South Carolina-based company joins the Australia-based Aluminium Stewardship Initiative.

Charleston, South Carolina-based JW Aluminum says it has joined the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) as a “Production & Transformation” member. The Melbourne, Australia-based ASI describes itself as a global nonprofit standards-setting and certification organization.

ASI says it encourages collaboration between aluminum producers, users and stakeholders to “foster responsible production, sourcing and stewardship of aluminum.” 

JW Aluminum produces rolled aluminum sheet and foil at its facilities in South Carolina and Arkansas. The company uses a high percentage of recycled aluminum content in its process and produces aluminum that can be infinitely recycled, says the firm.

“Joining the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative reinforces our strong commitment to sustainability and broader environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives,” says Ryan Roush, JW chief operating officer. “Given our position in the aluminum value chain, we have a unique opportunity, and responsibility, to leverage aluminum's everlasting nature to its fullest.”

As a new member, JW Aluminum is beginning the certification process for its recently expanded facility in Goose Creek, South Carolina.

“It’s a rigorous, comprehensive and cross-functional process that will provide added transparency to our core customers and all stakeholders who share the goal to achieve a circular economy and live up to ESG principles, says Roush. “We’re committed to secure a safe, sustainable future for generations to come, for the good of all stakeholders, American manufacturing and our planet.”

Panama City, Florida, mill had made kraft board from virgin fiber.

Atlanta-based WestRock Co. has announced it will permanently cease operations at its mill in Panama City, Florida, by early June of this year. A 2018 report on Florida paper mills prepared by Atlanta-based Moore & Associates characterized the mill at that time as being “virgin-fiber based.”

The mill produces containerboard—primarily heavyweight kraft—and fluff pulp, according to WestRock, with a combined annual capacity of 645,000 tons. “Select grades of containerboard currently produced at the mill will be manufactured at other WestRock facilities,” the company says.

David B. Sewell, CEO of WestRock, says of the closing, “As we implement our plans to close the Panama City mill, we do so with great appreciation for the many contributions of the team there. We are committed to assisting our Panama City team with exploring roles at other WestRock locations and outplacement assistance.” The Panama City mill employs approximately 450 people.

The mill in Panama City would require significant capital investment to maintain and improve going forward, WestRock says. In addition, production of fluff pulp is “not a priority in the company’s strategy to focus on higher value markets,” the company says.

CME analyst sees copper demand continuing to outpace supply.

Global demand for copper in several applications is rising, but “copper mining supply has grown by less than 2 percent per year since 2013” writes a CME analyst in a recently published report.

In an April 6 CME website post, Erik Norland, executive director and senior economist with the Chicago-based CME Group, says global sales of electrical vehicles (EVs) that surged 160 percent in 2021 are a leading factor in boosting demand for copper.

Norland writes, “Copper prices have risen 125 percent from their March 2020 [COVID 19-impacted] lows, and the red metal has been among the commodities hitting record high prices since the pandemic began.”

While high scale pricing may bring out a little more copper and brass scrap, that potential increase does not merit a mention from Norland, who focuses on the mining sector. “Over the past three decades mining output for copper grew far more slowly than for most other metals, rising just 123 percent. Over the same period, aluminum production grew by 256 percent and iron ore production rose by 257 percent,” he writes.

One factor for the mining sluggishness, Norland says, is that “the copper content of copper ore has declined steadily over time. While total discovered reserves of copper have continued to climb, the cost of extracting copper has been on the rise and a large part of that cost is energy.”

Soaring oil and gas prices costs give caution to mining investments, but they actually spur demand because of another market reaction. “The sharp rise in oil and natural gas prices in 2021 may be raising demand for copper by fueling interest in alternative technologies such as wind, solar, batteries and electric vehicles, all of which imply the use of copper either directly or indirectly,” he says.

Norland continues, “If EV sales continue to grow at this fast pace, increasing their market share relative to combustion engine-powered cars, it implies potentially strong demand growth for copper and other metals. The cost of EVs has been falling rapidly, and EVs may become less expensive than vehicles powered by combustion engines by the second half of the 2020s.”

Car buyers in China and Europe are particularly fond of EVs, he says. In the United States, EV sales might be slower, but another factor is prompting increased demand.

“Between December 2019 and December 2021, U.S. consumers spent 18 percent more on manufactured goods but only 6 percent more on services,” he writes. “Around the world, lockdowns and pandemic-related restrictions made it difficult for consumers to spend money on experiences like travel, dining out and entertainment. Instead, they shifted to purchasing more manufactured goods, including consumer electronics and other items that involve significant copper content.”

That particular prompt may be on the downward curve, but the overall message from Norland is that the historically high price of copper seems to be underpinned by legitimate supply and demand factors.

Canada-based plastics producer joins consortium seeking 90 percent landfill diversion rate for plastic.

Portsmouth, New Hampshire-based Cyclyx International has announced that Calgary, Alberta-based Nova Chemicals has joined its consortium, which seeks to increase the global recycling rate or landfill diversion rate of plastic from 10 percent to 90 percent.

Nova Chemicals develops and manufactures chemicals and polyethylene (PE) plastic resins and says it “works toward PE solutions that enable a more circular economy for plastics.” Through its membership in Cyclyx, Nova says it will continue its work to use more discarded plastic in its feedstock supply chain.

“Nova Chemicals has a bold ambition to create a plastics circular economy and work collaboratively toward a low-carbon, zero plastic waste future,” says Greg DeKunder, a vice president with Nova. “Joining the Cyclyx consortium provides us with greater supply reliability, accelerating our ability to meet the demands of consumers for high-quality products made with postconsumer resin.”

Joe Vaillancourt, CEO of Cyclyx, says, “We’re excited to welcome Nova Chemicals to the Cyclyx consortium. Their dedication to keeping plastics out of our natural environment and redesigning plastic products for optimal recycling or recovery is in line with everything that Cyclyx is working to achieve. Their membership will be a great addition to our mission to help increase the recycling rate of plastic from 10 percent to 90 percent.”

Cyclyx was founded by Agilyx Corp. and ExxonMobil Chemical Co. Nova Chemicals is wholly owned by Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates-based Mubadala Investment Co.

Machinex is developing a facility that will be able to process more than 10,000 tons per month.

Canada-based equipment manufacturer Machinex has announced a partnership with Phoenix to deliver a 30-ton-per-hour residential single-stream system in 2023. This project is part of Phoenix’s circular economy and waste diversion initiatives, including diverting most of its recyclables away from its landfill to achieve zero waste by 2050.

To become a circular, zero-waste and carbon-neutral urban area, Phoenix focuses on five pillars: reduce, reuse, recycle, reconsider and reimagine.

Machinex says it will contribute to the city’s objectives by providing a single-stream system to achieve higher recyclable recovery rates. As the city’s project requirements include demanding standards for throughput and sorting quality, Machinex took up the challenge and designed a material recovery facility (MRF) to fit the zero-waste policy, save resources and preserve the environment.

“When operational, this new recycling facility will integrate the latest technologies, including numerous optical sorters, to maximize material recovery while producing high-quality commodities,” says Rick Peters, deputy director of Public Works for the city of Phoenix. “The new facility is designed to be flexible and adaptable, making Phoenix resilient to market and commodity changes over the next 20 years. We also expect this facility to be a great resource to educate students and residents on the value and importance of recycling.”

The MRF is designed to sort recyclables such as paper, cardboard, high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP), mixed plastics and glass from the city’s residential curbside collection program, with a processing capacity of more than 10,000 tons per month. Advanced sorting technology with interconnectivity is necessary to reach high recovery rates without compromising the throughput, Machinex says.

This recycling system, entirely designed and equipped by Machinex, includes a Mach Trommel screen, two Mach Ballistic separators, a SamurAI sorting robot and multiple Mach Hyspec optical sorters to clean papers and fibers while also capturing plastics. To maximize recovery rates while offering higher security for sorters, a Mach Trommel is located at the beginning of the system, before the presort station, to divert small fractions. This allows the smaller fractions to be handled separately while reducing the material burden depth at presort, making for a safer and more efficient sorting position. The small fractions pass immediately by two optical sorters, at the front of the system after the trommel to immediately target small plastics and fiber. The remaining optical sorters within the system clean paper and captures targeted PET, HDPE and PP. 

Finally, two Mach Hyspec optical sorters located at the end of the sorting line optimize recovery by capturing any remaining recoverable materials, while cleaned paper goes to a quality control station. The SamurAI sorting robot with integrated AI is performing quality control on plastics. The system also has been designed so additional robots can be added for future needs.

Machinex says its approach to splitting the stream and addressing each fraction separately helps ensure that this system will reach the high recovery rates requested while maximizing the recovery of valuable materials to close the loop and contribute to the city’s zero waste goal.