The company says it has expanded to meet strong demand for recycled polypropylene and polyethylene.
EFS-plastics Inc., a plastics recycling company headquartered in Listowel, Ontario, has announced that it is opening a new processing facility in Lethbridge, Alberta, which will increase its access to the feedstock it needs to produce its recycled resins.
The 70,000-square-foot facility will increase the company’s processing capacity by 10,000 metric tons, or 20 percent, annually, EFS-plastics says.
Beginning in the first week of April, the company will accept Nos. 3-7 and Nos. 1-7 mixed rigid plastic bales from material recovery facilities (MRFs) in the western United States and Canada, tapping into the strong relationships EFS has developed with these suppliers since China implemented its National Sword Policy that limited the export of postconsumer plastics in 2018. The company will be recovering high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP) to produce postconsumer resin (PCR).
“We have been sourcing material from MRFs in the Pacific Northwest and western Canada since 2018,” Eadaoin Quinn, the company’s director of business development and procurement, says. “A facility in Lethbridge, Alberta, solidifies already strong relationships with suppliers and reduces [the] carbon footprint associated with transportation.”
“As we increase the amount of recycled resin we produce, we remain focused on keeping our carbon footprint as low as possible,” says Martin Vogt, president and CEO of EFS-plastics. “This new location allows us to cut carbon emissions associated with transportation as we extend the impact of our highly automated, mechanical recycling operations.”
While Quinn says the company will not be sourcing film for this facility initially, “we continue to look for new sources of film to supply our Ontario and Pennsylvania facility from across North America.”
The Lethbridge site will sort the mixed rigid plastic scrap using a process that is almost entirely automated using proprietary equipment, Quinn says. “However, we will make use of some manual quality control, allowing us to handle a broader spectrum of bale quality.”
The company says it sees the opportunity to recover more material from western North America that is lost to landfill or exported overseas. As interest in PCR grows, EFS says it is committed to developing domestic end markets that simplify the work of MRFs and provide customers with the high-quality postconsumer resin they seek.
Quinn adds that EFS is seeing increased demand for its PCR because of higher PE and PP pricing. “More importantly though, we are seeing new interest in PCR from brands that are looking to meet their public commitments and from manufacturers trying to stay ahead of legislative requirements that are popping up around North America.”
In addition to its Listowel facility, EFS operates a facility in Hazelton, Pennsylvania, where it also produces PP repro for injection molding applications, PE repro for injection molding and extrusion applications, low-density PE repro for extrusion applications and HDPE repro for extrusion and blow molding applications. Last summer the company vertically integrated, acquiring Exi-Plast Custom Moulding, which provides custom blow molding of plastic products and components.
The company says the four facilities are located in the United Kingdom.
New Jersey-based Covanta, a portfolio company of EQT Partners, Stockholm, Sweden, has announced that it has increased its ownership stake in four waste-to-energy facilities in the United Kingdom.
According to a news release, the company increased its ownership stake in Covanta Green U.K. Ltd., Covanta Green Jersey Assets Ltd. and Covanta Green Protos Holding Ltd., which holds ownership stakes across four waste-to-energy facilities.
The facilities are owned through EQT Infrastructure's acquisition of Green Investment Group's 50 percent stake in those entities. Covanta says the purchase price and follow-on equity requirements to finalize construction will be funded by EQT Infrastructure.
"We are delighted with EQT's support for Covanta's next phase of growth,” says Owner Michaelson, CEO and president of Covanta Europe. “The acquisition will simplify the UK operations and increase our contribution to end-of-line waste for thermal recycling.”
The company says the acquisitions will streamline Covanta's UK facilities. It’s also an opportunity to consolidate Covanta's contribution of thermal recycling to UK circular economy targets and drive for sustainable waste processing of nonrecyclable waste aligned to the waste hierarchy.
EQT Infrastructure says it will leverage its experience and demonstrated operational capabilities in the sector to accelerate Covanta's expansion in Europe towards becoming a leading sustainable provider of waste management services.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and approvals and is expected to close in Q2 2022. Barclays Bank, acting through its investment bank, acted as financial adviser and Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as legal counsel to EQT Infrastructure in connection with the transaction.
The company will showcase the Mack Granite and the Mack MD series.
Mack Trucks, Greensboro, North Carolina, has announced it will showcase the Mack Granite and Mack MD Series trucks at the Work Truck Show 2022 in Indianapolis, March 8-11.
According to a news release from Mack, the vehicles are designed with durability, reliability and improve the total cost of ownership in mind. The company says the trucks cover various vocational applications ranging from Class 6 to Class 8. Both trucks will be at booth number 3523.
The Mack Granite truck features Command Steer, which combines an electric motor with the truck’s existing hydraulic steering system. Command Steer provides variable steering effort through its electric motor, utilizing multiple sensors throughout the truck at 2,000 times per second to monitor driver inputs, environmental elements and the terrain. The system applies additional torque when needed to make it easier to keep the truck on the desired route.
Command Steer also suppresses uneven terrain such as dips, ruts and potholes. The system reacts to those inputs by countering the steering force, smoothing the steering feedback. Command Steer also features a return-to-zero capability that automatically returns the steering wheel to the center position in forward and reverses, easing the navigation of tight maneuvers.
Mack Granite also includes an axle-back, dumping capabilities and a Mack MP 8-505C engineer, which provides 505 horsepower and 1,860 pounds per foot of torque.
The Mack MD Series includes Class 7 dumping capabilities and a Cummins ISB6.7 diesel engine. It also includes a Class 8-inspired dash with flat-bottomed steering wheel, Mack Air driver’s seat, cab air suspension, Meritor 12,000-pound front axle, Meritor 21,000-pound rear axle and Geotab telematics.
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The resolution establishes an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee with the ambition of completing a draft global legally binding agreement by the end of 2024.
A resolution to address the full life cycle of plastic, including its production, design and disposal, has been endorsed at the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5) in Nairobi, Kenya, with the goal of producing an international legally binding agreement by 2024.
UNEA-5 President and Norway’s Minister for Climate and the Environment Espen Barth Eide says, “Plastic pollution has grown into an epidemic. With today’s resolution we are officially on track for a cure.”
The resolution is based on three initial draft resolutions from various nations and seeks to promote sustainable production and consumption of plastics by addressing product design and environmentally sound waste management, including through resource efficiency and circular economy approaches. It establishes an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC), which will begin its work in 2022, with the goal of completing a draft global legally binding agreement by the end of 2024. It is expected to present a legally binding instrument that reflects diverse alternatives to address the full life cycle of plastics, the design of reusable and recyclable products and materials and the need for enhanced international collaboration to facilitate access to technology, capacity building and scientific and technical cooperation, according to a news release from the UN Environment Programme.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) will convene a forum by the end of 2022 that is open to all stakeholders in conjunction with the first session of the INC to share knowledge and best practices in different parts of the world. It will facilitate open discussions and ensure they are informed by science, reporting on progress throughout the next two years. When the INC’s work is completed, UNEP will convene a diplomatic conference to adopt its outcome and open it for signatures.
“Today marks a triumph by planet earth over single-use plastics,” Inger Andersen, executive director of UNEP, says. “This is the most significant environmental multilateral deal since the Paris accord. It is an insurance policy for this generation and future ones, so they may live with plastic and not be doomed by it.”
She adds, “In parallel to negotiations over an international binding agreement, UNEP will work with any willing government and business across the value chain to shift away from single-use plastics, as well as to mobilize private finance and remove barriers to investments in research and in a new circular economy.”
The UN Environment Program says shift to a circular economy for plastics can reduce the volume of this material entering oceans by more than 80 percent by 2040; reduce virgin plastic production by 55 percent; save governments $70 billion by 2040; reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent; and create 700,000 additional jobs, mainly in the global south.
The full text of the adopted resolution can be read here.
A number of nongovernmental organizations have voiced their support for the resolution.
“It is promising that the mandate will look at plastic across its entire life cycle, shifting us away from problematic end-of-pipe interventions like waste incineration and instead addressing the issue further upstream, in its production phase,” says Niven Reddy, Berkeley, California-based GAIA (Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives) Africa Coordinator. “This milestone could not have happened without a global movement pushing decision-makers every step of the way.”
The nonprofit says “waste picker” advocates pushed to formally include these informal collectors in the text, marking the first time that their role is acknowledged in an environmental resolution. GAIA says the mandate acknowledges these informal collectors not only as stakeholders but as important sources of knowledge and expertise.
Dianna Cohen, co-founder and CEO of the Plastic Pollution Coalition, Washington, says, “This is a historic achievement. Plastic Pollution Coalition was founded more than a decade ago to dispel myths and euphemisms such as ‘marine debris,’ ‘litter’ and ‘waste,’ with a simple objective to call it what it is: plastic pollution. Now the same critical shift is happening in practice thanks to the power of millions of allies in the global Break Free From Plastic movement, as policymakers have acknowledged the need to broaden the scope of a new Global Plastics Treaty to include not just the marine impacts of plastics but its entire life cycle—from extraction to disposal. We know there will be challenging negotiations ahead, but this is real progress. We will continue advocating for a legally binding treaty that addresses the full life cycle of plastics, covers all impacts in all environments and upholds human rights.”
Members of the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA), a virtual organization that represents global chemicals and plastics manufacturers and that the American Chemistry Council part of, joined delegates at UNEA-5. Regarding the resolution, the ICCA voiced its support and released a statement that reads in part:
“ICCA is pleased with the outcome and fully supports a legally binding agreement on plastic pollution. As an observer to the negotiations, we commend the governments that spent long days finding common ground to develop a meaningful resolution to address plastic pollution.
“Specifically, the broad mandate of the resolution provides governments with the flexibility to identify binding and voluntary measures across the full life cycle of plastics while recognizing there is no single approach to solving this global challenge.
“We appreciate governments for highlighting the significant role plastics play in society and for promoting sustainable production and consumption of plastics, from product design to environmentally sound waste management. Many of the tenets of the resolution align with ICCA’s 5 key elements for a global framework.”
Tony Radoszewski, president and CEO of the Plastics Industry Association, Washington, says, "We welcome the discussion happening at the UN Environmental Assembly that seeks solutions to the issue of plastic pollution. Our members share the goal of keeping any of the products they manufacture from ever getting into the environment, and we look forward to participating in the dialogue set forth by the resolution, the creation of an intergovernmental negotiating committee and the subsequent meetings in the coming years. Plastics improve the quality of life. And, when used and disposed of responsibly, play a major role in ensuring a more sustainable world. We are confident that a process in which science and policy work together will recognize the important role of plastics for society and sustainable development."
*This article was updated March 3 to add the comment from Radoszewski.
The company reportedly missed 3,810 yard waste collections in July and 12,820 recycling collections in August, largely because of the driver shortage.
Houston-based WM has agreed to an $83,150 settlement for missed yard waste and recycling pickups in Kitsap County, Washington, during the summer and fall of 2021.
According to WM, these missed pickups were largely because of a shortage of workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under the settlement, the company will offer credits worth $34,658.63 to residential recycling and yard waste customers who experienced missed pickups between July 1, 2021, and Dec. 3, 2021. This is in addition to more than $448,000 worth of credits it offered to Kitsap County residential customers for collections missed from July to December as a result of its driver shortage, reports the Kitsap Sun.
The agreement—which has been signed onto by WM executives, an attorney in the state Attorney General’s Office, a senior Kitsap County prosecuting officer and Kitsap County commissioners—is subject to the approval of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC).
According to the Kitsap Sun, UTC staff found 16,630 violations of state laws and rules for missed recycling and yard waste pickups from July to August 2021. It was determined that 3,810 yard waste collections were missed in July and 12,820 recycling collections were missed in August. The penalties of $83,150 were based on $5 per missed pickup.
Although WM claims these missed pickups were because of staffing shortages, UTC determined the driver shortage was not an approved reason for missed service.
As part of the settlement, WM must submit a contingency plan “outlining a process to maintain sufficient staffing levels and steps it will take to quickly restore service should there be a worker shortage in the future.” It must also develop a statewide communication and customer outreach plan to improve customer communication during major service disruptions in the company’s UTC service areas.
Gary Chittim, WM communications manager, told the Kitsap Sun the company "took an aggressive approach to address the driver shortage in Kitsap County," including hiring new drivers with signing bonuses and increasing wages.
"Our new drivers are now trained and on the job, serving our community," he says, adding that the company was able to achieve adequate staffing levels in early December.