BUSINESS/ORGANIZATIONAL BRIEFS

Lowe’s joins in rechargeable battery recycling endeavor

Atlanta, GA— Lowe’s Companies, Inc., the world’s second largest home improvement retailer, and the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC), a nonprofit, public service organization dedicated to recycling rechargeable batteries, announced that they have a new agreement that integrates RBRC’s recycling program into Lowe’s stores throughout the U.S.

In August 2004, consumers could find RBRC battery collection boxes in Lowe’s stores across the U.S. Lowe’s will recycle all used portable rechargeable batteries commonly found in cordless electronics products such as: cordless power tools, cordless and cellular phones, two-way radios, laptop computers, electric toothbrushes, camcorders and handheld mini vacuums among many others.

Lowe’s joins a long list of national retailers who support the environment by placing battery collection boxes in their stores.

Small roadway bridge created from plastic

A one-lane bridge in southern New Jersey was made with I-beams and other structural components made of recycled plastic, according to a recent posting in the Waste Recovery Report.

The materials are made with HDPE, the #2 plastic of which milk jugs are made, and polystyrene. While strong, HDPE is not stiff enough for structural applications. Polystyrene is stiff enough, but too brittle. They work well when combined.

The material is easy to work with, according to Thomas Nosker, the Rutgers University professor who co-developed the technology with fellow professor Richard Renfree. Nosker said it took “three PhDs, a maintenance guy and a few helpers” just 11 days to finish the span.

Costs were competitive. The 36-foot span with two 10-foot abutments cost just $75,000. The same job using conventional wood would have cost an estimated $350,000.

Plastics search engine launched

Laramie, WY— IDES has responded to the need for finding lower cost, better performing resins with the introduction of an all new Prospector plastics search engine. Prospector Pro now makes finding the optimal resin faster and easier than ever.

The new Prospector Pro contains virtually everything a designer, molder or purchasing agent needs to know about every resin on the market. “Our customers think of IDES Prospector as the Google for plastics,” said Mike Kmetz, president of IDES. “This release of Prospector is significant because a user can find, specify and initiate a purchase all from one central location.”

More information about the new Prospector plastics search engine can be found at: www.ides.com/pro.

Wire rod to be produced in Georgetown, South Carolina

Richfield, OH— International Steel Group Inc. announced that its ISG Georgetown Inc. subsidiary has begun producing wire rod at its facility in Georgetown, South Carolina.

ISG acquired the facility in June 2004 from the Georgetown Steel Company. The plant has annual steelmaking capacity of 1 million tons and rolling capacity of 800,000 tons, along with the capacity to produce 500,000 tons annually of direct reduced iron (DRI), a scrap substitute. The facility had been idle since Georgetown Steel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2003.

“We made a commitment to the employees and the community of Georgetown to resume operations at the facility, and thanks to the support and hard work of everyone involved, we have done so,” said Rodney B. Mott, ISG’s president and chief executive officer.

The Georgetown plant will produce high-quality wire rod products, which are used to make low-carbon fine wire drawing, wire rope, tire cord, high-carbon machinery, and upholstery springs.

O-I agrees to sell plastic container operations

Toledo, OH— Owens-Illinois, Inc. announced that it has entered into an agreement with Graham Packaging Company of York, Pennsylvania to sell its blow-molded plastic container operations. The agreement includes facilities in North America, South America and Europe.

There are 24 plastics manufacturing plants in the United States, two in Mexico, three in Europe and two in South America affected by the sale. The plants supply plastic containers to consumer products customers in the food, beverage, household, chemical and personal care industries.

IESI Corporation shows second quarter increase

Ft. Worth, TX— IESI Corp. reported strong growth in the second quarter, with revenue and earnings both up substantially.

The solid waste service company reported net income of $2.9 million on sales of $82.8 million for the quarter ended June 30. The figures are an improvement over a net loss of $24,000 on revenue of over $60 million for the same period last year.

According to Mickey Flood, president and CEO of the firm, “Without a doubt, this quarter was one of the best periods in our history. We experienced strong internal growth as a result of both volume and price increases during the quarter.”

N-Viro, Toledo renew wastewater contract

Toledo, OH— N-Viro International Corp. and the City of Toledo have agreed to extend their wastewater treatment contract for an additional five years beginning January 1, 2005. N-Viro president Phil Levin said the Toledo city council passed a measure extending the current contract, which expires at the end of this year.

Earlier this year, the city said it did not plan to renew the contract with N-Viro. The contract accounts for about one-third of the firm’s revenue, which totaled $5.4 million last year. In response, N-Viro reduced transportation, distribution and other costs to offset reduced revenue from the revised contract, Levin said. N-Viro develops and licenses technology to treat wastewater sludge and other bio-solids converting wastewater sludge and other organic waste into fertilizer and soil enhancement products.

Heil Environmental names new quality officer

Chattanooga, TN— Heil Environmental Industries has named Richard Mills to the new position of chief quality officer. In this position, Mills, who also retains his title as director of process improvement engineering, is responsible for developing a new system to drive processes throughout the business to build and sustain the industry’s highest quality products. The position covers all Heil Environmental Industries operations, including the Refuse Equipment Group, Truck Equipment Group and Parts Central.

In 2001, Mills added product engineering to his responsibilities and assisted in leading a team in obtaining ISO 9001:2000 certification. In 2002, his responsibilities were expanded to cover all Heil manufacturing facilities as corporate manufacturing engineering manager.

SWANA teams with EPA to boost methane recovery

Silver Spring, MD— John Skinner, Ph.D., SWANA executive director and CEO, announced SWANA’s support of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s recently announced Methane to Markets Partnership.  Under this partnership, the U.S. will join efforts with countries around the globe to boost the recovery and use of methane gas, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and providing significant environmental benefits.

Goldtech Mining Corp. acts on world tin shortage

Seattle, WA— Goldtech Mining Corporation’s strategic acquisition of a 12,463 acre tin and tantalum property (the formerly producing Golpejas Mine) near Salamanca, Spain shows an evaluation of $240,000,000 USD supported by 3.5 million tons of reserves blocked out thus far. This “open-pit” mining property has the entire infrastructure required, including hydro electric power and paved roads to sea ports and railway access.

The world’s tin shortage is presently in near crises proportions with the price of tin rising from $3,000 per ton to over $11,000 per ton in less than one year. The demand for tin has been caused by the ever-increasing uses of countries becoming industrialized, such as China and India, the outlawing of lead for soldering and alloying processes and the increase of products requiring tin, such as computers, cell phones, electronics, etc.

Gibson named dealer of the year by Sennebogen

Charlotte, NC— Gibson Machinery LLC of Oakwood Village, Ohio was recently named 2003-2004 dealer of the year by Sennebogen North America. In business since 1940, Gibson employs more than 25 people and is equipped with complete in-service bays and has five service vehicles providing on-site service and support for customers throughout the region.

Lee Gibson received the award from both Constantino Lannes, president of Sennebogen LLC and Erich Sennebogen, managing director of Sennebogen GmbH and the son of the founder of the parent organization.

Giant awarded for waste reduction program

Landover, MD— Giant Food LLC recently received an Unsaleable Innovation Award which was presented at the Grocery Manufacturers of America 2004 Joint Industry conference held in Miami Beach, Florida, on July 22, 2004. Giant was selected as the retail winner for its Waste Reduction initiative, conducted in partnership with Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies (AERT).

Giant collects and re-sells polyethylene grocery bags, shrink film from packaging waste and corrugated packaging materials. These materials are converted into home building products manufactured by AERT for companies such as Lowe’s and Weyerhaeuser. “Through our waste reduction program, Giant has been able to divert over 100 million pounds of waste materials from going into landfills in Maryland, Virginia and Delaware,” said Brian Jacobe, Giant’s recycling supervisor. Giant also receives benefits from the waste reduction initiative, including a positive buy-back revenue stream and a landfill diversion tax credit.

Teleconference provides insight on intricate laws

Top policy expert David Perchard will provide an overview of new and existing producer responsibility (EPR) laws in Eastern Europe September 13 at 12:00 PM EDT at the second Take It Back! Teleconference, produced by Raymond Communications, publisher of Recycling Laws International (www.raymond.com). The focus of the event is on coping with new packaging requirements.

Future teleconferences will cover implementation of the Restrictions on Hazardous Substances directive; WEEE/ RoHS in China; EPR laws in South Korea, and other compliance issues. The next regular Take it Back! Conference is March 7-8 2005 in Alexandria, Virginia.

Genesis Attachments designates new division

Superior, WI— Genesis Attachments has announced the establishment of a new company division dedicated solely to the demolition market. Headed up by Mark Ramun, formerly Genesis’ Great Lakes regional manager and product specialist, the newly formed demolition division will focus on new products and strategies designed to impact the demolition contractor.
The new demolition division will use as its model, the success enjoyed by Genesis’ XP and Pro Series mobile shears, attachments that have become a de facto standard in the scrap recycling industry.

Florida waste workers vote yes to unionization

Washington— On July 23, 2004, 64 workers at Allied Waste/BFI in Pensacola/Fort Walton Beach, Florida, voted to join Teamsters Local 991. The unit consists of residential drivers, roll-off drivers, front-end drivers, forklift operators, welders, equipment operators and painters.

The Teamsters are conducting a national organizing campaign for the waste industry. The new members in Pensacola and Fort Walton join other new members in Atlanta and the Bay Area in California.

Steve Passage to present Lawrence Lecture at WASTECON 2004

Silver Spring, MD — SWANA announced Steve Passage, chief executive officer of Montenay Power Corporation, as the 2004 Lawrence Lecturer. Passage’s lecture, scheduled for Wednesday, September 22 at 9:30 a.m., will present the role of waste-to-energy in the nation’s energy policy and its proven beneficial effects on waste reduction and community recycling rates to WASTECON 2004 attendees. 

Passage has been with Montenay Power for 16 years, and served as rotating chairman of the Integrated Waste Services Association for over 12 years.

5 Star Consolidated acquired by Wastequip

Cleveland, OH— Wastequip, Inc. recently acquired 5 Star Consolidated and renamed it Wastequip St. Louis.

Wastequip St. Louis is located in East St. Louis, Illinois and manufactures roll-off containers and scrap trailers for the waste hauling and scrap industries. 5 Star’s former management, headed by general manager Kevin Lolling, will continue to lead the company.