The company will serve Insteel’s 10 manufacturing plants throughout the U.S.

Dallas-based ScrapSource, which describes itself as a boutique scrap management firm, has entered into a multiyear agreement with Insteel Wire Products Co., based in Mt. Airy, North Carolina, to provide scrap management services at Insteel's 10 manufacturing plants throughout the United States.

Insteel’s manufacturing plants are in Dayton, Texas; Gallatin, Tennessee; Hazleton, Pennsylvania; Hickman, Kentucky; Houston; Jacksonville, Florida; Kingman, Arizona; Mount Airy, North Carolina; Sanderson, Florida; and St. Joseph, Missouri.

“We are pleased to be awarded this contract,” says Larry Olschwanger, president of ScrapSource. “We have known the Insteel organization for many years, and they recognized the value to consolidate all of their scrap under the ScrapSource umbrella. Insteel is a world-class organization and leader in their industry, and we are thrilled to now call them a client.”

Robert Welch, director of materials at Insteel, says, “The Insteel/ScrapSource program creates significant value for the company, while at the same time implementing industry best practices.”

Insteel Wire Products is a wholly owned subsidiary of Insteel Industries Inc. and is the nation's largest manufacturer of steel wire reinforcing products for concrete construction applications. Insteel manufactures and markets prestressed concrete strand and welded wire reinforcement, including engineered structural mesh, concrete pipe reinforcement and standard welded wire reinforcement. Insteel products are sold to manufacturers of concrete products that are used in residential and nonresidential construction.

Founded in 2010, ScrapSource  provides solutions for companies generating scrap from manufacturing processes.

Spirits firm says its molded pulp bottle will be “fully recyclable in standard waste streams.”

London-based spirits producer Diageo PLC says it has helped create a wood pulp-based spirits bottle, made entirely from what it calls sustainably sourced wood. The bottle will debut with Johnnie Walker brand scotch whisky in early 2021. Diageo has a global product line that also includes Smirnoff vodka and Guinness stout beer.

The bottle was produced in partnership with Pilot Lite, a venture management company, by Pulpex Ltd. That firm, which calls itself a “sustainable packaging technology company,” has established a partner consortium of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies, including Unilever and PepsiCo, with further partners expected to be announced later in the year. The consortium partners are each expecting to launch their own branded paper bottles in 2021, says Pulpex.

The firm says the bottle is made from sustainably sourced pulp to meet food-safe standards and will be fully recyclable in standard waste streams.  On its website, Pulpex describes its bottles as “sustainable, scalable, single-mold branded designs without material compromise that significantly reduce the reliance of single-use plastics.” The technology will allow brands to rethink their packaging designs, or move existing designs into paper, while not compromising on the existing quality of the product, states the company.

“We’re thrilled to be working with global brand leaders in this consortium,” states Sandy Westwater, a director of Pilot Lite. “By working together, we can use the collective power of the brands to help minimize the environmental footprint of packaging by changing manufacturing and consumer behaviors.”

Comments Ewan Andrew, chief sustainability officer of Diageo, “We’re proud to have created this world first. We are constantly striving to push the boundaries within sustainable packaging and this bottle has the potential to be truly ground-breaking. It feels fitting that we should launch it with Johnnie Walker, a brand that has often led the way in innovation throughout its 200 years existence.”

South Africa puts two-month ban in place to “safeguard employment” at domestic metal production sites.

South Africa’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition (MTIC) has placed a two-month ban on the export of several types of ferrous and nonferrous scrap metal, citing powers granted to the ministry by the International Trade Administration Act of 2002.

An eight-page notice issued July 3 by the ministry lists numerous metals covered by the ban, including iron, steel, copper, aluminum, lead, zinc, tin, magnesium, manganese and another 15 minor and rare earth metals. The ministry uses the term “waste and scrap” and gives accompanying tariff codes for the scrap commodities.

“The Minister has received representations from the domestic consuming industry that there is a shortage of affordable scrap metal and the [existing] price preference system is not achieving the objectives of the Policy Directive, which is causing severe harm to the industry and affecting its recovery from the destructive effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic,” states the directive, which is signed by MTIC Minister Ebrahim Patel.

The ministry says a 2013 Policy Directive gives it the ability “to ensure an affordable supply of quality scrap metal [to] safeguard employment and to maintain and increase industrial capacity to promote infrastructure development.”

Patel’s document says the ban will be in effect for two months, until Sept. 2 or 3, while the Ministry’s International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) investigates “whether the price preference system is achieving the objectives of the Policy Directive, and in particular (but without limitation), whether there is a shortage of scrap metal for the domestic processing industry; whether the discount, delivery and payment terms should be amended; and whether another formula should be applied to achieve the objectives.”

Exceptions will be made for shipments that either are received or applied for export permits before the July 3 publication of the new policy, according to the notice. Some exceptions also may be made for “ferrous and nonferrous metals listed in the schedule hereto which [ITAC] determines are not used by the domestic processing industry.”

Technology Conservation Group operates two R2-certified facilities in Kentucky and Florida.

The Electronics Reuse & Recycling Alliance (TERRA), Nashville, Tennessee, has announced that the Technology Conservation Group (TCG), Lecanto, Florida, has joined TERRA’s Done with IT program to provide electronics recycling options for businesses and individuals from its two Responsible Recycling (R2) certified facilities in Florida and Kentucky. 

TERRA is a large network of e-Stewards and R2 Certified e-scrap recycling and information technology asset disposition (ITAD) solution providers with secure facilities across North America. The Done with IT mail-in program provides access to simple, secure and sustainable e-scrap recycling options. According to a news release from TERRA, the service is critical for rural and urban communities that have little or no access to e-waste recycling services. 

“Only certified businesses like TCG adhere to rigorous standards and ongoing oversight that protect individuals and organizations against data breach and effectively mitigate the dangers associated with the improper disposal of e-waste,” says Steven Napoli, president and CEO of TERRA.

“An expanding home-based workforce increases the value of having convenient access to data destruction, device refurbishment and remarketing services,” says Don Andes, vice president of business development at TCG. “Our partnership with TERRA helps us connect our certified solutions to those in need of these essential services.”

A father-and-son team started the business to process residential and commercial glass in Omaha, Nebraska.

A father-and-son team launched Glassman Recycling and Repurposing to provide glass collection and processing in Omaha, Nebraska.

“We were looking for a business to start in Omaha,” says Simeon Worthing, chief operating officer of Glassman Recycling and the son in the father-and-son team. “We were looking for what was really needed.”

Joe Worthing, president and the father in the father-and-son team, knew from personal experience that the city lacked a glass processing site. Joe also serves as a board member on the Nebraska Recycling Council, so he says he knew the area needed curbside glass collection. He is also president of Worthing and Associates, a marketing firm in Omaha.

While Omaha has some glass collection programs, Simeon says the closest glass processing facility is about 185 miles away in Kansas City, Missouri. So, in the winter of 2020, Joe and Simeon researched and planned to start a glass processing and collection business to service Omaha. 

“With the help of one of my sons and a friend of his, we are biting the bullet and jumping in at a time when most would not consider starting a service business. The only thing needed is people willing to join us,” Joe says. 

The past few months, Joe says he and Simeon have reached out to residents in Omaha as well as to local businesses to provide glass recycling services. Those who signed up received plastic tubs, which Glassman repurposed from the agricultural industry.

Glassman Recycling officially started business July 8. Joe says residents and businesses can visit Glassman Recycling’s website to schedule glass pickups as needed. Joe says he and Simeon plan to check the site daily to download a list of customers ready for pickup. 

“We are working to dramatically increase participation in glass recycling by offering at-home and business pickups,” Joe says. “We call them ‘grabs.’ We know so many people who want to recycle glass and hate throwing it away, but the current options are cumbersome and inefficient at best and wasteful at worst because most don’t want to store it and then take it to a dump station only to have it trucked to Kansas City.” 

The new business is processing glass back into sand. Simeon adds that the company purchased a glass crusher to process glass from its facility in Bellevue, Nebraska. “Once we get the glass, we separate by color and crush it,” he says.

Glassman Recycling charges $35 per year to register for the recycling program as well as $20 per pickup without any monthly fees.