Equipment and technology provider Sweed Machinery reports a ready market for its processing machinery, abetted by lofty copper and aluminum prices.

Scrap wire and cable is not traveling across the ocean as much as it used to, largely because governments in several nations became concerned about the amount of landfill-bound material attached to the copper and aluminum scrap within.

The changing export circumstances, combined with upward bound pricing for copper and aluminum, have led to vigorous interest in expanded wire processing capacity in scrap surplus nations in North America and Europe.

United States-based Sweed Machinery, a designer and manufacturer of wire and cable processing technology and equipment, says its business activity has risen along with the price of metals and restrictions on wire scrap trading imposed by some nations that formerly imported the material.

“We relate a portion of the overall increase in quote request volume to changes in the export market,” says Christopher Simon, who is in charge of recycling systems sales for the company. “More customers understand they must process their wire packages prior to export. There are fewer options to export wire bales,” he adds.

Melissa Tally, marketing manager for Sweed, says that while processors at firms in scrap surplus nations such as the United States might have thought of import limitations imposed by other nations as “a setback initially, it has actually provided North American processors with new opportunities.”

She adds, “Scrap dealers who may have previously exported their baled scrap are now preparing it first and taking advantage of the higher aluminum prices. In the past two years, Sweed has seen a 74 percent increase in inquiries” for its ACSR (aluminum cable-steel reinforced) equipment line.

Tally says 77 percent of those inquiries were from North America. “These inquiries were solely for our linear ACSR system and don’t even include the companies processing ACSR with bulk mixed materials in wire chopping lines. The interest is strong.”

Processors in developed nations in Europe and North America keep a close eye on the profitability of extracting copper and aluminum from scrap wire and cable in their own plants versus baling it to ship overseas. The critical factor can involve the percentage of metal included in the wire.

Simon says, “We are not aware of a specific copper content percentage overall [desired by recyclers], but we see two related trends. One, lower quality material can have a better margin due to the already high buy price for baled high-grade wire. Two, volume and consistency can justify running low-copper content materials.”

Sweed and other equipment producers offer a variety of equipment to help scrap processors boost their in-house capabilities to separate the metal interiors of wire and cable scrap from the plastic coatings on the outside.

Processors might need despoiling equipment before they get to the chopping stage, Simon and Tally say. “We despool the ACSR with our 5703 XHD scrap chopper, and our magnetic inline belt (MIB) conveyor separates the steel from the aluminum,” Tally says of technology offered by Sweed.

The company also makes equipment designed to handle baled material, Simon adds. “When our customers need to process whole bales, we offer our dual-shear, slow-speed, high-toque shredders that easily process entire bales."

Tally says manufacturers increasingly seek to offer systems that can convert lower metals-content wire scrap into high-purity melt shop feedstock. “Depending on space requirements, Sweed’s inline ACSR system can be coupled with a high-intensity rare earth magnet secondary pass system taking product purity to 99.99 percent."

Tally adds, “This ensures the end product is virtually free of ferrous material that may downgrade and prevent it from selling at optimal market value. The beauty of Sweed’s ACSR system is that it can be configured as a stationary, mobile or skidded system, or even integrated into a full wire chopping line, depending on the customer’s need.”

With metals prices remaining lofty, Simon says he sees the path forward for wire processing systems remaining wide open, especially for processors with a consistent inbound flow of materials. “Due to chemistry characteristics, if a customer has a lot of the same type of low-copper wire, this consistency can increase the finished product value and justify processing,” he remarks.

The program opens a new supply channel for refurbishers in the country.

Back Market, an online renewed electronics marketplace, has launched its BuyBack program in the U.S. The program allows Back Market customers to sell their devices directly to a network of professional refurbishers for the most competitive rates, according to the company, to bolster the circular economy and prolong the lives of electronics.  

The devices that qualify for the program include phones, laptops, earbuds and gaming consoles. Those interested in participating in the program can go to Back Market's website.  

The program opens another supply channel for refurbishers or ITAD companies on Back Market looking for devices, says Lauren Benton, general manager at Back Market. 

“Our BuyBack program is a win-win for everyone,” Benton says. “For customers, it’s a convenient and fast way to sell their used electronics. For our refurbishers, it’s access to another supply channel of used electronics to restore and sell. This keeps devices in circulation and out of landfills while continuing to feed Back Market’s pipeline of high-quality renewed devices.” 

Back Market says a new phone releases 190 pounds of carbon emissions in its lifetime, while a refurbished smartphone only produces 15 pounds. That same smartphone also uses up 21,741 gallons of water in the process of mining for raw materials and manufacturing. A renewed smartphone’s footprint is a fraction of that, the company says. 

Americans discard 416,000 cellphones every day, according to Back Market. It is estimated that upwards of 100 million devices are sitting in drawers across the country. Back Market’s BuyBack program aims to get more of these items back in circulation by making it easy and lucrative for current owners to sell them to refurbishers. 

Customers can complete an online assessment of their devices, including brands, models, storage capacities and condition, and get the best offer among the bids placed by Back Market’s refurbishers. While bids may fluctuate based on market demand, this structure gives an opportunity for customers to receive competitive offers for their items, the company says. 

Customers receive cash in their bank accounts once they have mailed in their devices and the refurbishers have confirmed that the devices are as described in the assessment.

Proceeds from the financing will support project development toward the construction of Encina’s first postuse-plastic-to-aromatics recycling plant in Pennsylvania.

Houston-based Encina Development Group, a producer of circular chemicals from postuse plastics, has announced it has secured $55 million of equity capital. This included participation from institutional investors IMM Investment Global Ltd., Hong Kong, and SW Recycle Fund through a $32 million private placement.   

According to a news release, a representative of IMM Global will join the company’s board of directors as a result of its investment.  

“We are excited to partner with Encina to further drive the company’s growth plan, and we are aligned with their goals to help foster a circular economy on a global basis,” says Youngjoon Lee, CEO and managing partner of IMM Global. “Encina has a world-class management team, operating technology and a scalable platform that is well-positioned to expand at multiple locations in the coming years.”  

Encina says it will use the capital, in addition to $20 million in earlier secured equity financing, to move forward with the commercialization of its plastic-scrap-to-aromatics recycling business. The company says it will use the funding to build its first recycling plant in Pennsylvania. 

Encina's products are marketed to global customers that adhere to ISCC+ certification standards and that are seeking to manufacture end products requiring circular content in their products. Current projects include planned facilities in the United States and projects in Asia and South America. Each of the facilities is expected to process about 450,000 tons of postuse plastic material annually. 

“We are committed to deploying our technology to capture waste streams such as plastic scrap, which would have been harmful to the environment through possible incineration, land filled or ocean waste, which can now be reclaimed and used as feedstock to produce circular chemicals to help foster better environmental outcomes for everyone on a global basis,” says David Schwedel, founder and executive director for Encina. 

Morgan Stanley and Stephens acted as private placement agents with respect to the private placement transaction. 

Don Ross will replace Ben Harvey as chairman of the board of trustees for the organization.

The National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA), Arlington, Virginia, has elected Don Ross to serve as chairman of the board of trustees and reelected Dave Call as its treasurer. Their terms will commence at the conclusion of the board meeting being held at WasteExpo in May.  

“I am excited to be working with Don in his new role as chairman with the enthusiasm and ideas that he brings to everything that he tackles,” says Darrell Smith, NWRA president and CEO. “Likewise, I am pleased that Dave will continue to serve as our treasurer. I look forward to working with Don and Dave as they both bring tremendous experience and I appreciate their perspective.” 

Ross is the vice president of McLaughlin Family Cos., Scranton, Iowa.

Call is the senior vice president for business development at Republic Services, Phoenix.

NWRA says it has traditionally alternated the chairmanship between its services and suppliers members.  

Ross will replace Ben Harvey, who is completing his sixth consecutive one-year term as chairman. Harvey will continue to serve as a member of the board.

“I congratulate Ben on his successful chairmanship during which he has led NWRA to unprecedented heights in financial performance, advocacy and safety,” Smith says. “His continued service on the board of trustees will help ensure a smooth transition.” 

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sparks loss-inducing costs in steel, containerboard sectors.

Restricted access to Russian natural gas and oil in Europe has quickly led to production cutbacks at facilities that consume scrap materials in nations there, including Germany and Italy.

In Germany’s steel sector, the Düsseldorf-based Federal Association of German Steel Recycling and Waste Disposal Companies e.V. (BDSV) say in a mid-March press release that “the invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine at the end of February has far-reaching effects on German and European industry, including steel recycling companies.”

The BDSV thus called for elected officials “to initiate financial relief for affected companies as quickly as possible so that the climate protection goals laid down in the EU Green Deal can be achieved.”

According to BDSV General Manager Thomas Junker, “The steel recycling industry is particularly affected by the already extremely high energy costs. Electricity costs are currently highly volatile in response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine. These price increases are a major burden for our member companies because steel recycling requires large amounts of energy in order to be able to produce and supply valuable raw materials for the steel industry and foundries.”

BDSV President Andreas Schwenter says, “Companies from the steel recycling industry make a valuable contribution to the circular economy and thus to the urgently needed decarbonization of the industry. However, they can only fully fulfill this important task if the energy supply is secured and energy can be purchased at reasonable prices. This requires support from politicians in order to noticeably relieve the burden on companies and to get effective instruments on the way to lowering energy prices.”

A mid-March AP news item reports both steel mills and recycled-content containerboard mills in that nation are being idled because of sudden supply cutbacks to natural gas and other Russian-supplied energy sources.

In the metals sector, AP says steel producer Acciaierie Venete idled three of its steel mills in Italy “for a few days” in March as energy prices “spiked to 10 times above normal.” It quotes an executive of the firm as saying, “Never, ever has this happened that we had to shut down ovens.”

In the containerboard sector, AP quotes Francesco Zago, CEO of Italy-based paper and packaging manufacturer Pro-Gest, as saying that after price spikes, the board producer found itself “facing huge losses.”

The paperboard CEO told the news service the company had suspended operations at six recycled-content paperboard mills, and that to resume operations Pro-Gest would have to “nearly double prices” from 680 euros ($743) per ton to 1,200 euros ($1,310), which he called “not doable on the marketplace.”