Smart Press Shop is working with the aluminum producer to extend the supply of sustainable aluminum.

Aluminum producer Novelis Inc., with global headquarters in Atlanta, has announced a closed-loop recycling partnership with Smart Press Shop (SPS), a joint venture between Porsche AG and Schuler Group that is based in Halle, Germany, that produces automotive body parts.

Novelis’ Nachterstedt, Germany, plant provides flat-rolled aluminum products to the Smart Press Shop and brings production scrap generated during SPS’ manufacturing process back to Nachterstedt to be recycled into new rolled sheet. Recycled aluminum requires 95 percent less energy to produce than primary aluminum, and the Novelis-SPS partnership is projected to reduce carbon emissions by up to 100,000 tons per year as a result, Novelis says in a news release about the partnership.

SPS produces components for automotive exteriors, such as door panels and hood skins, and chose to work with Novelis because of the aluminum producer’s success in developing and implementing closed-loop recycling systems for leading automakers, such as BMW, Volvo, Nissan, Ford and Jaguar Land Rover.

Novelis, as part of its wider carbon-reduction strategy, has been investing in its recycling capabilities globally and establishing recycling programs with automakers. Earlier this year, Novelis announced plans to build a $365 million recycling center next to its automotive finishing plant in Guthrie, Kentucky, in the United States. That facility will allow it to grow its closed-loop recycling programs with North American automotive customers, Novelis says. The company also plans to invest about $50 million to build a recycling center at its Ulsan Aluminum joint venture in South Korea and $375 million to expand rolling and recycling capabilities at its plant in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, China. Novelis says the project in China will fully integrate its automotive business to supply automakers in Asia.

"SPS and Novelis are ideal partners to advance the automotive industry closer to achieving the standards of a circular economy through sustainable material sourcing and production," says Michael Hahne, vice president, Automotive, Novelis Europe. "At Novelis, we have a remarkable story to tell about our closed-loop-recycling innovations. From our objective of achieving zero waste-to-landfills to becoming carbon neutral, we take our responsibility as a global sustainability leader very seriously and look forward to all that we can achieve with SPS."

SPS uses digitized processes and laser cutting technology to manufacture exterior vehicle body parts, optimizing material recovery rates, Novelis says in the news release about the partnership. In addition, the proximity of the Halle plant to Novelis' Nachterstedt Recycling Center, which it describes as the world's largest aluminum recycling facility, further enhances environmental sustainability because it reduces transport times.

"High-end car customers have a clear vision of what they expect manufacturers to provide, and in addition to premium quality, sustainability is playing an increasing role," Hendrik Rothe, managing director of SPS, says. "With our partner Novelis, we are able to take intelligent automotive designs and manufacturing to new heights by making more efficient, sustainable automotive components and increasing the resiliency of our supply chain."

Novelis says the companies have secured initial projects for premium car manufacturers focused on lightweighting and are working together to extend the supply of sustainable aluminum car body parts to additional automakers. 

Global recycling firm points to emissions savings achieved by melting steel, aluminum, copper scrap.

Titling its 2022 annual report “Enabling decarbonization,” Sims Ltd., an Australia-based metals and electronics recycling firm, leads off the 152-page document with emissions savings obtained when metals producers melt scrap instead of ore-based materials.

Under the heading “Our business creates a positive impact,” Sims cites industry trade association sources for figures that include a 97 percent CO2 emissions savings when aluminum scrap is melted compared with primary production; an 83 percent figure for the use of steel or ferrous scrap; and a range of 80 to 90 percent CO2 emissions savings when red metal scrap is melted.

On the volume side, Sims says during its fiscal year 2022 (which ran from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022), it sold 6.9 million metric tons of ferrous scrap to steel and iron melt shops and 442,000 metric tons of nonferrous scrap to global foundries and melt shops.

In its electronics recycling or IT asset and disposal (ITAD) sector, known as Sims Recycling Solutions (SRS), the firm says it repurposed some 85 million units and is seeking 200 percent growth in that activity by 2025.

In a letter included in the report, Sims board chair Geoff Brunsdon writes, in part, “This past year, the company progressed its plan to grow its core metal business, Sims Metal, through a number of well-priced and attractively located acquisitions in Australia and the United States and by opening several new feeder yards in those geographies.”

Brundson also refers to the company’s investments to convert its auto shredder residue (ASR) into energy, writing of its pilot effort in Australia “to build a world-class recycling facility with the potential for processing shredder residue through the Sims Resource Renewal business.”

In its North American market, Sims Metal says those operations “accounted for 57.5 percent of Sims Metal’s sales revenue, with sales of 5.1 million metric tons of ferrous and nonferrous secondary metal.”

The full Sims Ltd. 2022 annual report can be downloaded here. 

Ingot-making facility changes hands again, with Ohio firm buying it from SA Recycling.

The Federal Metal Co., a Bedford, Ohio-based red metals ingot maker, has acquired the assets of the former Colonial Metals ingot production facility in Columbia, Pennsylvania. Federal becomes the third owner of the plant since it was idled in 2018 by its longtime family business owners, the Serls family.

In a notice to customers and suppliers, Federal Metal states it has “acquired the assets of SA Alloys in Columbia, Pennsylvania, from parent company SA Recycling.” That sizable scrap processing firm acquired the former Colonial plant earlier this decade from California Metal-X, another ingot-making company that purchased the Columbia facility in early 2019.

In the letter announcing the newest acquisition, Federal Metal President and CEO Peter J. Nagusky writes, “Combined, we are now more than 160 employees strong with 11 furnaces and extensive processing and testing capability. Our intent is to manufacture the full range of copper-based cast alloys in our new and existing facilities with the best employees in the industry.”

Nagusky continues, “As we integrate these two companies, I am energized and awed by the stamina and commitment of our team. With this acquisition, The Federal Metal Co. has more brass and bronze ingot-making capacity than any company in North America. We are where we are because of our laser focus on quality, service and pricing, and that will not change. But more so, we are where we are because of the phenomenal people who work hard every day to make sure we continue to outperform every expectation.”

Surveying the changing domestic copper and metals production market, Nagusky writes, “Nonferrous metals are at the early stages of a new super cycle. Over the next 10 to 20 years, they will play a crucial role in the revolutionary transformation from an industrial economy based on fossil-fuel-derived energy to an environmentally sustainable economy based on electrification and clean energy. We intend to be at the center of this transformation, responsibly supplying critical recycled metals of the highest quality that are needed by the leading producers.”

He adds, “We are committed to serving the growing number of customers that look to The Federal Metal Company as an important part of their supply chain, and the wide array of remarkable scrap processors that depend on us for responsible recycling of their material. This acquisition will support our strategic growth in new and important ways, complementing our leading position as a manufacturer of cast copper-based alloys to the foundry industry.”

Hinting that Federal Metal could have more news to come, Nagusky concludes in his letter, “We look forward to sharing more exciting news in the months and years to come and will work hard to continue serving your needs, earning your trust and providing even greater value to you as our company evolves.”

Specialty papermaker expects to use recovered paper as about 30 percent of feedstock at its paper machine number 24.

Pixelle Specialty Solutions LLC, based in Pennsylvania, has announced plans to restart a paper machine at its Chillicothe, Ohio, facility. The company says it is investing $21 million “to upgrade and restart” the number 24 paper machine (PM24) in Chillicothe.

A spokesperson for Pixelle says PM 24 “tend[s] to include 30 percent postconsumer” recovered fiber when it is running, adding that “depending on customer demand, Pixelle has the ability to run a higher percentage of recycled fiber. Since PM24 is not yet running, it’s hard to say exactly what Pixelle will put [into] the machine until production begins to start scheduling.”

“The current supply-demand balance in the market and our Ohio facility’s competitive, integrated cost structure has afforded us the opportunity to restart PM24 at the Chillicothe mill,” Pixelle President and CEO Timothy R. Hess says. “This rebuilt machine will add 75,000 tons per year of capacity to serve our customers in the food packaging, commercial inkjet and other specialty paper segments. These are growing attractive markets where Pixelle has leading positions.”

Hess adds, “We would also like to acknowledge [economic development agency] JobsOhio for an economic development grant that will support an employee training program to provide workers with the skillsets required to operate the paper machine safely and efficiently.”

Pixelle says it plans to hire 52 full-time employees to operate and maintain PM24 and anticipates creating about 50 temporary positions “to support construction and engineering requirements related to the restart.”

According to the papermaker, PM24 originally was built as a coated printing papers machine, upgraded most recently in the 1990s. Pixelle idled the machine in 2017 based on declining supply-demand market dynamics at the time. “Several upgrades in the current rebuild will enable Pixelle to produce an attractive product mix for its customers,” the firm states.

Pixelle also has a coating facility in Ohio, mills in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and a mill in Maine scheduled to close early next year. The firm says it expects PM24 in Ohio to be fully operational early next year.

The acquisition includes the purchase of contract testing services, processing equipment and hiring of experienced employees for its ITAD business.

Trio Supply Chain Solutions, a supply chain solutions company based in Santa Ana, California, has acquired key business elements from The Salem Group of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The acquisition includes the purchase of contract testing services, experienced engineering and testing teams, processing equipment, intellectual property and a more than 20,000-square-foot facility.  

The Salem Group acquisition will expand Trio's engineering and testing expertise, part acquisition, global and independent sourcing, quality inspections, value-added services, surplus inventory management and recycling and redistribution.   

According to a news release, this acquisition enables Trio SCS to grow its information technology asset disposition (ITAD), closed loop recycling and redistribution initiatives by augmenting service spare parts back into its customer's supply chains. These initiatives allow Trio SCS to provide its customers with touchpoint reduction, cost savings and reduced logistics and processing times. This is done through the consolidation of their reverse logistics; returns process, warranty redemption, repair, testing, parts fulfillment, teardowns and reconfigurations for resale.   

Testing covers a range of brands and commodities with expertise in system assemblies, networking, power supply, adapters and more. Trio SCS says it will maintain all testing and support services to ensure a smooth and seamless transition for the Salem Group's existing customers and business partners.   

"We are excited about the significant opportunities the acquisition brings to our organization on a global prospective," says Marcus Moawad, director of business solutions for Trio Supply Chain Solutions. "This decision will expand the breadth of in-house testing and ITAD services available to our customers in enterprise, computing, banking, point-of-sale, medical, industrial and automation segments. We welcome the North Carolina team to the Trio SCS family and look forward to building our business through integrity-filled relationships with our customers."  

With more than 30 years of engineering, quality processes and supply chain expertise, Trio SCS specializes in providing solutions and hard-to-find parts for global supply chains. In addition, the company says it locates and procures genuine, end-of-life and constraint parts quickly and cost-effectively. This allows for continuity of supply for their customers' production and service contracts. The organization's global network spans the United States, Latin America, Europe and Asia.