal shredding and exporting facility on Terminal Island at the Port of Los Angeles.

SA Recycling should “investigate the extent of soil, groundwater and ocean sediment contamination” on its property and an adjacent property at the site, which previously was operated by Simsmetal West LLC.

The facility has been operating since 1962, the agency says. DTSC claims its own investigations have “found metal shredder residue called light fibrous material on the pavement, in pavement cracks, on equipment and inside and over storm drains at a neighboring facility, Pasha Stevedoring & Terminals LP.”

Samples of that material exceeded hazardous waste levels for lead, cadmium and zinc, DTSC says, which adds that it has ordered SA Recycling to “curtail those releases and to develop a plan to clean up the contamination at the nearby facility.”

In 2017, DTSC says its inspectors “found treated metal shredder residue trapped in an outside wall” at SA Recycling and “elevated levels of zinc, copper, and lead in a huge on-site pile.” The following year, DTSC says metal shredder residue was detected in the adjacent Yusen Terminal yard and on New Dock Street to the south of the shredder yard.

The agency states, “The respondents must meet certain deadlines to take action to stop releases and submit required investigation reports to DTSC, including a workplan to determine the extent of contamination and for cleaning up the contamination they find. DTSC plans to notify the surrounding community so residents can become involved in any proposed cleanup plan.”

As the series of inspections indicates, the DTSC has made metals shredding a focus of its activities, with information about the campaign front and center on its website.

The agency previously tried to enforce emergency action against the entire sector, but that proposed action was withdrawn in September after a one-week comment period elicited feedback from the Washington-based Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) and other organizations.