RMDAS figures for April show a decline in heavy melting steel pricing; market may be poised for May reversal.
Steel mill scrap buyers in the United States paid more than $600 per ton on average for shredded scrap from March 20 to April 19, according to the Raw Materials Data Aggregation Services (RMDAS) of Pittsburgh-based MSA Inc.
While shredded scrap’s value eased upward by $5 per ton and prompt grades gained an incredible $73 per ton in additional value, mill buyers paid less, on average, for the No. 1 heavy melting steel (HMS) grade.
A scrap trader contacted by Recycling Today this week predicts the nearly $20 drop in value for No. 1 HMS in the RMDAS April buying period may be a sign of things to come in May. “We feel the market will be down $40 to $50 per ton next month on obsoletes and [will be] level on primes,” he says of his own company’s informal market research.
A level market on prime grades would still have it being worth some $776 per ton on the spot market, per the most recent RMDAS U.S. average. The grade remains in tight supply, and demand is high in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Three different processors or traders tell Recycling Today in April that obsolete scrap flows have been steady to rising thanks to higher scale prices and (in most places) better spring weather.
“After a winter lull, flows have rebounded nicely in our area in March and into April,” a processor in the Mid-Atlantic region comments.
A Midwestern processor characterizes flows as “very good” as of mid-April, and a scrap buyer in the Southeast remarks, “April saw good supply, weaker demand–especially for cut grades—and a lesser export market.”
With the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reporting stable mill output and capacity rates in the U.S., the export situation remains a wild card in the obsolete scrap market.
Overseas mills in Turkey, the Indian subcontinent and even Mexico (a large buyer of Russian steel slabs) are scrambling to understand and work around the impacts of steel output interruptions in Ukraine and U.S. sanctions on Russia following that nation’s invasion of its neighbor.
Both the processor in the Midwest and the Southeast point to the ripple effects of the inability of Russian pig iron to make it to many of its former destinations. “The majority of open market pig iron comes from Ukraine and Russia,” the southeastern processor says. “Many rolling mills also counted on those two countries to provide billet and finished steel. This has shifted demand onto Turkey and other Mediterranean steel producers,” which leads to more scrap demand.
The processor also points out, however, that the overall disruption “has created an energy shortage that is having an impact on those same steel producers.”
In the third week of April, Davis Index is describing Turkish mill overseas scrap buying as “restrained.” The metals information service says in an April 20 news item, “Most mills [are] refraining from buying imported material or even bidding for material in anticipation of achieving lower prices [for] May and June shipments.”
As of April 20, the most recent HMS 1&2 bulk cargo booked FOB (freight on board) from the port of New York traded at $574.75 per ton, down 2.3 percent from the previous booking, according to Davis Index.
In the domestic economy, trade groups representing the nation’s largest users of steel have been remarking on the metal’s rising price throughout the pandemic recovery months of the past year and a half. They are among those who see a definite tie-in to larger concerns about inflation.
In an early April blog post, John G. Murphy of the Washington-based U.S. Chamber of Commerce says that group’s 2018 prediction that steel tariffs imposed then would “directly harm American manufacturers” were on target. “All of that came to pass,” writes Murphy.
Advocating further rollbacks on Section 232 tariffs, Murphy states, “In addition to these soaring prices, analysts say widespread steel shortages loom. Steel-consuming industries represent about half of all U.S. manufacturers.”
A 2021 comment from Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves could serve as a rejoinder from the steel industry. He said it was about time that “a ton of steel is worth more than a ton of bananas.”
Corey H. Grauer will be responsible for executive management and oversight of LRS legal, human resources, risk management, compliance and ESG initiatives.
LRS, a Rosemont, Illinois-based independent waste diversion, recycling and portable services provider, has announced the appointment of Corey H. Grauer to executive vice president and general counsel, effective immediately.
Grauer brings an experienced and diverse portfolio of career legal accomplishments to LRS spanning more than three decades and will be responsible for executive management and oversight of LRS legal, human resources, risk management, compliance, and environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives.
Prior to his role at LRS, Grauer served as general counsel, corporate secretary and compliance officer for Marmon Holdings Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary. In this position, he oversaw legal and compliance-related matters for five of Marmon’s business groups.
Grauer earned his Juris Doctor degree from Loyola University of Chicago School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of Illinois in Urbana—Champaign.
"I couldn't be more excited and honored to join LRS and look forward to providing sound legal counsel based on a career of truly rewarding experiences," says Grauer in a release. "LRS has reached a notable size and scale in the waste, recycling and portables industry that requires effective legal, compliance and risk management oversight, and I look forward to making a difference."
Commenting on the appointment, LRS President and CEO Alan T. Handley says Grauer brings proven experience and expertise colored by a career of high-profile successes.
"We welcome Corey to the LRS executive management team and look forward to his many contributions as we continue to grow our waste diversion, recycling and portables markets across our nation's Midwest and South-Central states," Handley says. "We expect Corey's judgment and counsel will serve us well as we continue to scale LRS throughout the greater Midwest."
Handley adds that LRS recently announced the promotions of 14 executives for numerous contributions that helped the company accelerate its growth trajectory as a sustainability industry leader:
*This article was updated April 21, as LRS' headquarters was misidentified as being in Morton Grove, Illinois.
Glacier says its robot costs up to 60 percent less than other robotics.
San Fransico-based Glacier, a manufacturer of AI-powered robotic waste technology, announced it has raised $4.5M in seed funding. The round was led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), with participation by leaders in industry, sustainability and technology, including former General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt, climate investor and former climate policymaker Sierra Peterson and former Uber Chief Procurement Officer Manik Gupta.
Glacier says its recycling robot, a combination of AI and robotics that sorts more than 30 different item types. The goal is to help the $116B US recycling industry address surging demand for recycled feedstock, as well as overcome major feedstock supply shortages caused by aging infrastructure and a dwindling labor pool.
"When people think about fighting climate change, recycling is usually not the first thing that comes to mind,” says Glacier co-founder Areeb Malik. “But recycling is actually one of the only climate solutions that can deliver significant impact immediately, because all the necessary infrastructure either already exists or is emerging now, like our technology,"
Recycling dramatically reduces carbon emissions by decreasing energy use in manufacturing, which is still primarily powered by fossil fuels. For example, recycling aluminum saves 95 percent of the energy needed for manufacturing, recycling steel saves 70 percent of energy needed and so on.
Glacier says half of recyclables in the US end up in landfill. This is in part because recycling facilities rely heavily on human sorting, and hiring difficulties have caused persistent, large-scale labor shortages. Many facilities are in full-blown crisis mode, under-staffed by as much as 50 percent with no end in sight.
Glacier says it is offering the first-ever affordable, high-performing sortation robot. Thanks to proprietary innovations, its robot costs up to 60 percent less than other robots, while matching or exceeding their performance. Glacier's robot is also less than half the size of its peers, requiring minimal facility retrofits to install. Many recycling robots have a payback period of up to 10 years across hardware and retrofit costs. In contrast, Glacier's robot can payback in as little as one year.
"Almost every facility is interested in robotic sorters, but they've assumed robots are out of reach because of high cost and inconsistent ROI,” says co-founder Rebecca Hu. "We've been overwhelmed by all the customer enthusiasm for our product."
In early April, the company installed its first commercial robot at a large recycling facility in California. The robot is sorting eight target materials across two conveyor belts simultaneously. More installations are under contract, and the company is planning to scale rapidly to meet soaring demand.
Beyond robotics, the company says it is leveraging its computer vision to power real-time waste intelligence, providing facilities and municipalities with in-depth insights into their waste stream composition and identifying new opportunities for improved staffing and technology across the industry.
"Solving the recycling industry's acute labor shortages with intelligent robotics and AI is a massive commercial opportunity but also an important step toward significantly reducing emissions and waste," says Ann Bordetsky, partner at NEA. "We're proud to back Glacier's experienced and passionate team as they introduce automation and data intelligence to an essential industry that we all rely on every day."
The companies say the cups now have 90 percent recycled content.
Ball Corp., a Westminster, Colorado-based provider of recyclable aluminum beverage packaging, and Novelis, Atlanta, have announced that the Ball aluminum cup is now composed of 90-percent-recycled content.
In a joint news release, the companies say the evolution builds on the Ball aluminum cup's recyclability by lowering its carbon footprint. Producing the cup with 90 percent recycled content significantly reduces its carbon footprint, as recycled aluminum uses 95 percent less energy than doing so with primary aluminum.
Ball also recently received Cradle to Cradle Certified Bronze for the aluminum cup, saying this underscores the company's commitment to making products that are safe, circular and responsibly made.
"At Ball, we're committed to innovative solutions that contribute to creating a truly circular economy," says Dan Fisher, president and CEO of Ball Corp. "Aluminum beverage packaging, including the Ball aluminum cup, has always been a sustainable alternative to plastic, and this update only further strengthens its sustainability attributes. We aim to deliver solutions that not only benefit our global customers but also benefit the planet.”
The aluminum cup, manufactured in Rome, Georgia, is available now and currently in use by Ball customers. The two say the aluminum cups are helping to drive sustainability at sports and entertainment venues across the country, including at Ball Arena in Denver; SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles; Hard Rock Stadium in Miami; State Farm Arena in Atlanta; Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis; and Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. At Ball Arena, in particular, aluminum beverage packaging has helped to eliminate more than 350,000 single-use plastic cups and bottles, and the arena is on pace to eliminate more than 1 million single-use plastic cups and bottles in 2022.
"In line with Novelis' purpose of 'Shaping a Sustainable World Together,' we're focused on innovating alongside customers like Ball to increase the use of recycled content in their products," says Steve Fisher, president and CEO of Novelis. "We're proud of our long-standing partnership with Ball and our joint efforts to increase the use of aluminum for beverage packaging. Aluminum beverage packages, bottles, cans and cups alike, are a perfect product for the circular economy as they can be recycled over and over without ever losing their material properties."
Recyclable and economically valuable, aluminum is the most sustainable beverage packaging material. Like aluminum cans, aluminum cups can be easily recycled. The companies say 75 percent of the aluminum ever produced is still in use today and aluminum cans, cups and bottles can be recycled and back on a store shelf in as little as 60 days.
The company says it plans to expand its manufacturing footprint by 340,000 square feet.
Kari-Out Co., a Tarrytown, New York-based manufacturer, importer and distributor of paper, aluminum and recyclable packaging products in the restaurant takeout industry, has announced a significant move to bolster its line of sustainable packaging solutions.
The company says this is its largest investment to date and will expand manufacturing capabilities in its specialty quality packaging (SQP) facility in New York, where Kari-Out’s popular Food Trays, Eco Box and Eco Earth paper food containers are produced. SQP, founded in 1981, has been a Kari-Out company for more than 15 years and has helped Kari-Out drive innovation.
“State-of-the-art machines with new die-cutting, folding and forming technology will allow Kari-Out to double its capacity for paper containers, producing innovative new shapes and sizes to accommodate the changing carry-out industry,” says Dominick Fontana, head of operations for Kari-Out.
He adds that the investment also focuses on six-color printing and photo processing, with the goal of delivering high-quality graphics for Kari-Out’s branded and private-label products.
“We’ve seen a considerable increase in demand for our single-slice pizza boxes and closed food containers for hamburgers and hot dogs,” says Kimberly Cassar, Kari-Out head of marketing. “Another area of growth is chicken boxes. The chicken wars across the national chains are real. This key investment will help us better serve this segment.”
According to Edison Trends, overall spending on chicken sandwiches grew 420 percent between 2019 and 2020. Chicken sandwiches appear on 48 percent of total U.S. restaurant menus, and Americans consume more chicken than any other meat, surpassing beef, pork and fish.
“As the chicken trend continues, Kari-Out continues to develop perfect containers to move America’s favorite type of food with Chicken Boxes, Eco Boxes and sandwich boxes,” Cassar says. “We also make a full assortment of portion control sauce packets to go with these great sandwiches.”
Cassar says the company plans to meet the demand for to-go packaging by expanding its manufacturing footprint by 340,000 square feet this year.
While about 80 percent of all the food packaging the company makes is paper-based, it will increase output of responsible products, such as the Eco Earth closed container, which is made from 100-percent-recycled board and is both recyclable and compostable. Additionally, ramped-up operational efficiency is expected to reduce waste by from 5 percent to 10 percent.