Recycling Product News April 2023, Volume 31, Number 3

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Morbark 6400XT Wood Hog Horizontal Grinder

Morbark 3400XT Wood Hog Horizontal Grinder

Morbark 1600 Tub Grinder

36 COVER STORY SPECIAL REPORT: AI AND DATA CAPTURE IN MRFS

48

OSHKOSH’S FIRST FULLY INTEGRATED ELECTRIC COLLECTION VEHICLE

WHAT BATTERY RECYCLING’S GROWTH CYCLE MEANS FOR THE FUTURE OF THE INDUSTRY 50 30 THREE PLASTICS MARKET TRENDS TO WATCH OUT FOR

DEPARTMENTS & SECTIONS

APRIL 2023 | VOLUME 31 • NUMBER 3

EDITOR IN CHIEF Kaitlyn Till ktill@baumpub.com

604-291-9900 ext. 330

EDITOR

Slone Fox sfox@baumpub.com

604-291-9900 ext. 335

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/ VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES

Sam Esmaili sam@baumpub.com

604-291-9900 ext. 110

ADVERTISING PRODUCTION MANAGER

Tina Anderson production@baumpub.com

604-291-9900 ext. 222

FROM THE COVER: AN INTELLIGENT MACHINEX MRF

Modern MRFs combine vision equipment such as optics, robots, and cameras to capture data that can be used to automatically adjust equipment across the facility.

See more on page 36.

CONNECT WITH US @RecyclingPN

DESIGN & PRODUCTION

Morena Zanotto morena@baumpub.com

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PRESIDENT/PUBLISHER

Ken Singer

ksinger@baumpub.com

604-291-9900 ext. 226

VICE PRESIDENT/CONTROLLER

Melvin Date Chong

mdatechong@baumpub.com

FOUNDER Engelbert J. Baum

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ASSIST YOUR LABOR FORCE WITH THE SAMURAI SORTING ROBOT

Up to 95% e ciency of targeted product recognition

INTELLIGENCE IN SORTING

FROM THE EDITOR

LABOUR SHORTAGES CALL FOR A NEW WAY OF THINKING

Even though automation is undoubtedly on the rise with the increased adoption of AI and similar technologies, the waste and recycling industry still fundamentally relies on human workers at its core. In recent years, though, these skilled workers have become increasingly hard to find and retain.

According to a white paper from the National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA), this labour shortage can be attributed to a shrinking pool of younger applicants and an increasing number of retirements, paired with a growing shortage of workers with the required skills to drive and operate equipment. The paper also cites difficulty finding workers with commercial driver’s licenses to drive collection trucks as a large contributing factor. Due to a lack of drivers, many collection companies have cut back on their services by suspending yard waste collection and reducing the frequency of curbside recycling services – with some companies even pausing collection altogether.

All hope is not lost, though. SWANA’s most recent report Addressing the Labor Shortage in Solid Waste Collection Services suggests a number of solutions to combat the current shortage, such as urging employers to increase compensation for drivers and helpers to make these positions more attractive to potential applicants, as well as encouraging haulers to consider using automated collection trucks to reduce workforce helper demands.

Waste and recycling companies are also getting creative when it comes to attracting qualified candidates – and retaining current employees – by offering things such as daycare services in addition to flexible schedules, training opportunities, benefits, and bonuses. GFL, for example, implemented weekly bonuses for employees who attend work all week. Other companies are drawing on outside contractors, temporary hires, and staffing agencies to address labour shortages.

Within the next five years, the NWRA expects the solid waste collection industry to have 14,000 new jobs for collection drivers and helpers, and nearly 2,000 more for technicians and mechanics. According to the association, flooding an already tight market with more jobs than there are employees will worsen the situation.

As the recycling sector continues to navigate this difficult labour market, the adoption of new ways of thinking is vital to making substantive improvements. Later in this issue, we explore the different steps that still need to be taken to attract a new generation of people to the waste and recycling industry, like leveraging TikTok, Instagram, and other social media platforms to gain the awareness of younger demographics. Plus, with a new generation that’s proving to be highly passionate about sustainability, highlighting the environmental benefits of the industry can show younger generations that their sustainability passions can be transformed into a viable career. While it’s not an end-all solution, thinking outside the box is a vital next step in the push toward a thriving industry, and it’s one that is already in motion.

As the recycling sector continues to navigate this difficult labour market, the adoption of new ways of thinking is vital to making substantive improvements.

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Barge Terminal Manager, Huger, NC

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TOMRA OPENS NEW TEST CENTRE FOR METALS SORTING

TOMRA has celebrated the opening of a second test centre at its headquarters in Mülheim-Kärlich, Germany. TOMRA’s test centres give recyclers and plant operators the opportunity to test their materials on TOMRA’s sorting machines before making an investment.

TOMRA will use the second facility to develop innovations that can be extensively tested and optimized by specialized teams on site. The company conducts approximately 650 user and internal trials each year and anticipates the demand to grow.

“Until recently, we’ve combined both metal and waste sorting machines in one area,” says Ralph Uepping, VP and head of technology at TOMRA Recycling Sorting. “Now, each test hall will be dedicated to one segment only. While waste sorting trials are done in the first established facility, the focus of the new facility is on metal sorting.”

TOMRA’s new X-TRACT, FINDER, and COMBISENSE, as well as a soon-to-be released machine for advanced aluminum sorting, have been installed in the new facility.

While the new facility allows the company to place a stronger emphasis on the metals segment, waste applications continue to play an equally important role. The original test centre started as a mobile test station in Andernach, Germany, before moving to Mülheim-Kärlich in 2009, and steadily grew in sophistication. It now offers 16,146 square feet (1,500 square metres) for waste sorting trials. Test possibilities include the recovery of recyclable polymers from mixed and source-separated waste streams, flake sorting, the separation of wood by material type, and more.

Deep learning technologies, a subset of AI, are also part of TOMRA’s product portfolio and can be tested in different sorting tasks. Available as a complementary solution to its core technologies, deep learning is a tool that helps improve sorting performance by detecting previously hard or impossible-to-detect materials.

CIRCULARISE JOINS AUDI’S END-OF-LIFE VEHICLE CIRCULAR ECONOMY PROJECT

Circularise has joined the MaterialLoop project initiated by Audi to move forward with its circular economy strategy and get valuable insights into how a circular economy can be put into practice.

Together with 14 other partners from the research, recycling, and supplier sectors, Circularise participated in the pilot project aimed to investigate the possibility of the reuse of post-consumer materials which are taken from vehicles at the end of their life cycle for the production of new cars.

Back in October 2022, 100 vehicles, including former development cars, were dismantled as part of the MaterialLoop project. After disassembly, the car bodies were shredded and sorted into material groups comprising steel, aluminum, plastic, and glass. With the aim of testing the reuse of such materials in the production of new cars, Audi defined and piloted the further recycling process together with project partners from the recycling industry and Audi supply chain.

Circularise provided all partners with the digital tool to trace the movement of all the materials from dismantling to recycling, and consequently reuse. The goal was to avoid downcycling and achieve the most sustainable end-of-life vehicle recycling practices possible.

“Sustainability in the automotive world requires a greater understanding of all the facets of material selection and production, design, engineering, supply chain, component manufacturing, finishing, and assembly,” says Mesbah Sabur, Circularise founder. “With digital product passports, we can support traceability and accounting of the materials, processes, and impacts at each step of the value chain. This makes it easier for automotive suppliers and OEMs to accurately measure the LCA and carbon footprint of vehicles, as well as make more informed decisions regarding the circular vehicle production.”

FIRST TEREX RECYCLING SYSTEMS PLANT INSTALLED

Collard Group has chosen a Terex Recycling Systems plant to increase the processing capacity of its site and recover cleaner products of higher value without adding to manual labour requirements. The plant, which is the first Terex Recycling Systems installation, was tailored to suit Collard Group’s site and the material which would be fed into it. Terex developed a process which incorporated advanced mechanical separation that would increase Collard Group’s processing capacity and recover products of a higher purity than what was previously achieved. The outcome is a plant that is processing skip waste – a mixture of commercial and industrial and C&D waste – to produce 0 to 10 millimetres fines, ferrous metals, clean 10 to 100 millimetres heavy fraction (inert), non-ferrous metals, wood, plastic, paper and card, and clean over 100-millimetre heavy fraction (inert) materials.

PLASTICS MARKET TRENDS

Trends are constantly evolving in response to changes in consumer preferences, technological advancements, and regulatory policies. Recycling experts at eFACTOR3 discuss trends to watch out for.

Turn to page 30 to read more.

HARRIS COMPLETES $5 MILLION EXPANSION AT GEORGIA MANUFACTURING FACILITY

Harris has completed a $5 million expansion and modernization of the company’s machining centre at its Cordele, Georgia, manufacturing complex.

The expansion and modernization of the existing 29,000 square feet added on an extra 14,000 square feet of production, training, and employee meeting space at the facility. The expanded capacity is home to CNC machining centres for turning, milling, drilling, and shaping. In total, the Harris Cordele campus is home to over 150 employees and nearly 200,000 square feet of total production space.

The Harris Cordele manufacturing complex is a 22-acre campus that encompasses facilities for fabricating, machining,

cylinder manufacturing, and equipment assembly, in addition to parts, service, and administrative offices.

ALBERTA INVESTS $58 MILLION IN CANADIAN CIRCULAR ECONOMY PROJECTS

The Government of Alberta is advancing the province’s circular economy by committing $58 million through Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) to projects across the province worth $528 million in public and private investment.

Recycling asphalt from roof shingles, sequestering carbon in concrete, and novel plastics recycling are some examples of the technology solutions receiving funding through ERA’s circular economy challenge. If successful, these projects will result in cumulative greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions of up to 4 million tonnes by 2050 – equal to offsetting the GHG footprint of 1 million homes. The funding is expected to create 1,835 jobs in Alberta and have a $350 million GDP impact in the province by 2025.

Circular Economy Challenge projects support waste reduction, material, and feedstock substitution, value recovery, and reduction of the life cycle environmental footprint of materials and products. These technology solutions can reduce the impacts of material production, processing, and disposal. The invested innovations will support industry competitiveness, new venture creation, and economic diversification.

Want to boost your recycling rates?

OPERATIONS IN CALIFORNIA

Republic Services has expanded its organics recycling operations in California with the acquisition of North State Bioenergy, an anaerobic digestion facility north of Sacramento. California requires the diversion of food and yard waste from landfills as part of its climate strategy.

The North State Bioenergy facility recycles food waste and other organics collected from across Northern California. The anaerobic digestion process breaks down this organic material and creates biogas, which can be used to generate electricity or converted into renewable natural gas to fuel vehicles in Republic’s fleet. The facility’s operations are fully

circular, with biogas generating enough electricity to power the facility.

Republic has extensive operations in California to support organics recycling, including six compost facilities and three commercial food waste pre-processing sites. The North State facility is the company’s first anaerobic digester.

In 2022, Republic recycled one million tons of food and yard waste. Diverting this organic material from a landfill provides a climate benefit equivalent to removing the annual emissions of 16,000 passenger vehicles. Organics recycling directly supports Republic Services’ sustainability goal to increase the recovery and circularity of key materials from the waste stream by 40 percent by 2030.

ASCEND ELEMENTS OPENS

NORTH AMERICA’S LARGEST EV BATTERY RECYCLING FACILITY

Ascend Elements has opened its first commercial-scale lithium-ion battery recycling facility in Covington, Georgia. According to the company, the $50 million Base 1 facility is North America’s largest electric vehicle battery recycling facility. The facility began partial operations in August 2022 and now has an annual capacity to process 30,000 metric tons of used lithium-ion batteries and manufacturing scrap – equal to 70,000 electric vehicle batteries per year.

GRAPPLES MAGNET GENERATORS SCRAP MAGNETS ALLIGATOR SHEARS

SWANA REPORTS AN INCREASE WORKER FATALITIES FOR 2022

The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) reported an increase in worker fatalities in 2022 in the United States and Canada after a dramatic drop in 2021. For 2022, 46 solid waste industry worker fatalities were recorded by SWANA compared to 28 the year before.

Public sector workers represented a larger percentage of fa-

talities in 2022 compared to previous years. About 35 percent of all solid waste workers killed last year worked in the public sector, whereas the average was around 21 percent over the past four years.

Collection remained the leading type of work for fatal incidents. The most common cause of collection worker fatalities continues to be their own truck (e.g., either falling off it, being struck by it, or the truck rolling over). Being struck by a third party vehicle remains the third leading cause of death for collection workers followed by crashes with other vehicles.

Post-collection and maintenance activities both saw large increases in fatalities in 2022, representing the bulk of the rise in worker deaths from 2021. Fatal incidents at materials recovery facilities jumped from one in 2021 to seven in 2022. Fatalities at landfills went from five to eight in 2022.

Maintenance also contributed to the rise in worker fatalities in 2022, with four people killed while working on trucks. Three of these incidents involved working on or around hydraulics.

Mechanical-related fatalities as a whole led the list of fatal events for the first time since SWANA has tracked this data. In addition to truck maintenance, work on and around shredders, balers, compactors, and other equipment led to 11 worker deaths in 2022. Single-vehicle crashes were again the second leading cause of fatal incidents.

6400CT CBI 6400CT

The CBI 6400CT is an extreme-duty machine engineered for resilience and high production when grinding contaminated demolition debris, railroad ties, whole trees, pallets, storm debris, shingles, logs, mulch, slash, and stumps. The revolutionary new “cassette style” clamshell design allows end-users to swap out rotors completely. Go from grinding to chipping in half the time.

TERRACYCLE DEPLOYS EVREKA’S WASTE TRACKING TECHNOLOGY IN CANADA

TerraCycle has deployed waste management technology from Evreka in TerraCycle’s Canadian materials recovery facilities. The new technology will help update all of TerraCycle’s waste streams throughout Canada.

“The Evreka software provides us the ability to centralize and scale the tracking of all waste movements through each step of our supply chain from receipt, through multiple stages of sortation and processing, to final recycling,” says Tom Szaky, CEO of TerraCycle.

Evreka’s software will provide asset and operations management solutions for TerraCycle’s MRF, and will work in tandem with the company’s current systems. Data from the MRF will be stored in Evreka’s management platform, which will track the waste as it moves through the recycling process.

DAVID BIDERMAN STEPS DOWN AS SWANA’S CEO

David Biderman has left his role as executive director and CEO of SWANA. SWANA will hire an interim executive director and CEO until a permanent one is found. SWANA hopes to have a candidate selected prior to WASTECON, but says it is not rushing the process.

VAN DYK RECYCLING SOLUTIONS

Food Depackers for the Growing Processor

Van Dyk caters to the waste hauling and recycling industry and realizes the need for food waste depackers that can handle a wide variety of materials in bulk capacity. Offering robust depackers in various designs that continuously exceed throughput expectations while yielding high quality organic matter.

Visit us at WasteExpo to see a demo unit on the show floor.

SPOTLIGHT INTRODUCTIONS & UPDATES

SINGLE-ROTOR SHREDDER

GP Series shredders are ideal for plastic recyclers who need to reduce hard scrap that is too large for a granulator, but who don’t need the high throughput or cost of a larger shredding machine. The series is comprised of two models, with the GP 924 featuring a 24-inch cutting chamber and the larger GP 935 equipped with a 35-inch chamber. Within each chamber, scrap is reduced by a single 8.7-inch-diameter (220 mm) steel rotor that cuts against a fixed blade knife. Rotors are equipped with four-sided, indexable cutting knives that can be unbolted and rotated to provide fresh cutting edges between sharpenings.

LiuGong ELECTRIC WHEEL LOADER

LiuGong’s 856H-E MAX electric wheel loader is now available in North America. A 432kWh large-capacity lithium-ion phosphate battery powers the electric wheel loader for up to 10 hours of working time for light applications and eight hours for heavy applications. Its intelligent battery management system that can be fast charged in 90 minutes. The 856H-E MAX features intelligent controls such as load-sensing hydraulics; an EAT700 transmission with an electro-proportional valve for fast, smooth shifting; and independent control of the dual-motor drive for maximum hydraulic lift. An intelligent auto digging system automatically carries out repetitive digging cycles to reduce operator fatigue.

ALLU SCREENING BUCKETS

ALLU’s VELOCI screening buckets are made from polyurethane, which allows the material to fall through without crushing or shredding. Large materials and debris are separated from reusable materials and left in the bucket, while a rotating motion inside the bucket screens and mixes materials to produce a quality end product. All models are equipped with hydraulic motors for maximum processing power, and drum size dictates the number of motors used. The ALLU VELOCI has a double-skin floor, making it robust and durable even in demanding environments. Five different model sizes are available for a variety of screening, mixing, and aerating applications.

Shredder

Conair

Screening buckets

Electric wheel loader

Astec Industries

HORIZONTAL GRINDER

The Peterson 5710E horizontal grinder from Astec Industries is best suited for land clearing operations or other applications where mobility is needed. The 5710E features a larger rotor that can accommodate a greater number of grinding bits. The new rotor is 8 percent larger and 19 percent heavier than the previous model, giving it more grinding power. The redesign has been used to maximize efficiency and simplicity throughout the grinding process, from the rotor to the screens, as well as in the new compression roll cylinders which offer better downforce to help process the material fed into the rotor.

Hyundai Construction Equipment Americas WHEEL LOADER

As the largest model in Hyundai’s A-Series wheel loader line, the new HL985A offers a standard bucket capacity of 9.1 cubic yards and is ideal for use in mass-volume material handling applications, such as scrapyards, transfer stations, and municipal facilities. This wheel loader is powered by a 430-hp (320-kW) Cummins X12 Performance Series engine, delivering enhanced power and torque while also being highly fuel efficient. Heavy-duty ZF axles with wet outboard brakes and coolers are standard equipment on the HL985, which is powered by a ZF 5-speed transmission.

Horizontal grinder

Wheel loader

Q&A DIVERSITY, SOCIAL MEDIA & LABOUR RETENTION IN THE METALS INDUSTRY

As the recycling industry continues to grapple with an ongoing labour shortage, attracting and retaining talent is more vital than ever. This is especially true as more of the current workforce nears retirement, and younger qualified workers become harder to find. To combat this, many companies are beginning to overhaul their approach to hiring by leveraging social media as a business tool, rather than just a communication platform, to reach a younger demographic.

I spoke with Jennifer Betts, founder of Magnar Metals, to discuss how her company is helping metals companies expand their audience, attract new talent to the industry, increase public awareness of the industry through various media channels, and more.

BY SLONE FOX, EDITOR

Can you talk a bit about what your company Magnar Metals does?

Magnar Metals is committed to supporting metal companies in expanding their audience, markets, and business streams while minimizing their carbon footprint. We offer a range of essential services, including promoting sustainable and efficient business practices that reduce the industry’s environmental impact, attracting new and experienced talent to the metals industry, and using modern media channels to enhance public awareness of this industry’s fascinating products and processes. Magnar Metals strongly advocates for metals recycling and recognizes the positive impact it can have on both the environment and economy. Ultimately, Magnar Metals is devoted to fostering the curiosity and enthusiasm of the next generation toward the metals industry while promoting a sustainable future.

In your opinion, what steps still need to be taken to attract and retain a younger demographic to the metals recycling industry?

To attract and retain a younger demographic to the industry, it is imperative to move outside of your comfort zone and take new actions when a different outcome is desired. Every business and person in this industry should be using their voice on platforms both on and outside of LinkedIn and traditional media channels. Gen Z and Alpha are incredibly sophisticated online and not always on the previously dominant channels.

Our industry aligns with the hopes, dreams, and frustrations of these generations. We are the front line to climate change and saving our planet’s resources,

Jennifer Betts

yet historically we shy away from highlighting the everyday impacts of our work to the public. Get on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, etc., and showcase the incredible work your business is doing to contribute to the environment and economy. Many folks – especially in the younger generations – are unaware that their passion for the environment can be a lucrative career path. Show them.

What advice do you have for someone trying to get into the industry?

The metals industry is local and global. You will always find an opportunity in this industry. Metals recycling has been around for centuries and its importance in our economy will exponentially grow in the coming decades, so think long-term. Your first position will not be your last. Many companies start new employees on the ground floor before promoting them to the next level, so find a company with leaders willing to teach new folks and listen to new ideas.

Utilize traditional channels like Google and LinkedIn to find companies within this industry. However, take it to the next level and search YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, etc. to find the unicorns in our industry who are thinking outside the box. Direct message them. Be proactive and reach out to individuals at the company and highlight the value you bring to the table.

gage with potential clients, build a brand, and create educational communities for the industry.

Each platform offers different features and audiences – similar to the three main learning styles for folks (visual, auditory, and kinesthetic). At the time of this article, TikTok has 150 million Americans on its platform, and yet the majority of metal recycling companies are not on it. That’s half of the United States’ population, and most of our industry is missing that audience by not making it accessible.

Not a fan of TikTok? YouTube has over 2 billion active users globally, and is owned by the search engine Google. Seventy-five percent of videos played on YouTube are on mobile devices. YouTube Shorts receive 15 billion views daily, and 70 percent are longer than 15 seconds.

How do we expect to reach the next generation and promote our industry if we do not go to where the people are? Get out into your facility, take videos, explain your unique factors, and put them online. Our industry is truly fascinating and is changing the world for the better. Show the world our passion.

Can you touch on your involvement with Chief and the role that it’s playing in increasing diversity within the industry?

Throughout my tenure in this industry, the diversity has not been an accurate representation of our domestic civilian society. Many of the companies I have worked for and conducted business with were limited in their diversity – hiring familiar faces and backgrounds as the status quo. Slowly, this is changing.

As Bob Dylan once sang, “The times they are a-changin’.” Businesses and individuals who do not embrace being uncomfortable will not grow with the times. Social media can be uncomfortable, yet it’s an incredible business development tool. The various platforms offer unique opportunities to en-

Chief has been a refreshing experience coming from a male-dominated industry. Meeting diverse female executives from other industries has been motivating and inspiring. The Chief organization has been vocal on social media channels like LinkedIn to highlight the work that needs to be done to reach equitable conditions for all. Seeing other female (and male) leaders positively engage with diversity research and articles on a public stage pushed me to be more vocal.

Chief is a major reason why I am in the process of launching my own podcast – one

As someone who has become quite prolific on social media, can you talk a bit about what role these platforms are playing not only as a business development tool, but as a way of attracting workers to the industry?

SF JB

that highlights all the career opportunities in the metals industry – through the voices of women. Over the years, I have met numerous intelligent experts in this industry who happen to be women. The podcast will be a platform for women to showcase their expertise in fields where the majority of the workers are historically male. The intent is to encourage a more diverse group of individuals to consider careers in our incredible industry.

Why does diversity matter for business?

In recent years, more companies are recognizing how important DEI is to their long-term financial success, and they are becoming more vocal about their policies to increase diversity in the workplace. A 2019 analysis by McKinsey found companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams were 25 percent more likely to have above-average profitability, and that number grew to 36 percent more likely for above-average profitability with ethnic diversity on the executive teams.

Representation matters. If your company is working on increasing diversity, show it online. Highlight the work and let the masses know it is important to you, your employees, and the communities you serve.

Be on the lookout for Forged By Fire: Unique Journeys in the Metals Industry to hit wherever you stream your podcasts along with the visual channels (like YouTube) later this spring.

What would you consider to be some of the biggest challenges facing the industry today?

The biggest challenge facing the industry today is the status quo. Leaders who do not embrace change or a new way of thinking are holding themselves and their companies back from reaching the next level.

It’s absurd to expect a new and different outcome by leaning on the same actions. Take a moment to let that sink in. If you expect to grow your business, reach new audiences, find better employees, and increase profits, the status quo will not get you there.

Think of the status quo as a fishing rod. Sure, you can cast it out from the dock and you might get a few fish after a while. It’s worked well enough in the past, right? Now, imagine if you tried a new strategy, looked around, and saw a giant fishing net strung

between two boats. Sure, you’ve never used a fishing net before, but there’s Google and YouTube now to learn from. Now you can cast a larger fishing net and catch more opportunities.

Stop doing the status quo.

Where do you see the industry heading in the future?

Looking toward the future of the metals recycling industry, technology is playing an increasingly important role in driving sustainability, efficiency, and customer engagement. The industry has been slow to adopt technology, but recent developments indicate this is changing.

One of the key trends is an increased focus on reducing carbon emissions and the carbon footprint of the industry. Companies like Greenway Steel and Mobius Risk Group are helping companies understand their carbon footprint through the use of technology advancements such as carbon footprint calculators. Decarbonization, carbon credits, and carbon emissions will become ingrained in the metals recycling industry and beyond.

In addition, companies like GreenSpark and Guidewheel are utilizing technology to help companies run their businesses more efficiently and reduce their environmental impact. For example, Guidewheel has launched a system to help factories run more efficiently, ultimately lowering their energy and carbon emissions.

As consumers increasingly demand sustainable and environmentally friendly products and services, the metals recycling industry will need to continue to embrace technology and innovation to stay ahead of the curve. The industry has historically been a critical component of manufacturing in the United States and, by leveraging technology, it will remain an essential industry for decades to come.

What are you most excited about moving forward?

I cannot wait to watch how the next generations bring their passion for the planet and new ideas to this industry. Now we need to collectively get online, showcase our industry, and recruit these talented individuals to the metals recycling world. RPN

NXTCUT! MID SIZE SHEAR

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→ Compact design of the hydraulic power unit and control cabinet optimized for maximum ease of maintenance

→ Charge box length of 20.3 ft – 26.2 ft

2022 SEES CARTON PERFORMANCE TRENDING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

NATIONAL BLENDED COLLECTION RATES FOR CARTONS ARE ON THE RISE

BY ISABELLE FAUCHER

Every year, the Carton Council of Canada (CCC) publishes the national blended collection recycling rate for cartons. For 2022, this performance now stands at 57 percent – up from 55 percent in 2021. So what explains this increase?

The national increase is primarily attributable to the increased performance in Ontario. In this province, the recycling performance for printed paper and packaging (PPP) materials including cartons was, until recently, calculated annually by Stewardship Ontario (SO) through its fee schedule. In the 2022 fee schedule it released in October 2021, SO determined that the combined recycling rate of gable top and aseptic cartons was 40 percent. However, this was inconsistent with the results from waste audits conducted by SO/Continuous Improvement Fund (CIF) that estimate the capture rate of cartons in Ontario is just shy of 70 percent.

The relatively low carton performance in Ontario was attributable to the high proportion of paper laminants (namely hot drink cups and paper-based ice cream containers) in the polycoat bales of municipal programs audited by Stewardship Ontario between 2017 and 2019.

In 2021, CCC carried out its own polycoat composition studies of three large recycling programs that were not part of SO’s dataset. In doing so, we found that paper laminants were not as present in those programs as they were in the programs audited by SO. We found that polycoat bales from the programs we audited had, on average, 90 percent cartons and only 6 percent paper laminants compared to 75 percent cartons and 22 percent paper laminants for the programs audited by SO. We calculated the 2022 carton performance by incorporating these

new findings, which resulted in a 4 percent increase of the carton recycling rate in Ontario and a 2 percent improvement in the national performance.

TRACKING PERFORMANCE

Carton performance is based on data shared by the various provincial and territorial organizations that operate recycling programs. Some jurisdictions report a recycling rate, while others report a collection rate. For this reason, we cannot report a uniform national recycling or collection rate.

The recycling rate refers to the tonnes of cartons sent for recycling (i.e., once they have been sorted and baled at a ma-

We’re hopeful that the imminent transitions toward full producer responsibility of the country’s two largest Blue Box systems, Quebec and Ontario, will help further improve overall collection and recycling performance.

terial recovery facility or redeemed through a deposit return system) divided by the tonnes of cartons supplied to market. In contrast, the collection rate refers to the tonnes of cartons col lected in the recycling stream and delivered to a MRF divided by the tonnes of cartons supplied to market.

LOOKING AHEAD

CCC will continue to grow its dataset from Ontario programs and is planning four additional polycoat bale audits over the course of this year. We are also encouraged by the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority’s recently published num bers, which show a growth in the tonnes of polycoat marketed by Ontario municipalities from the previous year (7,685 in 2021 versus 7,210 in 2020).

We are also collaborating with the Continuous Improvement Fund and SO to carry out four-season curbside, multi-residen tial, and depot waste composition studies (fall 2022 to summer 2023). This will result in more granular information pertaining to seven additional carton sub-categories.

Our data gathering and performance measuring efforts are just one of the tactics we utilize in order to work toward our goal of 70 percent blended carton collection recycling by 2025. We’re hopeful that the imminent transitions toward full produc er responsibility of the country’s two largest Blue Box systems, Quebec and Ontario, will help further improve overall collec tion and recycling performance.

ISABELLE FAUCHER is the managing director of the Carton Council of Canada.

The CCC publishes the national blended collection recycling rate for cartons annually.

BATTERY RECYCLING UPDATE

REDWOOD MATERIALS REFLECTS ON SUCCESSFUL EV BATTERY RECYCLING PROGRAM

Redwood has shared a year’s worth of findings in hopes of demonstrating the value of end-of-life packs, identifying gaps where the industry may need support, and aiding policymakers as they begin to make critical decisions on how to responsibly manage EV batteries at end of life.

Working directly with auto dealers, dismantlers, and aggregators in California, Redwood was able to identify and recover 1,268 end-of-life packs totaling approximately half a million pounds of material. Of the packs collected, less than 5 percent were damaged, defective, or recalled.

From the recovered metals, Redwood has already begun to produce high-quality battery materials, anode, and cathode that can be returned directly to U.S. battery cell manufacturers.

The packs collected were a mix of older NiMH and newer lithium-ion chemistries from more than a dozen different automakers. Redwood expects mixed chemistries to continue as older hybrid vehicle models now reaching end of life continue to retire in greater numbers from California roads.

However, lithium-ion represented the majority of the chemistry types collected, and Redwood expects it will continue to grow as it’s now the only type of vehicle battery on the market.

LI-CYCLE RECEIVES CONDITIONAL $375 MILLION LOAN FROM DOE

ter, New York, in what Li-Cycle is calling the Rochester Hub. Li-Cycle says that this is the first conditional commitment from the DOE ATVM program for a sustainable pure-play battery materials recycling company and the program’s main support for the lithium-ion battery recycling industry.

Li-Cycle has received a conditional commitment for a $375 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) through its Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program.

The conditional commitment marks another milestone endorsing Li-Cycle’s development of a commercial hydrometallurgical resource recovery facility in North America, located near Roches-

The Rochester Hub is expected to become a U.S. domestic source of battery-grade materials, including lithium, nickel, and cobalt. Receiving the conditional commitment is a significant step in the lending process and reflects the DOE’s intent to finance the project. However, the loan remains subject to the documentation of long-form agreements and certain conditions will have to be satisfied prior to closing, which is currently expected to occur in the second quarter of 2023.

ASCEND ELEMENTS TO SUPPLY HONDA WITH RECYCLED LITHIUMION BATTERY MATERIALS

Ascend Elements will collaborate with Honda Motor Company to supply recycled lithium-ion battery materials for Honda electric vehicles in North America. The use of recycled battery materials in new EV batteries can dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of electric vehicles.

WEIMA AMERICA, INC.

High-capacity Waste Shredder on Display at WasteExpo 2023

Ascend Elements has recycled used lithium-ion batteries for Honda since 2021. The new agreement is an important step toward creating a closed-loop supply chain for recycled battery materials – including lithium, nickel, and cobalt – leveraging the efficiencies and environmental benefits of Ascend Elements’ Hydro-to-Cathode direct precursor synthesis process. Ascend Elements’ products include recycled lithium, nickel, and cobalt, as well as sustainable cathode precursor and cathode active materials – all made from used lithium-ion batteries and manufacturing scrap.

CIRBA SOLUTIONS RECEIVES $50 MILLION INVESTMENT FROM MARUBENI CORPORATION

Cirba Solutions has received a $50 million minority investment from the Marubeni Corporation. This investment will support Cirba Solutions’ effort to expand its footprint and help create a sustainable closed-loop battery materials supply chain.

With Marubeni’s global network and presence in the Asia-Pacific market with suppliers in the EV industry, this investment supports the need to provide more sustainable solutions for end-of-life batteries and manufacturing scrap that help reduce environmental impact while closing the supply gap of needed critical materials for electric vehicles.

The PowerLine 3000 is a top-of-the-line machine with impressive capabilities to manage virtually any material within the waste realm. Equipped with one of WEIMA’s largest rotors, this machine is designed to ensure optimal performance. Optional wearresistant features are available for the toughest of applications. Its working parts are integrated into the PLC controls, safeguarding against any harm caused by foreign objects.

The machine’s access doors are also integrated into the PLC controls for safer and simpler maintenance. In fact, the machine won’t function while the doors are open. To enhance safety measures, the machine’s hydraulic and electrical PowerPack is located externally, allowing for easier accessibility.

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CALL2RECYCLE COLLECTED NEARLY 8 MILLION POUNDS OF BATTERIES IN 2022

Call2Recycle has released its annual battery collection data for 2022. In 2022, nearly 8 million pounds of batteries were collected for recycling in the U.S., including over 3 million pounds of lithium-ion batteries, the highest number of lithium-ion batteries collected in the program’s history.

Overall, U.S. battery collections dipped two percent from 2021. However, a 13 percent increase in lithium-ion battery collections drove an overall 4 percent growth in total rechargeable battery collections. In total, more than 5.6 million pounds of rechargeable batteries and over 2.3 million pounds of primary batteries were collected for recycling.

AQUA METALS PRODUCES HIGHPURITY LITHIUM HYDROXIDE FROM RECYCLED BATTERIES

Aqua Metals has recovered high-purity lithium hydroxide from lithium-ion battery black mass at the company’s Li AquaRefining recycling facility.

The production and availability of recycled lithium hydroxide at scale will help close the supply chain loop for critical battery metals in the U.S., paving the way for a more sustainable, efficient battery manufacturing industry. The immediate recovery of lithium hydroxide also improves the economics of recycling advanced battery chemistries like lithium iron phosphate where lithium makes up most of the valuable material, unlike current nickel and cobalt-based batteries.

The company’s Li AquaRefining pilot facility is a closed-loop recycling system able to recover all the critical resources contained in spent lithium batteries using primarily electricity and without the furnaces or intensive chemical processes typical of battery recycling. Aqua Metals plans to produce battery-grade lithium hydroxide directly from black mass using its regenerative electro-hydrometallurgy process.

Aqua Metals’ Li AquaRefining Pilot became operational in 2022, and Aqua Metals says that it is the first pilot-scale electro-hydrometallurgy battery recycling facility in North America. The pilot facility is designed to recover lithium hydroxide and manganese dioxide, as well as pure cobalt, nickel, and copper metals from spent lithium-ion batteries and provides the design basis for the company’s 10,000-ton-per-year lithium battery recycling campus planned for phased development starting later in 2023.

ZIXTEL EVOLVES WITH BUNTING’S EDDY CURRENT SEPARATOR

When Zixtel was first founded in 1997, its original purpose was to provide services for data destruction, disposal, recycling, and refining. Zixtel’s evolution began in the midst of the global pandemic in 2020 when the company changed its focus to recycling and began recovering metals from a wide range of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), as well as waste discarded by other recycling companies.

The difficulties arising from the pandemic inspired Zixtel’s management team to focus on its recycling capabilities. The company’s objective was to recycle WEEE and other businesses’ waste products and eliminate or minimize the amount of waste sent to the landfill. End markets were then identified for all recovered materials, including metals and plastic.

Zixtel’s engineering team designed and built a recycling plant, which included a metal separation module from Bunting. The module included a high-intensity drum magnet for separating magnetic materials and an eddy current separator to recover non-ferrous metals.

Early in the plant design process, Zixtel identified the necessity of tight particle size control for optimum separation. In the plant, materials initially pass through shredders to liberate recoverable materials. The shredded material then passes up a conveyor and under a Bunting permanent overband magnet positioned in line over the head pulley. Larger ferrous metals are lifted from the conveyor and discarded into a designated collection area. The remaining mix of non-ferrous metal and non-metallics feeds via a conveyor onto the primary vibratory feeder of the metal separation module.

The vibratory feeder spreads the product mix across the whole 1 m width and onto the rotating shell of a high-intensity rare earth drum magnet. Magnetic metals are removed, leaving a mix of non-ferrous metals and non-metallics to fall onto a

second vibratory feeder, which evenly delivers the material onto the belt of an eddy current separator.

The eddy current separator is a conveyor system with a head pulley with a high-strength magnetic rotor spinning at high speeds within a non-metallic shell. As the belt conveys material into the changing magnetic field, non-ferrous metals become charged with eddy currents, causing a reaction that propels the particle out of the product stream. This enables the recovery of valuable aluminum, copper, zinc, and other non-ferrous metals. The non-ferrous metal fraction is further processed for concentration into individual metal fractions.

AIMING FOR ZERO WASTE

Presently, Zixtel is processing between 4 and 6 tph of material through the metal separation module, with the aim of increasing this to 10 tph.

With the existing process, Zixtel presently handles in excess of 50 different product streams. The material output of the plant is 70 percent metal, 25 percent printed circuit boards and plastics, 5 percent destined for an energy-to-waste plant, and zero percent to landfill.

Since 2020, the recycling plant has evolved with additional particle size reduction and separation stages, including granulators, air separators, and optical sorting. There are plans for additional process plants to recycle specific waste materials.

“We have been fortunate enough to be part of the development of an incredible recycling success story,” says Tom Higginbottom, Bunting’s sales engineer. “Zixtel continually pushes the separation capabilities of our eddy current separator to the maximum and we continue to work with them by testing new waste fractions on our metal separators at our recycling test centre in Redditch.”

Zixtel recovers metals from a wide range of waste electrical and electronic equipment.

PANDEMIC CHALLENGES CAUSED THE COMPANY TO FOCUS ON ITS RECYCLING CAPABILITIES

THREE PLASTICS MARKET TRENDS TO WATCH OUT FOR

EFACTOR3’S RECYCLING EXPERTS DISCUSS TRENDING PROCESSES AND EQUIPMENT

BY HARTMUT BENDFELDT & LENNART BENDFELDT

Plastic market trends are constantly evolving in response to a plethora of factors, including changes in consumer preferences, technological advancements, and regulatory policies. Here are three of the most recurrent plastic trends Hartmut Bendfeldt and Lennart Bendfeldt, recycling experts at eFACTOR3, have witnessed over the past several years.

BALE BREAKING VERSUS BALE SHREDDING

Bale breaking is labourious, dangerous, and time-consuming work. It is also often one of the most serious bottlenecks in any plastics recycling operation whose input material consists of commodity bales. But what if there was a better way to do this?

Over the last decade, many companies have instead started installing large, twin-shaft shredding equipment in place of a wire-cutting labourer and debaler.

These shredders have no screens and large openings in their cutting table, meaning they can cut bale wires into manageable pieces that are pulled out by a magnet downstream while simultaneously pulling apart the bale. This approach garners several advantages including, but not limited to, automatic wire cutting (without wrapping issues) and allowing workers to focus on other key operational areas. The result is perfectly deliberated, singulated containers (without de-necking) or pre-shredded film fractions for optimized downstream processing like optical sorting and contaminant removal. This is most commonly used in PET bottle recycling, HDPE bottle recycling, and film recycling applications.

A NEW LIFE FOR SMELLY POSTCONSUMER PLASTICS

Post-consumer plastics often have a strong and sometimes unpleasant odour due to direct contact with food, cleaning agents, chemicals, cosmetics, oil, fuel, and other contaminants. Even after shredding, washing, and extrusion, these substances are not completely removed. Things like milk can leave organic, rotting smells that make it impossible to recycle the material into anything that will be near human noses. These odours can make it difficult to use these plastics for certain applications, and can also be a barrier to recycling a wide variety of containers.

Recently, the trend of deodourizing has come into play. Experimentation using prolonged exposure to heat to slowly gasify organic compounds that create these smells and separate them from the polymer have become more commonplace. Techniques like infrared heating and drying have been used to great effect to bring odour levels down to manageable levels and allow this plastic to be recycled into things like home goods. No doubt, odour reduction is a critical step to guarantee a high-quality end-product.

A BETTER SOLUTION TO WET WASHING

As plastics recycling technologies have evolved, so have the types and amounts of recyclable plastics. Things that were once thought impossible to process are now extruded and compounded in the order of tons per hour. A common recycled ma-

terial is stretch film, such as those used in grocery stores or big box stores. Not only is this very fluffy and light material difficult to process in an extruder, but it also contains splinters of wood from the pallets it comes on, as well as paper shipping labels. It is not feasible to remove these by hand on an industrial scale and the extrusion process only contributes to cooking this organic paper material under pressure and heat and creates discolorations as well as a charred paper smell.

Currently, the most widespread technique employed is a wet washing process. While this is effective in removing paper labels, it is inefficient regarding energy and water consumption. Great amounts of water are used to wash the materials, and then even more energy is used to dry the material in the downstream process prior to extrusion. Stretch film is particularly hard to dry because of its tendency to curl up and trap water inside itself, and that’s in addition to the huge surface area of the material in general. To combat this, companies like Pla.to GmbH are now employing dry wash or crossover washing techniques.

For example, in one system it is possible to lightly dampen the material, then use friction to remove the now tacky paper labels. The friction process drives these labels off and dries the material at the same time, saving both energy and water.

As plastics recycling technologies have evolved, so have the types and amounts of recyclable plastics. Things that were once thought impossible to process are now extruded and compounded in the order of tons per hour.

HARTMUT BENDFELDT is the president of eFACTOR3 which offers recycling equipment for the plastics processing and recycling industries. LENNART BENDFELDT is the database sales manager at eFACTOR3.

THE GLOBAL ROLE OF INDUSTRIAL SHREDDERS AND REFUSEDERIVED FUEL

A LOOK AT DIFFERENT MARKETS FOR MSW SHREDDING WORLDWIDE

Humanity generates a lot of waste.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the average American creates 4.9 pounds of municipal solid waste (MSW) daily. This adds up to nearly 300 million tons per year.

With so much waste headed to landfills, one alternative is to use thermal treatment (combustion) to process it. Another is to use certain waste products as alternative fuels, also called refuse-derived fuel (RDF).

In either case, it’s important to reduce and sort MSW to prepare it for further treatment — an activity that SSI Shredding Systems has been doing with its industrial shredding machines for years.

SHREDDING AROUND THE WORLD

There are many different markets for MSW shredding and treatment around the world. Each of these collects and uses its municipal solid waste in different ways.

Landfilling remains one of the most common MSW management options throughout Thailand, Malaysia, India,

and other Asian countries. In many of these areas, the waste tends to have greater moisture and a higher organic content, which can be hard on standard, mass-produced single-rotor shredding units. However, more sophisticated machines can handle higher moisture content and contaminants without plugging up their screens.

Compared to Asia’s MSW industry, North America uses more commercial waste for its refuse-derived fuel. Approximately 75 different facilities throughout the United States alone are devoted to recovering energy through the combustion of MSW. Much of the burned waste has a lower organic and moisture content than its Asian alternatives.

Due to cleaner inbound materials, Europe tends to have a more refined MSW process than either North American or Asian countries. Initiatives in various areas of the EU, for instance, encourage separating MSW at the source. This reduces collection costs and makes efficient combustion more possible.

In each of these cases, the kind of waste differs. And yet, the goal is the same, and industrial shredders remain a critical part of the process.

SHREDDING MACHINES FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF WASTE

With such a large scope of diversity within the MSW industry, it’s important to tailor shredding machines to handle each kind of waste.

For instance, SSI’s machines are infinitely customizable. Users can tailor them to handle a variety of different inbound materials, such as wood, packing materials, and plastics. Plant waste and metal parts are also often mixed in with the waste, bringing new levels of complexity to the shredding and preparation process.

In response to these complexities, SSI has engineered fuel solutions that utilize different shredders to address a wide range of inbound materials. What these materials are dictates which path to take to process certain kinds of refuse-derived fuel.

The company’s quad shredder is a viable option in most cases. The manufacturer can tailor the device to handle anything from biomass to carpets, continually processing material until it’s small enough to fall through a screen (typically set to a 2-inch nominal size). SSI also makes a variety of additional shredders

that specialize in different applications. One example is its Uni-Shear single-rotor shredder, which users can configure as a secondary shredder for specific RDF applications.

THE BENEFITS OF INDUSTRIAL SHREDDERS

Industrial shredders are an essential first step in proper MSW management. No matter where you may be in the world, industrial shredders can provide value in preparing waste for thermal treatment or RDF. Each SSI industrial shredder is designed to tackle a wide variety of MSW due to its ability to capitalize on customization and density separation. Other benefits and features of industrial shredders include variable speed drives, motor speed control, and motor performance feedback.

From the versatility of the equipment to customization of application to longevity, safety, cutting-edge tech, and more, industrial shredders are capable of turning MSW from problematic waste to reclaimed fuel that can power a greener future.

A refuse-derived fuel facility based in Thailand.

1SSI Shredding Systems’

QUAD low-speed, hightorque rotary shear shredders are ideal for demanding applications in the paper processing, manufacturing, and waste-to-energy industries. Whether facilities need to process slabs, end cuts, cores, tissue, ragger wire, books, or newsprint, there is a QUAD with a specific geometry and internal sizing screen to scrub, liberate metals from non-metals, and produce high-grade commodities from mixed waste. QUAD technology is able to process wet or contaminated materials and is very flexible as markets or needs evolve over time. QUAD machines can also be used to meter downstream processes due to their unique design.

WEIMA WLK SERIES LINDNER MICROMAT SERIES

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Shred-Tech’s ST-300 industrial shredder offers a heavy-duty throughput of up to 3 tph and features a large cutting chamber that allows the shredder to handle bulky loads without interrupting the workflow. The shredder’s cast steel body design can withstand tough loads while the bulkhead walls and labyrinth barriers at the end of the cutting chamber protect the bearing and seal. The ST-300 also features sectional cleaning fingers which are removable from the top, and a lightweight chamber plate that ensures quick and easy cutting chamber disassembly for faster and simpler maintenance.

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The WEIMA WLK 18 Jumbo single-shaft shredder is designed to handle bulky infeed materials such as bales, roll stock, and slab waste. Its large hopper opening means that voluminous scrap can be introduced into the machine without pre-cutting. The WLK 18 Jumbo shredder features a rotor that is 19 inches in diameter and 70 inches wide. The V rotor technology, often used in paper applications, is designed to shred paper products efficiently and effectively. Its knives can be rotated up to three times, maximizing throughput and increasing the life of the machine. This shredder, along with other members of the WLK shredder series, can be fed by conveyor or by forklift.

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Lindner’s Micromat series of single-shaft shredders is ideal for processing a wide range of paper and other materials with maximum productivity. The Lindner Mono Fix system allows knives and knife holders to be changed with just a single screw, enabling the cutting system to be easily adapted to different input materials. The three-dimensional arrangement of the rotor knives increases output by up to 40 percent. Different pointed and flat knives, as well as blind plates and special counter knives can also be attached to the rotor. Each Micromat shredder can be individually configured and optimally fitted for its intended application.

AI, DATA CAPTURE, AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INTELLIGENT MRF

VISION EQUIPMENT GIVES OPERATORS THE INFORMATION NEEDED TO ENSURE PROFITABLE AND EFFICIENT OPERATIONS

Within the recycling and waste industry, artificial intelligence (AI) and data capture are increasingly seen as the future for the intelligent MRF, taking the industry to a new level of efficiency. Today’s intelligent MRFs are made up of various pieces of vision equipment such as optics, robots, or simple cameras to capture data throughout the system and provide supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems with the information needed to ensure profitable and efficient operations.

Traditionally, the role of an operator at a materials recovery facility was simply to manage the flow of materials. As the industry continued to develop and progress over time, equipment reliability, facility throughput, operational hours, and output quality became the main driving factors behind the develop-

ment of smarter systems that provide reliable data to accommodate these needs. This has since evolved to include even more benefits for MRFs, such as increased recycling rates, the ability to recycle more types of materials, and sustainability initiatives.

These changes can be attributed to three main factors:

Environmental benefits reducing the amount of waste that goes into landfills helps conserve natural resources, conserves energy, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions and pollution.

Economic benefits MRFs save money by reducing costs associated with waste disposal and generate increased revenue from the sale of recycled materials.

Social benefits creating jobs and supporting local economies promotes a culture of sustainability and environmental responsibility.

WORKING TOWARD AN INTELLIGENT MRF

MRFs – whether for material recovery or for waste-to-energy purposes – are now very much part of modern industry. The goal of the intelligent MRF is to produce valuable, high-quality output materials that can then be used in ongoing manufacturing processes to help reduce reliance on foreign markets while also meeting sustainability goals put in place by both local authorities and waste management companies.

While AI brings the industry one step closer to that goal, there’s still more to do. The next step in the process includes using a vision system at numerous locations within a sorting system to continually assess the volume and composition of the materials as they travel through the system, both before and after the sorting processes. This allows the equipment within the system to be controlled and adjusted in real-time, resulting in optimal performance for the entire facility. In a way, it’s like having several plant managers constantly looking at different areas of the facility and comparing what they see.

There are many benefits of a technology-reliant system, and according to Jeff Snyder, director of recycling at Rumpke Waste & Recycling, the technology will also dramatically reduce the reliance on a manual labour workforce.

“We purchased a system with a guaranteed throughput of 56 tons per hour of recyclables, with staffing ranging from a minimum of 10 to a maximum of 20 manual sorters, depending on the inbound material characteristics and commodity focus,” says Snyder. “The intelligence of this system significantly minimizes factors such as worker fatigue, safety risks, and illness,

while providing present and future flexibility enabling us to keep the highest rate of recovery and extremely high purity.”

After a competitive bidding process run by Rumpke, plant-building company Machinex, based in Plessisville, Quebec, won the contract to supply and install the processing equipment for the plant. Machinex supplied 19 optical sorters that are completing a total of 35 tasks through various ejection patterns at the facility. According to Chris Hawn, CEO of Machinex, the combination of optics and AI throughout the system will offer increased levels of accuracy and efficiency compared to traditional MRFs, and combining high-tech equipment with traditional sorting technologies can offer further benefits.

“Principally, the output you get is much higher in recov-

Principally, the output you get is much higher in recovery and purity. This makes the recyclate more attractive to markets and attracts a higher price tag.

Chris Hawn CEO, Machinex

Labelling materials is an ongoing and necessary process that helps build a library of which materials are in which locations.

Today’s intelligent MRFs are made up of various pieces of vision equipment such as optics, robots, or simple cameras to capture data throughout the system.

ery and purity,” says Hawn. “This makes the recyclate more attractive to markets and attracts a higher price tag. This is very important in terms of making the project cost-efficient and therefore achieving the projected ROI.”

DATA CAPTURE AS A STARTING POINT

When building an intelligent MRF, the first step is to capture data through the use of high-tech sorting equipment. Machinex offers a range of equipment for this purpose, such as the Mach Hyspec optical sorter, the SamurAI sorting robot, and Mach Vision. An optical sorter features a hyperspectral camera to identify the actual material (i.e., clear PET bottles), allowing for high-performance material sorting. While this equipment is

meant for sorting, it’s also an entry point for data collection to optimize the MRF as a whole. Machinex’s Mach Intell platform is able to detect information such as infeed material, material composition breakdown, belt coverage, and more. This information is ideal when it comes to monitoring the performance of the optical sorter by itself, but can have an even greater impact when this data is analyzed in tandem with data from other equipment within the facility.

When discussing data collection, sorting robots often come up early in the conversation. These robots are powered by AI to identify materials for accurate, positive product recovery, or a precise quality control function. For Machinex, the SamurAI sorting robot can integrate the Mach Intell platform, gaining access to data such as material coming in and out of the robot, material breakdown, ejects, and more. Even though a sorting robot can be useful in accomplishing tasks, it is not required in order to capture data. A vision system, such as a Mach Vision, is able to collect valuable information within the sorting system and provide needed insight.

Data capture is key for improving system and facility performance, but information alone does not create an intelligent MRF. It’s what is done with the data that makes a difference. The core of the intelligent MRF is filtering and analyzing all of the data through a “brain” and automatically making adjustments to the sorting equipment across the facility. The different capture points are then connected to a SCADA system for further compilation and analysis.

NEURAL NETWORK DEVELOPMENT

Using high-tech equipment such as AI-powered robotic sorters and vision systems within a MRF environment facilitates the reduction of manual input when it comes to labelling materials. Labelling materials is an ongoing and necessary process that helps build a library of which materials are in certain locations, a key component of a neural network. Machinex has developed its approach to automatically label material rather than rely solely on manual labelling. This autonomous technology maximizes efficiency when developing a neural network.

A neural network for image classification is a deep learning model designed to learn and recognize patterns in images. This model consists of multiple layers of interconnected neurons – much like how a human brain is structured – that process image data and calculate the probability of different variables such as recovery, quality control, and refund operations.

To achieve ultimate AI performance, operators can collect data prior to deployment and train the equipment with the same materials found in the facility. This also allows operators to create a breakdown of materials within the system and pinpoint the ideal solution for efficient sorting. The material information gathered at this point also allows operators to have a model in place for the day the AI sorting is turned on, giving instant results.

Taking into account the continuous evolution of incoming material in MRFs, the neural network can evolve in parallel through assisted learning. Data extracted from the various technologies within the MRF, or even at the curb, will open doors that haven’t even been considered yet. In today’s environment, data such as material composition at various locations in the MRF and automated picks per minute can improve system efficiency, material purity, and material recovery, but further solutions need to be developed to ensure that there will be a notable impact within the system. It’s possible to capture an infinite amount of data, but without equipment connectivity, there will be no real improvement in the end.

A Mach Hyspec optical sorter.

A LONG WAY TOGETHER

WHEREVER YOU ARE, BKT IS WITH YOU

No matter how challenging your needs, BKT is with you offering an extensive product portfolio for every field such as agriculture, OTR and industrial applications.

BKT provides concrete, reliable and high-quality solutions to your requests and working needs. Wherever you are, BKT is with you.

How to pair sensor technologies with the right extraction method

PROPERLY COMBINE NIR, AIR JET SORTERS, AND ROBOTS TO ACHIEVE SORTING SUCCESS

BY FELIX HOTTENSTEIN

Recently, artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics have been getting a lot of attention. For some people, robotics and AI are synonymous. However, robotics is not AI, and AI is not robotics. AI seeks solutions to difficult problems related to human abilities, while robotics aims to automate physical, repetitive tasks. Additionally, robots are not the only mechanical technology that AI can be paired with. In some cases, the application dictates the need for more robust extraction, such as the air jets commonly used with optical sorters, which have proven their value in MRFs over decades.

At MSS, we are of the firm belief that sensing technology needs to be completely decoupled from extraction technology. One really has nothing to do with the other. A MRF operator needs to consider the best sensor technology to identify the targeted items in a mixed material stream, and then pair it with the most appropriate extraction method required to physically remove the targeted items.

CONSIDER YOUR SENSOR

The sensors used most commonly in mass sorting MRF applications are near-infrared (NIR), colour, and metal. Depending on the application, it could require just one or possibly a combination of these individual sensor technologies to achieve the sorting goal. The performance of these sensors can be enhanced by adding other sensor technologies, such as AI.

NIR and AI sensors can provide vast amounts of data and statistics to MRF operators for monitoring and operational improvement purposes. AI’s deep-learning capability is complementary to NIR, and its deeper levels of available granularity provide finer classifications of individual product and material categories.

Furthermore, AI sensors build on the identification capabilities that NIR does not have, most prominently sorting items like cat food cans and cooking foil from used beverage cans (UBCs) and poly-ethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles from PET thermoforms. NIR sensors can truly identify material by chemistry, while AI sensors cannot.

AI sensors work like the human eye, deducing what an item might be based on what it looks like; it cannot determine if a bottle is made from PET or high-density polyethylene (HDPE),

it only does so indirectly. AI sensors also cannot make the distinction between some PET and PP thermoformed containers or UBCs that have PET shrink sleeves, versus those with directly printed graphics. These are tasks that conventional NIR sensors, in combination with metal detectors, are well-suited to.

Conveyor and decision speeds are additional considerations. NIR sensors can go up to 1,000 feet per minute, while AI starts experiencing issues when the belt is moving faster than 300 feet per minute. Additionally, the decision speed, or the time between detection and extraction of an item, is about 10 times faster for NIR than AI sensors. As far as working width is concerned, AI sensors typically are used on up to 60-inch-wide belts. Therefore, if you want to go wider, you’ll need double the number of AI sensors. On the other hand, NIR sensors on optical sorters can be used on conveyor belts that are as wide as 112 inches.

EXTRACTION OPTIONS

The suction cups commonly used on robots are one form of extraction technology. The air jets used with optical sorters are another form. But the options don’t end there; extraction technologies also can include clamps or diverters, for instance.

When determining the best extraction technology for a

AI’s deep-learning capability is complementary to NIR, and its deeper levels of available granularity provide finer classifications of individual product and material categories.

AI sensors build on the identification capabilities that NIR does not have, such as sorting items like cat food cans from used beverage cans.

particular application, consider the effective picks per minute. We define effective picks as those where the effector successfully puts the correct target item into the dedicated chute, not just the number of movements or ejections. Based on the data we have available from all our installations, our air jet optical sorters can achieve over 1,000 effective picks per minute from a 112-inch-wide acceleration belt, whereas a robot might be able to achieve about 60 effective picks per minute (out of 90 possible movements), making it 15 times slower.

If the material targeted by a robot is nicely spread out on the conveyor belt, robots can perform well. However, if the targeted items are bunched up or their percentage in the input stream increases, robots are challenged to keep up. This leads to the pass stream being unnecessarily contaminated, or the recovery rate of the targeted items being much lower.

The geometry of the robotic arm’s effector also is a factor. Common bellows-type suction cups work better with two-dimensional material, while three-dimensional items are difficult to pick up with these small suction cups. Air jets, on the other hand, can effectively eject 3D items.

When it comes to cost per pick, air jets have been shown to be about 10 times less expensive than suction cups. If we assume that 16,500 natural HDPE bottles comprise a ton, a MRF would spend $19 per ton sorted using a robot with a suction-cup effector. With air jets, that cost would be well under $2 per ton.

One area where robots can excel is their ability to sort multiple output fractions at once. While we normally recommend using single-eject configurations for most common MRF applications for air jet sorters, using a robotic arm allows three to four individual fractions to be sorted at the same time.

APPLICATION EXAMPLES

On an aluminum quality control line where the goal is to sort non-UBC metals and non-metals from the UBCs, the number of required picks per minute exceeds any robot’s capacity even

in smaller MRFs. Therefore, the removal of the non-metals becomes a priority for the AI, which leaves the UBCs contaminated with non-UBC metal items.

The same occurs on PET QC lines where the goal is to sort thermoforms and non-PET from the PET bottles. With the percentage of thermoforms in the PET fraction rising, robots simply cannot keep up anymore. Combining AI sensor technology with air ejector extraction has proven more effective to achieve the required true picks per minute.

Other recent installations put AI-robot combinations on PE QC lines, where NIR-based conventional optical sorters are ejecting “all PE.” Not only does PE include milk jugs and detergent bottles, but it also includes any PE-based tubs and lids. Because the AI does not know the difference between a PE or polypropylene (PP) lid, it’s identifying and picking out perfectly acceptable PE lids because it thinks they are PP (based on the assumption that all lids are PP). In this scenario, not only does the robot itself potentially have limiting capabilities, but the AI is not the correct sensor for the application.

Furthermore, if the robot is deployed to also sort natural PE from colour PE at the same time, these incorrect picks take away the picks required to colour sort the PE. This leads to the much more valuable natural PE ending up in the colour PE, reducing the overall commodity value in the MRF.

A MRF operator should consider a technology platform that pairs the right type of sensor with the appropriate extraction method for the task at hand. The decision of whether AI or NIR should be used for a sorting function in a MRF needs to be carefully considered, as does the extraction method. While these technologies can be complementary, a robot cannot replace an optical sorter.

FELIX HOTTENSTEIN is the sales director at MSS which develops and deploys automated sensor technologies for the waste management and recycling industry as part of CP Group.

AI seeks solutions to difficult problems related to human abilities, while robotics aims to automate physical, repetitive tasks.

The CIRRUS PlasticMax optical sorter for containers and plastic recovery.

5 THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE YOU INVEST IN ROBOTIC SORTING TECHNOLOGY

BY MARK NEITZEY

When talking about recycling plant upgrades, robotic sorting is one of the hottest topics out there. If you’re in the market for new technology, such as a robotic sorter, make sure you first optimize your operation to maximize the utilization and capability of the robotic sorter. The key to a robotic sorter – or any technology – becoming a successful addition to your operation is properly preparing the material that you feed to that technology.

Van Dyk’s experts travel week in and week out visiting materials recovery facilities all over the U.S. and Canada. We see first hand the challenges that these sites face: highly contaminated inbound material streams, inbound stream changes (light-weighting, reduction of ONP, increase of film and trash), high maintenance costs, increasing end product quality demands, maintaining a safe working environment, and sorter labour issues (finding willing candidates and getting them to show up every day). Today’s MRFs are feeling the brunt of the squeeze.

Before investing in a robotic sorting solution, take a look at all parts of your operation. Know that in order to reap the benefits of incorporating a robotic sorter into your business, you need to ensure that your material is properly sorted, separated, and singulated before reaching the robot. Robotic machines on a waste sorting line like to be fed a steady diet of consistent material all on a single layer. If possible, it should be consistent in size with fines removed and similar in shape, rigidity, and density. If the material is piled up, the robotic sorting machine can’t see through the burden depth. If the robot can’t see it, it can’t sort it.

Here are five areas of your operation that should be optimized before adding a robotic sorter in your next retrofit:

1. IS YOUR SYSTEM EXCELLING AT PAPER/CONTAINER SEPARATION?

Mechanical screens are still an important part of a MRF for screening and separating material into different fraction sizes. They size the material into different fractions and separate 2D material from 3D (paper from containers), sending a target fraction on for further sorting, such as by robotic equipment.

If your screen is not spaced properly to separate these materials, or keeps getting clogged by film bags, you will not be feeding your robot that steady diet. In the last few years, screens have been greatly improved. Van Dyk and many other suppliers now offer non-wrapping screens that properly size material and prevent film bags from wrapping around their shafts.

2. ARE YOU STABILIZING MATERIALS ON THE BELT TO PREVENT FLOATING?

Adding a wind tunnel to an acceleration conveyor is a good way to help process light materials at a higher throughput. Typically, light sheet paper and film starts to fly up and drift when a conveyor speed approaches 550 to 600 feet per minute. A wind tunnel added to an acceleration conveyor applies airflow at the same speed as the conveyor to stabilize the light floating materials and allow the acceleration conveyor to operate at higher rates of speed (upward of 800 to 1,000 feet per minute).

Recovery rates will rise while accuracy is maintained or even improved. All of this will continue improving your material separation as it goes down your sorting line so that material is pre-sorted as much as possible by the time it reaches your robotic sorter. Remember, the better the material is prepared, the better your robot will sort.

A TOMRA AUTOSORT and RoBB-AQC robotic sorter work together on a sorting line.

SPEED & P O WER

• PERFECT MIX OF PRESSURE (UP TO 4000 PSI) AND SPEED (UP TO 225 HP)

• HOPPER SIZED FOR THE LARGEST OF OCC AND TO MINIMIZE OVER FEEDING HIGH GRADES

• MANIFOLD BLOCK DESIGNED WITH REPLACEMENT CARTRIDGE VALVES THAT KEEP THE POWER UNIT COOLER AND QUIETER

• OPTIONAL STAMPER - TO MAXIMIZE RUNNING IN AUTOMATIC WITH BULKY GRADES

An optical sorter set up with a wind tunnel stabilizes material and improves sorting accuracy.

3. DO YOU HAVE A CONTAINER CLEANUP DEVICE?

An elliptical or ballistic separator (not unlike the elliptical trainer that you might see at your local gym) performs highly accurate separation of 2D and 3D materials. Paddles “walk” two-dimensional objects over the screen (items like film bags and light sheet paper). Items with rigidity (bottles, cans, 3D cardboard) bounce backwards. Also, the paddles have true two-inch holes in them to allow the last bit of glass fines to fall through. With minimal maintenance and no star changing required, the elliptical separator is ideal for the final cleanup or polishing of the container line.

If you plan to have a robot sorting on container quality control, make sure you are starting with a clean container fraction headed off to the container sorting line. If you aren’t, that robotic sorter is going to have a tough time wading through an inconsistent stream of waste items.

4. ARE YOUR CONVEYORS PROPERLY SEQUENCED?

Conveyor belts and sequencing play a large role in the success of any sorting device, including robotic sorters. Why? The goal, again, is to get the material to a single layer to give the robotic separation device a chance to succeed. There are some conveyor sequencing methods that can thin out material:

• Place two conveyors in succession and set them at different speeds.

• Use wider transfer conveyors directly prior to the robotic sorter.

• Use proper cleats on inclining conveyors that help space material and don’t clump it together.

• Whenever possible, feed subsequent conveyors in line instead of at 90-degree angles.

If the material is piled up, the robotic sorting machine can’t see through the burden depth. If the robot can’t see it, it can’t sort it.

• Have all conveyors on variable speed drives to give maximum flexibility to properly sequence the conveyors. These are all small details, but they can be the difference between your robotic sorting solution performing at its best or its worst.

5. IS THE MATERIAL SPREAD OUT ACROSS THE WIDTH OF THE BELT?

If your system has the extra height needed, a vibratory feeder or a disc spreader could be the perfect tool to help spread the material across a wide belt for single-layer coverage to the robotic sorter. If you have a narrower incline conveyor dropping material onto a wider acceleration conveyor, this could be a problem. The material will not get spread across the full width of the acceleration conveyor and the robotic sorter may struggle with clumps of material. A vibratory feeder or disc spreader fans the material as it drops and provides even distribution across the full width of the acceleration conveyor.

Elliptical or ballistic separators are ideal for final cleanup or polishing of the container line.

MARK NEITZEY is the director of sales at Van Dyk Recycling Solutions.

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TURN INSIGHTS INTO PROFITS WITH AI VISION SYSTEMS

ACTIONABLE DATA PROVIDES OPERATORS WITH REAL-TIME INFORMATION TO IMPROVE OPERATIONS

The recycling industry’s role of recapturing and providing recycled content feedstocks is vital for a circular economy to succeed. Now more than ever, there is pressure to scale infrastructure and industrialize operations to boost material recovery and purity while maximizing asset capacities resulting in high-quality commodity supply to meet surging demand. Operators must understand the content of their inbound materials and have continuous visibility throughout their operation to ensure equipment and processes are producing high-quality outputs to meet the specifications of their customers.

One example of technology being utilized to provide insights that can be translated into profitability is BHS’ Max-AI Total VIS. This technology captures and analyzes live material composition data from multiple locations within a processing operation, providing operators with real-time, actionable information and alerts to adjust to changing conditions, enabling continuous improvement throughout their operations.

Other features of Max-AI Total VIS include measuring the content and composition of inbound materials and linking them with specific suppliers, while simultaneously verifying the purity of recovered materials and potential losses to residue. The system also measures process performance that can indicate upstream problems or areas for possible improvement.

The successful implementation and refinement of artificial intelligence (AI) vision systems combined with robotics led to the development of this technology. Total VIS is comprised of visual identification systems (VIS) at various chosen locations within a facility, simultaneously collecting, interpreting, recording, and presenting live data to the production staff, empowering operators to identify patterns, trends, and relationships between the system, material, and conditions. The system also provides continuous, live data streams from each independent Max-AI VIS location, as well as remote access for monitoring and reporting.

Each unit in the system is capable of accurately observing, recognizing, and relaying object detections in real time to a common location where the data is stored, interpreted, and presented in a dynamic user interface featuring customizable alert parameters, automated report creation, and raw data export for user-led studies. This structure allows users to readily observe and analyze system performance at any VIS location on a daily, weekly, or quarterly basis and quantify processing results.

With an artificial intelligence vision system, operators get actionable, real-time data that enables inbound material measurement, system performance improvement, higher commodity purity, and reduced commodity loss.

With an AI vision system, operators get actionable, real-time data that enables higher purity and reduced loss.

OSHKOSH’S FIRST FULLY INTEGRATED ELECTRIC COLLECTION VEHICLE

REPUBLIC SERVICES EXPECTS EVS TO REPRESENT HALF OF NEW TRUCK PURCHASES BY 2028

Oshkosh Corporation has engineered and produced North America’s first fully integrated electric refuse collection vehicle, creating a new product category for the company.

Traditional refuse vehicles require the mounting of a refuse collection body to a third-party chassis, but the new Oshkosh-integrated refuse truck has been designed from the ground up to offer a single OEM electric vehicle solution that minimizes environmental impact and helps customers meet their sustainability initiatives. The truck’s drivetrain includes advanced lithium-ion batteries and an electric-axle system, enabling the vehicle to complete a full day’s refuse collection on a single charge.

“When Oshkosh engineers began this project, they put both the customer and user experiences at the centre of our design,” said John Pfeifer, president and chief executive officer of Oshkosh Corporation. “For the buyer, chassis selection and integration are eliminated. For the driver, active safety systems, performance technologies, and ergonomic features deliver best-in-class safety, comfort, and productivity. And for the technician, intelligent, connected systems reduce routine service and enable condition-based maintenance.”

As part of the rollout of the new vehicles, Republic Services, one of the largest providers of waste disposal in the U.S., plans to significantly scale its electric truck fleet through a long-term deal with Oshkosh Corporation. It will begin operating two fully integrated electric recycling and waste truck prototypes this fall, and expects EVs to represent half of its new truck purchases in the next five years.

Republic provided insights to Oshkosh engineers regarding operational, safety, and ergonomic features for the truck. The chassis and body are designed as a single unit, maximizing interior space and creating a unique, streamlined exterior. Safety features include an enlarged windshield for improved visibility, 360-degree cameras, lane-departure sensors, and automated braking.

“As the operator of 17,000 trucks, Republic Services is uniquely positioned to advance decarbonization through our commitment to electrification, delivering meaningful environmental and economic benefits,” said Jon Vander Ark, president and chief executive officer. “Our engagement with Oshkosh on the truck of the future will accelerate the transition of our fleet while providing advanced safety features and technology. We’ll continue to invest in innovations that will help reduce emissions, benefit the environment, and help our customers meet their own sustainability goals.”

Two automated side-load prototypes for residential collections will hit the road in Phoenix this fall, with additional vehicles planned in 2024 for locations including California and Oregon. Product prototype testing on designated routes will be completed in 2023, with customer deliveries starting in 2024.

Another key player in the industry, WM, has also long expressed the desire for a single-platform vehicle, and has been involved with Oshkosh since the early stages of the truck development to provide desired features and key success factors. WM is also working toward incorporating the fully integrated electric refuse collection vehicle into its fleet at a future date.

Oshkosh’s fully integrated electric collection vehicle.

Net-zero climate goals have created a worldwide race for sustainability, especially in transportation. Recycled auto components, battery packs, and the demand for battery-grade material extraction are just a few factors that have given rise to strategic alliances and heavy investments.

The segment is comparatively niche in terms of developing new technology, especially from end-of-life parts and materials. Like all innovation, sustainable battery manufacturing and related businesses need capital and, now more than ever, funding interest for these businesses has increased.

But are all new ventures successful? We’ve seen some companies in this space starting to capture the market while some were unable to scale up as planned. Let’s take a look at three of these first movers and the different paths they took to develop in this space.

BREAKING EVEN OR AT BREAKING POINT?

WHAT BATTERY RECYCLING’S GROWTH CYCLE MEANS FOR THE FUTURE OF THE INDUSTRY

BY HUBAN KASIMI

REDWOOD MATERIALS

This Nevada-headquartered company recently qualified for a $2 billion government grant that will enable expansion in Charleston, South Carolina. The US Department of Energy (DOE) approved conditional funding under the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing loans program.

Redwood Materials is a strong case study proving that with the right strategies, battery-grade material recovery from otherwise defunct resources can work. The company has set its sights on 500GWh worth of anode and cathode foil material to power five million EVs per year by 2030. DOE’s capital infusion will help Redwood achieve that, starting with 100GWh, enough for a million EVs by 2025 in Phase II.

A year in review shows that the company recovered almost 500,000 pounds (226.8 megatonnes) of recycled material,

Battery-grade material extraction, recycled auto components, and battery packs are just a few factors that have given rise to strategic alliances and heavy investments.

The right policies can propel significant EV infrastructure development.

including nickel, copper, and lithium, through 1,268 battery packs. This translates to a nearly 95 percent recovery rate after factoring in damaged components. Redwood’s existing operational capacity is 6GWh or the equivalent of 60,000 EVs. The company has also teamed up with Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo under its recycling initiative. These alliances have been vital for the company in supporting its milestones and future pathways.

STENA RECYCLING

Swedish company Stena Recycling will make headway in the European battery recycling scene with a 10,000-mt-per-year plant on Sweden’s west coast. The initial investment for the project is pegged at SEK 250 million ($23.8 million). Of this total, Stena received SEK 70.7 million from the Swedish Energy Agency in 2022 to begin construction. The new facility became operational by the end of March 2023 and has a recovery rate of 95 percent in battery-grade nickel and lithium.

BRITISHVOLT

Economies worldwide are beginning to recognize the segment’s potential with new projects about to break ground, or in various stages of testing. However, not all ventures have a smooth lift-off. There are a few that need a little more push than others, one case being U.K.-based Britishvolt, which as of February 2023 was taken over by Australia’s Recharge Industries.

Recharge will continue to use the Britishvolt brand name, but has changed lanes in terms of strategy. The focus will now be on manufacturing batteries for energy storage and high-performance sports cars. Recharge will still carry on with Britishvolt’s initial plan to construct a 38GWh plant in Blyth, Northumberland county. So what changed between 2022 and now?

Britishvolt’s collapse stemmed from a lack of technical expertise and limited funding. The company had set its sights on procuring nearly £4 billion ($4.9 billion) in investments, of which the initial land deal amounted to £2 billion.

A STRONG SUPPORT SYSTEM

Battery recycling is an expensive business, which requires millions, if not billions, per project. Although many industry experts foresee demand growing exponentially, a huge gap remains. Funding and knowledge-sharing are necessary, but so is government support.

Recyclers around the world have called for more legislative changes. These should cover battery pack handling and safety, allow for reduced transportation and energy costs, and strengthen global battery recycling supply chains.

Battery recycling is growing in the U.S., with plans to boost clean energy and e-mobility with a focus on nearshoring. If implemented, the right policies can create thousands of domestic jobs and set in motion significant EV infrastructure development.

HUBAN KASIMI is the editor for the Americas at Davis Index, covering the stainless steel and nickel markets in the U.S. Huban can be reached at huban.kasimi@ davisindex.com.

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