Scrap & Demolition Australasia Spring 2014

SCRAP & DEMOLITION MAGAZINE

Sennebogen 850 The materials handler that feeds the monster

Helicopter demolition Cliff-top tear down sets a precedent in Christchurch

AMRIA & SMRANZ reports 2014 in review by industry association presidents

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The immediate response from a scrap metal operator to an industry alert regarding a missing bronze sculpture has been praised by Auckland Police.

The $30,000 sculpture of an eel was stolen from Auckland’s Botanic Gardens in July. The 90kg sculpture – called ‘Tuna’ (the Maori word for “eel”) – was sawn off its fixings and then further vandalised as thieves attempted to cut it into pieces.

Sculpted by Christchurch artist Bing Dawe, ‘Tuna’ was part of the 2013-14 Sculpture in the Gardens exhibition and made up part of the gardens' permanent collection. The eel was fashioned out of wood, painted steel and bronze.

"Unfortunately the sculpture has been returned badly damaged and we will need to consult with the artist as to its repair," gardens manager Jack Hobbs told 3 News in the aftermath of the theft.

"However, we are very grateful to have 'Tuna' back and are humbled by the outpouring of support over this incident from our communities.”

Police and Mr. Hobbs also praised the “proactive” response from scrap metal merchants in the city, with staff at the nearby Metalman yard in Takanini contacting the case team as soon as a sizeable chunk of ‘Tuna’ turned up on the premises.

Police state that two people have been arrested in relation to the theft.

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The legacy of Dirk Jansen and his Mr. Fluffy company will prove to be a long and dark one for many hundreds of Canberra residents.

Marketed as ‘Asbestosfluf’ thermal insulation in the 1960s, the insulation salesman’s product was actually made up of a type of asbestos known as amosite. Unlike other forms of asbestos, amosite doesn’t have a binding agent and spreads easily.

The ACT Government now has an enormous problem on its hands as it figures out how to demolish contaminated homes, deal with potentially contaminated land where Mr. Fluffy homes have been bulldozed and rebuilt over time, along with the wishes of many residents, some of whom are reluctant to see their family homes demolished regardless of the hazard.

Some demolition work is already underway, including that of homes in exclusive suburbs such as Forrest, Yarralumla and Reid.

Health Minister Katy Gallagher has stopped short of saying anyone reluctant to leave their home will be exempt from any mass demolition programme, but will be looking for a way to keep them in their homes perhaps temporarily.

The problem stretches back to the 1980s when 8000 homes were surveyed to determine the extent of asbestos contamination. The resultant clean-up in the early 1990s failed however.

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Powerful Cutting and Superior Productivity • Over 90 years experience in scrap metal • Fast and efficient operation • High throughput • Designed especially for processing heavy and bulky material A global toy fad has been described as a ‘ticking time bomb’ by consultants at UK recycling database WasteConnect.

The brightly coloured rubber bands have proven immensely popular with hobbyists and school-age children over the past six months. Although as with all fads, there will come a time when something else replaces loom bands in the popular eye as the ‘toy of the moment’.

And it’s what is destined to happen to the millions of loom bands once popular interest in them wanes that is worrying UK recycling experts.

Because of the silicone in their make-up, the bands cannot be recycled.

WasteConnect fears the enormous amounts of loom bands that will inevitably end up in consumer waste streams will create a significant environmental problem.

While WasteConnect themselves have been careful to state they have no solve in mind, the British recycling database is calling upon recycling experts to consider the potential of the problem and any possible solutions.

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The hazards of handling material supplied by military agencies have been highlighted by an explosion at a southern Illinois recycling facility in which two people were killed.

The blast is thought to have been caused by a live mortar round, local police and the coroner’s office has said.

The blast occurred on August 25 at Totall Metal Recycling in Granite City, around 13km northeast of St. Louis. It is believed the company obtains some of its material for recycling from the military.

Granite City Police Chief Rich Miller described the incident as an industrial accident, rather than anything more suspicious.

Immediately after the explosion, a bomb squad was dispatched to the scene from the nearby Scott Air Force Base. No further blasts or suspicious materials were noted.

Totall Metal Recycling issued a statement, saying it was an extremely difficult day with the loss of two friends and colleagues and it was cooperating with local, state and federal authorities investigating the incident.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families as we collectively cope with this tragedy,” the company said.

Roadside collections are out and community recycling hubs are in, as Auckland Council announces changes to its inorganic rubbish programme, effective from July 1, 2015.

A new system whereby householders call the council to arrange pick-ups has been trialled in Howick and Pakuranga – two of the city’s eastern suburbs. The wider change follows a move introduced in Auckland’s western suburbs back in 2009, when annual kerbside inorganic collections were replaced with $25 home pick-ups.

Auckland Council’s solid waste manager, Ian Stupple, told media the planned recycling hubs would become community facilities, allowing people to drop-off their unwanted items and browse material left behind by others.

“At the moment it’s a mess. The waste is scattered all over the berms and it’s potentially dangerous for operators. This way it will be a lot safer and the material will be in much better condition and easier to collect.”

Stupple says the centres would be set up over the course of the next 20 years, although he wouldn’t be drawn on what they would cost to establish, where they would be sited, or what the public can expect to pay to drop inorganic matter off at them.

“We’re currently paying significant funds to send waste to landfill and we’ll be making better use of that material, which is why we can invest in these centres,” he said.

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Data released by China Customs show that in June 2014 China imported 3.7 million tons of scrap commodities, including metal, paper and plastic scrap. The data was publicised by the Beijingbased China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association Recycling Metal Branch (CMRA).

A Recycling Today report states the value of the 350,000 tons of “unwrought coppers and copper products” imported in June was $2.65 billion, representing a downward trend when compared with the month previous.

But the CMRA also says Chinese government agencies are continuing to seek action regarding perceived overcapacity in several metal production sectors.

The requirement to eliminate overcapacity in provincial centres nationwide is to be managed by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Industry sectors involved are iron and steel production, electrolytic aluminium and copper smelting (including recycled copper) and lead smelting.

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The US Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) has hailed American president Barack Obama’s signing of the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act as “a victory not only for recyclers, but consumers and the environment”.

Previous to the new Act, the power of copyright lay with the electronics manufacturers and telecommunication carriers, enabling them to control access to information necessary to unlock, refurbish and resell used technological devices.

The new law restores the legal right for recyclers in the United States to bulk unlock used cell phones and tablet devices for refurbishment and resale.

In the wake of the passing of the bill, ISRI president Robin Wiener, who recently attended the Scrap Metal Recycling Association of New Zealand conference as keynote speaker, commented that copyright law should not stand in the way of advances in the legitimate reuse of cell phones and tablets.

“The new law removes the competitive disadvantage to recyclers and refurbishers in the marketplace,” she said.

When the US House of Representatives passed its version of the bill allowing unlocking, it prohibited bulk unlocking by recyclers and refurbishers, thus 'discouraging proper repair and reuse of devices', according to ISRI. The institute and its members subsequently worked with the House and Senate Judiciary Committees to include recyclers and refurbishers in the final version of the legislation signed by the president.

President Obama said in a statement, "I applaud members of Congress for passing the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act. "The bill Congress passed today is another step toward giving ordinary Americans more flexibility and choice, so that they can find a cell phone carrier that meets their needs and their budget."

British demolition firm Coleman & Company brought down three disused 114m high cooling towers at Didcot A power station in Oxfordshire in late-July.

The three towers have loomed over the local landscape since their construction 40 years ago. Consisting of over 40,000 tonnes of reinforced concrete, the towers were brought down simultaneously using more than 180kg of explosives.

The towers were built in the 1970s as part of the coal-fired power station. The site ceased generating in 2013 as part of an ongoing move to replace older, less efficient power stations with more modern, low-carbon power generation methods.

Immediately following the demolition, YouTube and social media outlets were filled with spectacular footage of the process, with all three cooling towers on the ground in around 15 seconds.

“Today’s demolition has been delivered on schedule, safely and with minimal disruption,” Coleman & Company managing director Mark Coleman told media.

“We would like to thank all our stakeholders for supporting us throughout the planning and execution of the explosive demolition, in particular Thames Valley Police, the Highways Agency, Network Rail, our local councils and the Health & Safety Executive.”

After over 40 years in operation, Didcot shut down in March 2013 and a nine-month decommissioning process finished in November last year.

Kevin Nix, head of RWE Generation UK, told media: “This is a sad day and the end of an era.

“But I’m very pleased that the technically challenging demolition of the southern cooling towers has been carried out successfully”.

Nix said that the safety of all those involved in the demolition process, including the local community, was the highest priority.

Coleman & Company has been tasked with clearing the remainder of the site by the end of 2016, including the demolition of the northern cooling towers and chimney stack.

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The head of a Samoan waste recycling company believes that diversification and container deposit legislation will be key to tackling the island nation’s rising waste volumes, as more discarded plastic bottles than ever before build up in yards.

Pacific Recycles manager Silafau Loane Sio says that recyclers in Samoa are ill-equipped to deal with the increases in volume, as processing machinery is uncommon in the country and exporting the waste for recycling has proven too expensive given minimal returns.

According to figures from the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, 35 percent (about 760,000 tonnes) of Samoa’s waste constitutes ‘potential recyclables’. Sio’s company recycles nearly 25 percent of the island’s total recyclable material.

Pacific Recycles has joined forces with Australian recyclers in order to increase the viability of Samoa’s recycling sector. Currently the local industry largely relies on help from foreign investors or ‘donor assistance’, says Sio. He believes a potential solution would be implementation of container deposit legislation whereby importers pay a levy for each plastic container brought on to the island. The cost would then be passed on to Samoan consumers who would receive a portion of that levy as a refund on the return of the item.

Such legislation has already been introduced in neighbouring Palau.

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Six Bay of Plenty waste reduction projects are being helped by a newlylaunched fund to make the most of the region’s waste resources.

The Waste Resource Advisory Group (WRAG), administered by Bay of Plenty Regional Council, launched the $50,000 fund in June to help promote waste initiatives from Bay of Plentybased businesses, industry, councils or community groups.

Chair of the Regional Council’s Regional Direction and Delivery Committee Paula Thompson said 13 organisations and individuals had applied for more than $160,000 in funding, and WRAG had spread the available funding across as many projects as it could.

“We wanted the money to be spread across the greatest number of projects, so we boosted the fund by a small amount, and with some savings here and there we can now fund six projects,” she said.

The six recipients are Community Resources Whakatane, Good Neighbour Aotearoa Trust, Tauranga City Council’s organic waste diversion project, Rotorua District Council for promoting worm farm workshops for the community, Pare Kore - Zero Waste on Marae in order to help deliver waste minimisation bins to marae and Gourmet Night Market, which will look to host waste educators onsight during night market events.

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Demolition work on the old Lower Hutt civic admin building began during August as part of Hutt City Council’s $37.5 million upgrade project. The project is designed to strengthen and refurbish the council’s administration building and demolish the west wing.

A separate $16.5m project to upgrade the adjoining Town Hall, demolish the Horticultural Hall and build a new events centre is scheduled to start next year and be completed in 2016.

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ACTION-PACKED AWRE RETURNS FOR 2014 Now entering its fifth year, the Australasian Waste & Recycling Expo (AWRE) returns to Sydney this month, bringing the industry together to discover the latest trends, showcase innovation, network with key waste and recycling decision makers from the industry and government and attend a comprehensive selection of practical seminars and workshops.

The AWRE is the longest running and most well-established commercial event dedicated to the Australasian waste and recycling marketplace. This year one of the event’s founders, Lisa Brown, has been working to put together a comprehensive and informative seminar series with a difference.

“Over the last few years we’ve become very aware of how time-poor many businesspeople often are. To that end we’ve designed a seminar programme that aims to give attendees as much [flexibility as possible,” says Lisa.

“The series is packed with a host of interesting and informative seminars and workshop events across two days. In order to let delegates pick and choose topics, guest speakers and workshops that suit their individual interests, we’ve introduced both a session pass and a day pass for 2014.”

Lisa explains that with a day pass, delegates are free to move between the two seminar theatres at their leisure, attending the keynote addresses, panel discussions and workshops that appeal most.

The session pass lets attendees pick and choose specific seminars or workshops they don’t want to miss, then letting them return to their work environment to deal with business at hand when sessions they’re interested in have concluded.

“The AWRE seminar series has again been designed to offer everyone a high quality programme. We start our seminar series with keynote addresses from the New South Wales government and Sustainability Victoria, covering current and future policy programme priorities,” continues Lisa.

Following ‘big picture’ overviews, a huge array of guest speakers will talk on a multitude of subjects, including waste reduction in business, new tools and technologies, dealing with difficult materials such as asbestos, chemical and electronic waste, as well as case studies looking at a wide range of situations and solutions.

“Our panel of speakers will be covering everything from using ‘reverse vending machines’ in CBDs to reduce litter; industrial ecology, where one organisation’s waste is a resource for another; and apps that advise residents on where to dispose of particular waste items like paint cans and computers; to sophisticated IT platforms that track waste food deliveries to people in need.”

Nearly two dozen speakers will present across a broad range of topics, including Andrew Simmons, Senior Project Officer with the NSW EPA; Managing Director and Co-Founder of Foodbank Local, Brad Lorge; David Corrigan from Meinhardt Australia; David Hodge from Plastic Forests Pty Ltd; City of Sydney’s Resource Recovery Manager Kath McLaughlin; Christine Blanchard, Waste Minimisation Manager, Brisbane City Council; and many more.

“Each year the AWRE matures further with support and participation

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Now entering its fifth year, the Australasian Waste & Recycling Expo is the perfect environment to create new opportunities and efficiencies for your business. Don’t miss your chance to be part of the industry’s most influential gathering of waste and recycling professionals for two days of networking, innovation and industry insights to drive your business forward.

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awre.com.au/register both growing in equal measure. Over the last few years the event has certainly fulfilled our key goals for it, becoming the premier event for this sector in Australasia,” concludes Lisa.

“We remain exceptionally proud to be able to offer such a comprehensive opportunity for the waste and recycling industry to gather together to review policy, investigate new technologies and research results, see the latest products and services up close and network with a broad range of likeminded entities.”

See www.awre.com.au/2014-programme for more details.

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A range of Sennebogen electric materials handlers fulfilling a variety of roles, reinforcing the flexibility the manufacturer’s machines provide to many different entities.

To feed a machine unlike any other in Australasia, you need another machine unlike any other in Australasia.

The unique beasts in question will come together in Laverton North within the next few weeks as Sennebogen’s Australasian distributor Pacific Materials Handling and Melbourne’s Norstar Steel Recyclers cook up a scrap metal feast.

It’ll be a table for three as Norstar’s brand new Shredder Company mega-shredder – the biggest of its kind in the southern hemisphere – comes on-stream, fed by two fully electric Sennebogen Green Line 850 materials handlers.

For both companies the respective machines signify new eras and opportunities in equal measure.

“The two 850s will be the first of these models placed anywhere in Australasia,” says Pacific Materials Handling’s national business manager Byron Judd.

“These machines are a full fixed electro set up, so have the ability to maximise upwards of a 60 percent reduction in total operating costs.”

Sennebogen’s expanding Green Line range represents the German company’s increased emphasis on designing and manufacturing machines that are predictable to control, extremely reliable in the toughest working environments, but utilise electric power in order to improve working efficiencies and reduce exhaust and noise emissions.

“Sennebogen, through Pacific Materials Handling, is the clear market leader and supplier of electric materials handlers into the Australasian market. Full electro power is the way the rest of the world is going and we’re certainly proud to be leading the way here.”

Sitting just above the midway point in Sennebogen’s extensive range, the Green Line 850s sport a 250kW, 400v, 50Hz electric powered engine, with a swing speed of 0-6rpm. The Norstar specified units have a massive 21 metres of reach, a five metre tall pylon and a hydraulic elevating cabin. All this provides the operator with an eye-level operating height of over 10 metres and an operating weight of just on 100,000kg.

“We needed something powerful, with good reach and efficient cycle times per reach,” says Ray Sailah from Norstar.

“The two new Sennebogens we’re currently installing on-site will be feeding our new 8000hp Shredder Company 124 SXS mega-shredder, so when you have a machine like that working near capacity you need to make damn sure whatever is feeding it can also run comfortably at near capacity.”

Ray says that there are immediate gains to be had in increasing the size of the materials handler – as Norstar has done when replacing a previous machine with their two new Green Line 850s – but there are longer term efficiencies to be exploited too.

“The new machines have an increased grab size [2cbm capacity] and increased cylinder size over our previous machine. They’re also sitting in the air on four-point under-frame pylons, so operator visibility is improved. These are all immediate benefits, but if you’re planning on replacing plant you need to be much more strategic about it than just looking at specs.

“We could have easily decided to stick with a similar footprint to

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our previous machine and gone with Sennebogen 830s or 840s. But then, with the 124 SXS shredder in mind, we’d be on the cusp of a comfortable operating range and that would limit us in the long term.

“I’d rather be working an 850 at 70 percent capacity than an 830 at 90 percent capacity. They’re both capable machines, but we need to make the investment work for us as consistently and for as long as possible,” he says.

Byron Judd says that when it comes to placing machines like the Green Line 850s, communicating with clients such as Norstar and learning about the desired application for the machine and the environment it will be working in are key steps in the process.

“Machines of this calibre are essentially built to order. A customer will come to us and say ‘This is what we want to achieve’. We then go away and come up with a specification we believe will fit the bill.

“A full fixed electro set-up won’t suit every application. The client needs to ensure there is the appropriate infrastructure to support the machine. But electric machine don’t have be fixed at one point and there are many options available to make an electric machine mobile.

“At this particular site the 850s replace a previous electric unit, so for Ray Sailah and his team they don’t represent an entirely new proposition onsite as such. But with a lift capacity of 5.5 ton at a huge 21m reach, they have the capacity to keep up with the increased tonnage going through the mega-shredder. That’s the key reason they’re there” says Byron.

The 850s boast a number of features that remain hallmarks of the Sennebogen brand, such as quality controlled heavy duty construction

and high-strength durability of components, vibration-free electrohydraulic drives and easy-access maintenance points including for the simplistic electrical system.

A high level of safety specification is included, featuring extensive non-slip surfaces, hand rails, access walkways and safe entry/exit from the operator’s cabin via a sliding door.

There’s a robust cooling system providing consistent temperature control even under extreme working environments. Also fitted to increase productivity and safety are high powered, energy efficient LED work lights and safety cameras mounted to machine blind spots as well as to the boom, to provide the operator with an even clearer perspective of the working environment.

Inside the ergonomically-designed MaxCab operator cabin, aircushioned suspension seats, convenient and precise joystick controls (affording sensitivity and accuracy even at superposed movements), hinged front windows made from bullet proof glass and climate control air conditioning systems are the order of the day.

“There’s no question Sennebogen produce extremely durable gear; we wouldn’t be investing in it otherwise,” concludes Ray Sailah.

“We look for long service life and good quality components; these machines deliver on that. The technical back-up support we receive from Pacific Materials Handling is a key reason why we opt for these machines too.”

So keep an eye on Norstar – and their Sennebogen 850s – over the next few weeks. Dinner is served.

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ISRI PRESIDENT ROBIN K.WIENER

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businesses to international corporations, has a unified voice.”

Robin says that ISRI aggressively lobbies the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), US Congress and keeps a close watch on both the domestic and international recycling markets.

“You can’t talk about the international market without talking about China,” she says.

“China and Hong Kong accounted for 78 percent of US copper exports last year. While China continues to play a critical role across scrap and commodity markets, no one can predict for how long.

“There are also inconsistencies in accepted quality of material between Chinese ports and something of a disconnect between provincial and state governments. The big question though is when will China become selfsufficient in recycled scarp? Five years? Ten years? Regardless, it will have an enormous impact on the export market.”

It’s not all federal and state lobbying and

“

children on the benefits of recycling and engaging with their local scrap recyclers.

“We’re focusing on science and technology and have partnered with deep-sea explorer Bob Ballard’s non-profit Jason Learning Project in order to develop a secondary school curriculum.

This is designed to help teachers and students understand the importance of both recycling itself and the recycling industry.”

The programme covers all manner of student engagement, from interactive ‘scrap

“

When Robin K. Wiener headed her presentation to delegates at the Scrap Metal Recycling Association of New Zealand (SMRANZ) annual convention in Wellington ‘Operating on a World Stage’, she was certainly speaking from experience.

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) president has been involved with the trade organisation for 17 years, initially overseeing the association’s environmental compliance activities after she arrived.

Following time spent serving as association assistant counsel and director of environmental compliance, Robin was appointed executive director in 1997, before having the presidential title conferred upon her three years later.

Looking at Robin’s spheres of interest it’s a wonder she has time to speak at conferences – let alone ones held on the other side of the globe from her Washington DC office. But not only did she make the keynote address at this year’s SMRANZ convention, she also sang the praises of New Zealand’s trade association and president Korina Kirk.

“We are definitely one industry all facing similar trade issues. For those in the industry here, it’s wonderful to have Korina Kirk and Scrap Metal Recycling Association New Zealand representing your interests both at home and overseas,” she said.

ISRI now has over 1600 member companies spread across more than 7000 facilities.

Although 80 percent of those members are based in North America and Mexico, the association still boasts firm members in over 30 other nations.

“It’s vital that we continue to evolve in focus alongside the evolving nature of the scrap recycling industry,” Robin says.

“While companies processing ferrous and non-ferrous metals make up a large proportion of the membership, we also represent members processing paper, plastics, glass, textiles, tyres and ever-increasingly electronic scrap.

“We’re advocating for an $87bn industry with over 138,000 direct employees processing over 135m tonnes of material annually. It’s a large industry with many facets to it and many regulatory parameters to operate within. So it’s important that an industry that incorporates all sorts of operators, from small family-owned

market watching though. Under Robin’s stewardship, the ISRI office publishes a bimonthly magazine, advocates for improved workplace health and safety programmes and environmental issues within the industry, oversees training initiatives, as well as other services to the association’s member companies.

She even oversees annual awards including the ISRI Transport Safety Award and the ISRI Design for Recycling initiative, which encourages manufacturers to think about the ultimate destiny of their products during the design development stage. Previous winners include Coca-Cola, American home ware designers Herman Miller Collection and – this year – Dell Inc, for prioritising recycling in the manufacture of its tablets, laptops and peripheral products.

Robin is also passionate about tackling the image many in the mainstream have of the industry through educating school age

maps’ to establishing Champions of Recycling role models and assisting with school visits to ISRI-nominated facilities.

“We really want to educate primary and secondary school kids on how our members are a crucial link in the chain between the obsolete materials they put out at the kerb for collection and new manufacturing,” Robin says.

Harking back to that overriding theme for her presentation in Wellington, in 2015 Robin and her team will be taking the annual ISRI convention international for the first time in the organisation’s history.

Okay, to us down here Vancouver, Canada might not seem all that international when looking at North America on the map. But it’s a reflection of the ever evolving industry ISRI represents that the organisation not remain static nor domestic.

Robin K. Wiener certainly is operating on a world stage.

PETER FREBURG: AMRIA YEAR IN REVIEW Firstly I’d like to thank the committee that I have worked with particularly during the last year, namely Eric Engel from Consolidated Metal Industries, Dave Imlach from Imlachs Auto Restorers, Arthur Cunningham from Industrial Metal Recyclers, Mathew Whelan from One Steel, Mike van Oosten from All Metal Recyclers and AMRIA secretary Paul Ryan.

Several meetings were held during the past 12 months and all were well attended by our members; roll calls numbered 35 to 40 at each.

We had a number of insightful guest speakers during the year, including Superintendant Kevin Sheridan from the Stolen Vehicle Task Force; Greg Spicer from Dandenong Council, who discussed land use and planning permit compliance; James McKellar who presented on the history and activities of Port Melbourne Metals and Alec Fraser Industries; and Geoff Proctor who discussed the Victorian sawn timber industry and government interference.

Notably we had a change of government nationally, from Labour to Liberal Coalition. This in turn has led to General Motors Holden, Ford Australia and Toyota Australia advising they will each close down assembly production in Australia over

the next few years. This will result in large tonnages of steel scrap disappearing from the market place, from both car companies and their suppliers.

Alcoa also announced the closure of the Point Henry Primary Smelter in Victoria and the Yennora recycling facility in New South Wales. Naturally this will also have ramifications for the scrap metal industry in the months ahead.

Iron ore prices continued to fall, with the current price in the low 80s per tonne. This in turn keeps downward pressure on the steel scrap price. On the bright side, copper prices have stayed firm and the Australian dollar has been slowly dropping and is expected to fall to the low 80s against the US dollar.

At our recent AGM, Mike van Oosten was elected president and I wish Mike every success in his new role.

Meanwhile I’ll be remaining on the committee and endeavouring to increase our association numbers in the year ahead.

Australian Metal Recycling Industry Association

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BOOM, LIFT Demolition material was airlifted across the ocean to a landing zone on Anzac Drive. From there it was then transported by truck to the Burwood Resource Recovery Park (BRRP)

A helicopter circling over a city is hardly anything out of the ordinary.

But residents of Christchurch’s eastern suburbs might have taken a second look at the horizon during August, as a chopper with a unique load underneath made the first of many ‘round trips from the Sumner Cliffs to nearby Anzac Drive in the suburb of Bexley.

After many months of planning (and assessing potential alternative options), the first helicopter-assisted residential demolition project to be completed during the Christchurch rebuild got underway, working to clear a difficult-to-access site in the Sumner area.

The operation was a collaborative effort between Southern Response and their Earthquake Recovery Project Management Office, Arrow International.

The demolition programme was designed to remove around 100 tonne of material from a site on Whitewash Heads Road; a property severely damaged in the June 2011 earthquake and deemed uneconomic to repair.

With the property adjacent to the cliff edge and the house sited some 70 metres above sea level, Southern Response evaluated numerous methodologies before deciding on the helicopter-assisted demolition programme.

Despite an assessment and decision-making process Southern Response describe as “pretty gruelling”, the decision was confirmed after a period of heavy rain early in the winter made excavator and truck access by road impossible.

“We initially ruled out helicopter involvement due to the apparent cost involved,” says Tom Newton, demolition leader for the Southern

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BELOW: The helicopter (run by Helicontrax Ltd) completed over 100 return trips between the demolition site and the landing zone.

RIGHT: The property was adjacent to a cliff edge and the house sited some 70 metres above sea level.

Response Earthquake Recovery Project.

“But when it became clear that traditional approaches simply wouldn’t work on this site, we went back to the heli operators and negotiated a way forward. Properties like this one are severely compromised and leaving them standing is simply not an option, neither for the homeowner nor for Southern Response.”

Demolition material was airlifted across the ocean to a landing zone on Anzac Drive. From there it was then transported by truck to the Burwood Resource Recovery Park (BRRP); one of the city’s primary recovery depots for demolition material fit for recycling.

The entire operation took around five weeks to complete, with the helicopter engaged in over 100 return trips between the demolition site and the landing zone. Each trip took less than 10 minutes, with demolition material airlifted in special bags certified to take a two tonne payload.

While it may sound like an extreme work programme, from helicopter operator Helicontrax Ltd’s point-of-view, it’s very much business as usual.

“We were involved in choppering food all over the region immediately after the earthquakes so for us being involved in the next phase of disaster recovery is a natural progression and a real honour” says Helicontrax Ltd owner Ben Walker.

Walker says the job was a standard lifting operation, transiting from point to point at a legal operating height.

Southern Response CEO, Peter Rose, says that while the project was a complicated enterprise to plan, the strategy with which it was approached has been beneficial to all concerned.

“Despite the delay in getting demolition underway, the process has been invaluable in terms of working with contractors to find agreeable and innovative solutions”, he told media as the operation commenced.

“This is really where benefits of collaboration are beginning to come to the fore.”

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PROJECT

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SHIP SHAPE

ABOVE: An example of the Panamax spec cargo vessels that will be utilising Berth 12

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of removal of the octagonal piles were tried, such as vibrating and pulling with a vibro hammer, driving the piles further, using a pile cutter, and digging around piles with an excavator.

The Seymour Whyte Smithbridge Joint Venture team eventually developed an entirely new method to extract the old piles.

They drove a larger diameter pile over the old pile then cut small 100mm x 100mm windows into the sides of the new pile to break the friction. This new ‘cookie cutter’ method proved to be successful and allowed crews to efficiently remove four to five piles per day.

Of course, the demolition works needed to be undertaken while other sectors of and industries within the Port continued normal operation.

One of the trickiest projects for the joint venture team was the demolition of a 200m x 45m portal frame shed which had a sizeable overland

conveyor system for sugar connected to it.

In a press release, Seymour Whyte Construction Manager, Syd Phillips said, “Robust load transfer engineering was undertaken and construction staging had to consider a variety of potential external impacts, including cyclones.”

“The sheet removal methodology we adopted allowed sections of the shed’s roof and eastern side to be removed, while the west face and conveyor was retained, and then a new permanent column-based system constructed to support the sugar conveyor.”

“It was a delicate task, but a sound engineering solution,” he said.

Meanwhile, having been deemed to be at the end of its operational life, Berth 6/7 is also set for demolition. It is the oldest wharf structure at the Port of Townsville, dating from 1911.

In addition to the demolition work, POTL, in a joint venture with diversified natural resource company Glencore, has invested millions for the upgrading of neighbouring Berth 8.

Of the entire redevelopment project, POTL Chairman Patrick Brady said in a release to media, “It is fitting that in the year that the Port commemorates 150 years since the beginning of trade, such a pivotal project will get underway to modernise the harbour and allow for growth.

“Projects like these – the demolition of Berth 6/7 and upgrade of Berth 8 – provide huge injections to the local economy and have significant value for industries utilising the Port of Townsville.”

Townsville-headquartered Pacific Marine Group (PMG) has been awarded the tender for demolition and site remediation work at Berth 6/7.

“We have just completed a six month project for the Port Hedland Port Authority in Western Australia, which is typical of the remote work we often do,” said PMG chief executive officer Kevin Chard.

“It will be good for us to be able to use of expertise for a major project in our home base of Townsville. Also, during the project PMG will be predominantly engaging local employees and suppliers, and two North Queensland businesses will be sub-contracted to undertake components of the demolition.”

ABOVE: An aerial view of the Port, with Berth 6 and 7 at upper right TOP RIGHT: Kevin Chard (CEO, Pacific Marine Group), Ranee Crosby (CEO Port of Townsville), Pat Brady (Chairman Port of Townsville) Terry Dodd (MD, Pacific Marine Group), John Hathway MP.

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It’s a multi-million dollar birthday present to itself, but after 150 years of servicing North Queensland’s cargo requirements – and with cruise passenger numbers rising, along with the need to establish a dedicated military facility on the northern coast – Port of Townsville certainly deserves to blow out the candles in style.

The overall project sees several phases of demolition, site remediation and construction work. The project will take around five years to complete and gives Port of Townsville Limited (POTL) the ability to deliver infrastructure appropriate to the growing requirements of the port, 1300km north of Brisbane.

The Townsville Port Inner Harbour Expansion (TPIX) Project involves the redevelopment of Berth 10 to enhance cargo loading efficiency and provide North Queensland with a dedicated cruise and military berth.

Following the demolition and dredging of the existing wharf, a 220m replacement wharf and cruise terminal is being built.

The program of works also features a concurrent upgrade of Berth 8 to enhance the port’s capacity and the demolition of Berth 6/7, which will improve navigation access for larger ships to Berth 4 and 8.

Berth 8 will also undergo its own redevelopment programme; widening the wharf by 140m and demolishing existing wharf buildings.

In addition to growing numbers of visiting passenger liners and the need for a dedicated military berth, Port of Townsville Limited is also overseeing the construction of Berth 12 to be located on the outer harbour. This will provide a bulk loading berth capable of receiving Panamax-sized vessels (ships designed within the dimensions of the Panama Canal locks system) and is seen as necessary to accommodate a forecasted trebling of cargo volume by 2040.

Already the project has seen the need for some interesting innovations with regard to demolishing the existing infrastructure.

Significant clay deposits compacting around wharf piles led to work crews from the Seymour Whyte Smithbridge Joint Venture developing an innovative ‘cookie cutter’ technique in order to remove the piles.

It was discovered that over time a significant amount of compacted clay had formed at the pile toe anchoring it firmly in place. Several methods

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MAKING THE CUT: 2014 SMRANZ Convention This year’s SMRANZ convention and AGM arrived under the banner ‘Making the Cut’, with a distinct movie theme to proceedings. In fact you could say the line-up of guest speakers represented the international scrap metal recycling industry’s own variety of Hollywood A-Listers.

Day one incorporated industry tours of two well-known Wellington headquartered operations. Macaulay Metals is the country’s largest privately-owned scrap metal recycler and boasts a large bulk steel yard and undercover non ferrous processing facility on the site they’ve occupied since 1989.

Wellington Scrap Metals Ltd meanwhile, is a family-operated business that has been trading since 1952. These days they sport a number of yards throughout the Wellington region and Lower North Island.

Members visiting these yards got to see first-hand examples of local companies that

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have worked hard and diversified to meet with changing demands. It was down to business on the second day of this year’s convention, with an impressive line-up of guest speakers giving an educated spread of global and local opinion and information.

Following SMRANZ President Korina Kirk’s opening address, Washington DC-based Robin Wiener, President of ISRI, took attendees through an overview of how the US scrap metal recycling industry is fairing under the current economic climate.

With ISRI now supporting 1600+ member companies operating from over 7000 recycling facilities across 34 countries, Wiener is certainly well-placed to provide an accurate picture of the industry at an international level.

Wiener said there is cautious optimism for continued growth in the recycling market but the ripple effect of events in 2008 continues to mean recovery is unstable.

ISRI president Robin K. Wiener

“The environment is characterised by uneven manufacturing recovery, continued currency and commodity volatility – especially with regard to unstable Chinese demand – and a constantly shifting regulatory landscape,” she said.

Wiener says the impacts in the US market include heightened demand for feed stock and an excess recycling capacity, especially with regard to shredding. Could this also mean, she suggested, fewer mega-shredders being produced and bought in the next few years?

Time will tell.

“E-scrap is undoubtedly the fastest growing segment in the United States,” Wiener continued.

“Around 75 percent of e-scrap is sourced commercially, with over six million tons available for recycling annually.”

ISRI has been making moves to promote environmentally-responsible scrap recycling in the electronics market; an education process that will develop further in years to come.

“This has driven third party certification in the industry. While the EU has a very successful system for collecting electronic scrap from the residential market, we’re yet to see this sort of system translated into the American residential market.”

Other issues facing the American market rang familiar with the Kiwi audience; implications of rule and definition changes with the EPA, petitioning the WTO with the goal of ensuring free and fair trade of recyclables, combating the global problem of metal theft (Wiener stated it’s the lack of enforcement rather than the theft itself that is the real issue) and changing the mainstream image of the recycling industry with targeted education programmes.

“After all, today’s primary and secondary school students are tomorrow’s businesspeople, lawmen and journalists,” said Wiener.

The number one focus in the American domestic industry though, remains worker safety.

Expanding on this topic was ISRI’s Director of Safety John Gilstrap; a man who rallies behind the ISRI catch-cry of ‘Safely, Or Not At All’ and with many years experience working on the front line with businesses in identifying risks and ensuring appropriate health and safety training for owners and employees.

Against the background of New Zealand’s own pending changes to Health & Safety legislation early next year, Gilstrap talked about safety as an investment not a cost.

“Sure, business is business, but you can’t really talk about safety in terms of dollars and cents,” he said.

“There is a calculable cost to downtime following an incident in terms of lost revenue.

Or there could be a calculable cost in terms of damaged machinery.

“But personal recovery time is harder to total up. And then there are the effects of decreased morale among the workforce. This could lead

to costs of thousands of dollars if productivity is down as everyone tries to come to terms with an accident.”

Gilstrap said that changing the safety culture within a workplace is key; goal-setting for employers around safety doesn’t have to be grandiose or expensive. Safety goals could include observing safe behaviour and rewarding an employee for it, achieving excellent scores on a safety audit or even simply attending regular safety meetings.

“The absence of failure does not necessarily mean the presence of safety; after all you never know what didn’t happen,” he told assembled delegates.

With slips, trips and falls still accounting for the majority of safety incidents within yards, a strong safety programme that focuses on the little things remains vital. Owners, managers and supervisors shape a company’s

ISRI director of safety John Gilstrap

Above: Delegates had plenty to see in this year’s SMRANZ convention exhibition hall.

Below: A wide variety of companies showcased machinery, components and technology at the Wellington event

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scrap safety culture, Gilstrap said, with the idea that ‘Accidents are management failure’ a tough concept to swallow for some, but a motivating way of ensuring a more robust safety programme.

A well-attended component of the seminar series at this year’s SMRANZ conference and AGM was the presentation given by Mike McMinnery from the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).

The EPA has committed to fostering better working relationships with stakeholders, including those within the scrap metal recycling industry. McMinnery gave the audience an overview of the agency, its spheres of interest, along with the basic imports/ exports process from their side of the fence.

“We want to stick to the best timeline possible, but for that we do rely on as much permit application information as possible,” reiterated McMinnery.

McMinnery also suggested providing a confirmed shipping route that won’t change and at least a three month lead time on applications as two crucial components to smoothing the process for members.

He also said that there is a renewed and concentrated focus on hazardous waste, as materials deemed as such – along with native timber and automotive parts – have become the most heavily trafficked items in the world.

Asked if the ongoing issue of defining waste versus scrap plays a part in the complexities of transporting material across international borders, McMinnery countered that it isn’t the EPA’s role to define what is and isn’t waste and wouldn’t be drawn on the ‘commodity versus waste’ issue.

Suggestions from the floor included the idea of operators being able to apply for a heightened level of validation; a visual signifier for the EPA that the operator in question has a perfect compliance history (the Heart Foundation ‘tick’

This year’s SMRANZ Convention and AGM was well attended. The annual gathering moves south to Dunedin for 2015, where there’ll be plenty more on show

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on certain foodstuffs was given as an example of this). The EPA team agreed that this was a good idea worth pursuing.

Perhaps less likely to see resolution as quickly were delegate suggestions that a 10 year permit (as opposed to the one year permit) be introduced, and that the renewal process for permits needn’t be judged a re-application every time. McMinnery said that they will discuss these issues at the next Basel Convention meeting later this year.

As always the informative plenary sessions were matched with a bevy of industry notables displaying goods and services in the exhibition hall; delegates got an up-close look at a large variety of new products – from robust engineering developments in heavy machinery, through to innovative software solutions – from the likes of A-Ward, Pacific Materials Handling, Toltec Scale, Hino trucks, IYB (ScrapIT software), Embrey Attachments, Steinert

Australia, Real Steel and many more.

Rounding off this year’s feature-packed event was the Pacific Materials Handling Ultimate Comedy Gala, with delegates enjoying great food and drink, spot prizes and traditional awards, as well as the antics of award-winning stage hypnotist Guy Cater. Reports suggest a great night was had by all, although sitting near the front might not have been the preferable option.

The convention and AGM moves to Dunedin in 2015 with what is promising to be an equally fantastic event scheduled for mid-year.

As 2014 continues to provide a backdrop of highs and lows for the industry, it will be interesting to gather together again in around 12 months to see how the intervening time – with elections, legislation reforms and an always turbulent international scene – has treated New Zealand’s hard-at-work businesses.

KORINA KIRK: SMRANZ YEAR IN REVIEW Scrap Metal Recycling Association New Zealand President Korina Kirk says that, while the scrap metal recycling industry has continued to face tough times in 2014, the association itself remains in a strong position.

“We’ve done a lot of groundwork this year in working on existing relationships between the Association and other entities, as well as ensuring our members are well prepared for key changes to the legislative landscape, such as the Secondhand Dealers Act and the Health & Safety Reform Bill due next year,” she says.

Kirk says that the issues facing New Zealand’s scrap metal recycling industry in 2014 are by-and-large the same as those being faced offshore.

“The biggest pattern we’ve seen during the last 12 months is a distinct lack of supply; that’s a universal challenge for the industry and one that has unfortunately pushed some operators to the wall. The increasing focus on e-scrap and the way it’s handled is also a large scale issue. We’re continuing to see massive restrictions around the exportation of recycled e-scrap material.

“A question we’ve been asking this year – and sadly one that remains unanswered – is ‘Why is it that New Zealand as a country is happy to import cheap televisions, computers and other electronics, yet as soon as the same components used in the manufacture of these items are removed and made ready for recycling via export, they’re deemed hazardous?”

Kirk says the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes continues to hinder best practice for New Zealand’s recycled materials exporters, reflecting in its language a moment in time that advances in recycling technology have now moreor-less superseded.

“Thanks to improved recycling processes and technologies, our members have a far larger toolbox to deal with materials during the recycling process than they did a decade ago. What was once considered waste is no longer the case, so while it remains far-reaching in nature, key aspects of the Basel Convention are sitting further and further away from the realities of the industry with every year that passes.”

On the continuing issue of scrap metal theft, Kirk says that SMRANZ has worked closely with New Zealand Police during 2014 to ensure the Association-led Stolen Metal Report Network continues to be supported by its members, as well as the public.

While the Association hopes that the reporting system will be further refined in the months ahead, Kirk says that changes in long-held attitudes towards stolen material remain key to the success of the programme.

“Traditionally there has been a real ‘shame’ aspect to dealing with the

police around stolen metals, but I want to see this attitude die.

“We can’t avoid stolen metals appearing in our yards; for many it’s an inevitable fact of business. But the idea of reporting these instances and actually working with the police can have a very positive spin-off for our industry, so I really want our members to embrace the idea.”

Meanwhile a successful 46th Annual General Meeting and Convention in Wellington in late-July provided the highlight for this year’s SMRANZ calendar. Delegates and exhibitors gathered under the theme ‘Making the Cut’, enjoying three days of activities including industry field trips to Macaulay Metals Ltd and Wellington Scrap Metals, key note presentations from ISRI President Robin Wiener and ISRI Director of Safety John Gilstrap among others, as well as the annual banquet dinner.

And with an election year comes the possibility of large scale change; something Kirk says can have both positive and negative connotations for New Zealand’s scrap metal recycling industry.

“To be honest we’re still battling around the ‘scrap versus waste’ issue.

The advent of the Waste Minimisation Bill was a major win for us, naturally. But the Government can often still have a very fluid attitude toward definitions, especially in times of transition such as happens around an election. The idea of those that govern the industry having a limited understanding of it isn’t a new one.

“SMRANZ is looking forward to continuing the dialogue in 2015 though,” concludes Kirk. “We know the shape and nature of our industry, so it’s up to us to continue to educate, as much as communicate.”

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TECHNOLOGY

ANALYSE THIS Delta Element

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) technology has certainly moved along somewhat from when Richard Glocker and Hans-Wilhelm Schreiber first proposed the use of a primary X-ray beam to excite fluorescent radiation from a material in 1928.

Thanks to faster, more responsive software and chassis materials that have become ever-more robust over time, cost-effective high tech XRF analytical tools that allow operators to quickly and accurately measure and identify alloys and metals on the move have become the norm.

While to mainstream audiences Olympus might be more synonymous with advances in camera technology, the scientific solutions component of their global business has been researching, developing and manufacturing ultrasonic detectors, videoscopes, borescopes, microscopes, industrial scanners and instrument accessories for decades.

As well as of course, in conjunction with Innov-X, XRF and XRD analysers.

Adding to the DELTA line, Olympus Innov-X has just released the new DELTA Element. The idea behind this new instrument is total cost-effectiveness.

“The new Element represents a bit of a sea change for us in that it has been designed from the start to offer cutting edge XRF technology to smaller operators or entities that might not have felt they needed an analyser before,“ says Andrew Taylor, Olympus Australia’s regional sales manager, IDB industrial and mining.

“The competitive price point is what’s going to set this unit apart. You can look at its entry into our line-up as reflective of the way analyser technology is going; four or five years ago high specification detectors could cost an operator $70,000. Now that same technology is available in a unit that might cost around $40,000.”

Andrew says that, with its sub-$20,000 price point, the Element goes even further, offering an entirely new market the benefits of real-time screening, sorting and metals analysis.

“Big operators might have a couple of hand-held units or one at each location if they have several yards, but in the past smaller companies wouldn’t even bother with this sort of instrument because it would have been too much of an investment.

“Now they can utilise this technology and I think we’ll see a switch pretty quickly with smaller businesses from ‘Do I really need one?’ to ‘Okay where can I get one?’”

Additionally Andrew says that the simple spec of the Element will appeal to different strands of the metals recycling industry, such as the precious metals market, where feature-rich analysers like the DELTA Premium model are seen as great technology, but with functions not required for many day-to-day activities.

“We have seen a big technological leap forward for XRF analysers within the last five years,” says Andrew.

“In terms of what’s inside the analyser and what’s outside of it, the entire package is faster, more robust and easier to use.

“In terms of pure number crunching ability, the DELTA range features terrifically powerful processors. There’s a finer sensitivity with regard to

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Scrap Metals

Element Scrap

metals identification too, with the ability to register lighter elements in different concentrations.

“And then in terms of interpreting results on the unit itself, as well as analysing data and calibration modelling with the supplied software, it becomes a very comprehensive tool that anyone can get to grips with in a hurry.”

The Element features a powerful X-ray tube and Si-PIN detector and provides quick ID and fast measurement results in seconds, low limits of detection and what Andrew describes as outstanding precision.

Standard these days is the robust nature of analysers; these high tech instruments are purpose-manufactured to deal with the knocks that are part and parcel of any yard.

XRF handhelds feature rugged rubber overmolds and an ergonomic grip to protect the analyzer. ‘Hot swap’ batteries that can be swapped out while the analyzer is in use in order to preserve workflow are also common features these days.

“These machines breed better productivity,” concludes Andrew.

“If you think you can’t afford this sort of technology, think again.”

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PROJECT

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