The company partnered with Nexus and Tommy Nobis Enterprises to collect the scrap plastic.

The Yamaha Rightwaters recycling program, launched by the Yamaha Corp., Hamamatsu, Japan, has announced that it returned more than 10,000 pounds of polyethylene and polypropylene sheet plastics back to base materials during 2021.

“Polyethylene and polypropylene constitute a substantial portion of the plastic in our oceans harming fish populations,” says Martin Peters, the Government Relations Division manager for the Yamaha U.S. Marine Business Unit. “This pilot program proves these plastics can be broken down in a cost-effective manner that Yamaha Rightwaters can potentially replicate on a national level. It also demonstrates that Yamaha builder and dealer partners are willing to become active participants in the program, further underscoring a marine industry commitment to conservation and sustainability.”

Yamaha announced the program last year and works with Nexus of Atlanta and Tommy Nobis Enterprises of Marietta, Georgia, to develop a larger national program intended to reduce plastic waste in America’s waterways.

Yamaha says it developed a reverse logistics program to return the protective covers from select boat builders, retail dealers and its three boat production facilities. The sheet plastic used in the pilot program comes from protective boat covers made by various manufacturers, including Yamaha.

The materials ship to Tommy Nobis Enterprises, which separates recyclable plastics from other materials, such as plastic zippers, cords and eyelets. Tommy Nobis Enterprises then ships the feedstock to Nexus for processing into raw materials, which range from gasses to waxes. Those raw materials are used for other products.

According to a news release from Yamaha, the program is expected to expand this year.

According to a new life cycle assessment report, recycled aluminum production's carbon footprint has decreased by 60 percent, while primary aluminum's has declined by 49 percent.

According to a new, third-party critical-reviewed life cycle assessment (LCA) report, the energy and carbon impact of aluminum production in North America has dropped to its lowest point in history. Since 1991, the carbon footprint of primary aluminum production declined by 49 percent, while recycled aluminum production’s carbon footprint declined by 60 percent. The energy needed to produce primary and recycled (or secondary) aluminum has been reduced by 27 percent and 49 percent, respectively, as well during the same time frame.

Between 2010 and 2016 alone, the carbon footprint of aluminum production (primary and secondary) declined between 5 percent and 21 percent. According to the report, “Environmental Footprint of Semi-Fabricated Aluminum Products in North America,” aluminum produced in North America, which relies heavily on renewable hydropower, is among the cleanest in the world.

The report was developed by the Aluminum Association in cooperation with Chicago-based sustainability consultancy Sphera. It quantifies material, energy use and environmental release impacts over the entire aluminum product life cycle, from raw material acquisition to end-of-life recycling and/or disposal. The study considers cradle-to-gate and cradle-to-grave life cycle stages and is based on aluminum and aluminum products manufactured in North America in 2016.  “The U.S. aluminum industry continues to innovate and find ways to produce this essential metal in as environmentally sustainable way as possible,” says Charles Johnson, president and CEO of the Aluminum Association, Arlington, Virginia. “And we’re nowhere close to done—every day, our members pursue new approaches to make this lightweight, durable and infinitely recyclable material using less energy and with lower emissions.”

According to the LCA report, primary and recycled aluminum production represents the largest element of the industry’s environmental impact for product manufacturing and has improved most substantially in recent years. The impact of semifabricated aluminum production also has improved. (Semifabricated aluminum is an "intermediate good" that has undergone significant processing but requires additional working before it is a finished product.)

However, cast products have seen their carbon footprint increase because of the difference in production technologies assessed between 2010 and 2016. According to the study, the ultimate reason for the increase is related to the difference in recycled metal content. In the 2013 study, which looked at the 2010 production year, cast product was represented by sand casting technology, and average recycled metal content was 85 percent. However, in this study, production is represented by die casting technology, and average recycled metal content is assumed to be 80 percent.

Technological advancements such as manufacturing process controls, efficiency improvements from economies of scale, the phasing out of old smelting technologies and the replacement of coal-fired for renewable electricity in smelting have contributed to this trend.

Recycled aluminum’s smaller carbon footprint can be attributed primarily to process efficiency improvement, the study states, including the improved efficiency of furnaces. Scrap feedstock quality also has improved because of better sorting and better pretreatment of scrap).

Regional variations in primary aluminum production also drive significant differences in the environmental footprint of various aluminum products, the Aluminum Association notes. The LCA includes energy use and carbon footprint analysis of product types that include extruded aluminum, aluminum sheet, aluminum foil, die cast aluminum and aluminum sheet and extrusions for the automotive market. Making these products in regions like China or the Middle East, which rely largely on coal and natural-gas-based electricity, can be two to three times as carbon-intensive as making similar products in North America, even assuming similar levels of recycled aluminum usage.

“The message is clear—bolstering domestic aluminum production is good for U.S. manufacturing jobs and good for the climate,” Johnson says.

“Beyond the upfront manufacturing impact, it’s also important to remember how much aluminum benefits products throughout their use phase,” he says. “Aluminum makes buildings greener and last longer; vehicles go further using less energy; and packaging lighter, more efficient to ship and easier to recycle.”

Increasing aluminum recycling also helps make the industry more sustainable. Making recycled aluminum is 94 percent less carbon-intensive than making primary aluminum. Improving the end-of-life recycling rate for aluminum also can have a major impact. Increasing the aluminum recycling rate by 1 percent can reduce the overall product carbon footprint by 80 kilograms of CO2 equivalent per 1,000 kilograms of aluminum produced, according to the study.

However, more than 1 million tons of aluminum end up in landfills annually in North America. The Aluminum Association says it is committed to increasing aluminum recycling rates and is working to accomplish this goal, including advocating for new investment in recycling infrastructure and other policy changes to incentivize the increased collection and capture of used aluminum. Last year, the Aluminum Association joined the Can Manufacturers Institute endorsing a target to achieve a 70 percent recycling rate for aluminum used beverage cans in the United States by 2030.

To review the full LCA report and to read additional life-cycle assessments on various aluminum products, visit www.aluminum.org/SustainabilityReports. 

The company says the “super plant” will measure 600,000 square feet.

Green Bay Packaging Inc. (GBP), headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin, has announced it will begin building a new “super” corrugator plant measuring 600,000 square feet in Fort Worth, Texas, to replace the company’s current 200,000-square-foot plant in the city. Construction on the site is set to begin in the first quarter of 2022, and startup is scheduled for the second quarter of 2023.

GBP says it has operated a plant in Fort Worth for more than 50 years.  The new plant will be equipped with a new 110-inch Fosber corrugator and all new high-speed flexo folder gluers and rotary die cutters. 

“We are excited to continue to invest in our employees and customers of Fort Worth,” says Will Kress, president and CEO of GBP.  “The Fort Worth operation is an important part of GBP, and the leadership and employees of this division are second to none. We believe in investing in our people and our loyal customers, and we are looking forward to the next phase in Fort Worth.”

Over the last 12 months, GBP has completed the startup and full production of its recycled paper mill in Green Bay and startup of a 550,000-square-foot box plant in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The company also is in the process of expanding its folding carton operation and is doubling the size of the newly acquired Third Dimension sheet plant in Geneva Ohio. These moves follow significant expansions of the company’s Green Bay and Minneapolis box plants and the building of a new sales, marketing and distribution center in Downers Grove, Illinois. GBP also is installing new high-speed converting and high-end graphic lines in multiple plants across the country. 

“We are committed to this industry, our employees and customers,” says Bryan Hollenbach, executive vice president of GBP. “We continue to invest at a high level and work hard to make GBP a great place to work and build a career. It is a fun time to be working for GBP.” 

“We are fortunate to partner with customers that value the quality and service provided by our dedicated team in Fort Worth. This new operation will unite the most modern equipment with our extremely talented employees to deliver a wide range of capabilities with the highest level of quality and service to our customers,” Rob Schroeder, vice president and general manager of GBP’s Fort Worth division, adds.

This is the company’s second acquisition in the Midwest.

Fenix Parts, a leading recycler and reseller of original equipment manufacturer automotive parts in Hurst, Texas, has completed its acquisition of the assets of Keiffer Auto Recyclers in Canton, Ohio.

According to a news release from Fenix, Keiffer is a full-service automotive recycling facility servicing the Northeast Ohio market. This is the company's second acquisition in the Midwest. In late December, Fenix announced the purchase of All Foreign Used Auto Parts Inc., also based in Ohio. 

“We are pleased to announce the acquisition of Keiffer in Canton, Ohio, and are excited about the addition of its experienced and talented team to the Fenix family,” says Bill Stevens, CEO of Fenix Parts. “The acquisition of Keiffer and our recently announced acquisition of All Foreign Used Auto Parts in Columbus, Ohio, establishes Fenix’s Midwest presence. These two locations in Ohio provide significant production capacity, and an established footprint and customer base as we pursue additional Midwest expansion opportunities.”

Fenix says auto recycling owners interested in learning more about Fenix’s acquisition process can email info@fenixparts.com.

Battery Resourcers plans for what will be North America’s largest lithium-ion battery recycling plant to be fully operational by August.

Battery Resourcers, a lithium-ion battery recycling and manufacturing company based in Worcester, Massachusetts, has announced plans to build a $43 million commercial-scale recycling facility in Covington, Georgia—an eastern suburb of Atlanta.

According to a news release from the office of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, the battery processing facility will be the largest of its kind in North America when fully operational in August.

As demand for electric vehicles (EVs) increases, the company says the U.S. needs to build a sustainable battery recycling infrastructure and that the Covington facility will help meet that demand as the site is purposefully located near several EV manufacturing hubs and lithium-ion gigafactories. The facility is one of several major industrial projects announced in Georgia in the last year according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

A report from Market Research Future in December of last year says the EV industry will reach $957.4 billion, adding that active support from the government, as well as advanced features such as fighting climate change, improved powertrains and lithium-ion batteries, all contribute to market growth.

“Automotive manufacturers are sitting on mountains of discarded batteries and scrap and right now they have very few options for responsible and cost-effective disposal,” Battery Resourcers CEO and Director Michael O’Kronley says. “With this convenient U.S. location and our technology, we can start to provide a sustainable solution that helps minimize the need for mining and returns valuable, battery-grade materials back into the lithium-ion supply chain.”

The Covington facility will have the capacity to process 30,000 metric tons of discarded lithium-ion batteries and scrap annually, the equivalent of 70,000 vehicle batteries per year. Its process will return battery-grade lithium, cobalt and nickel back into the battery supply chain.

The company says it also has engineered a process to turn its recyclables back into critical battery materials, specifically nickel-manganese-cobalt cathodes, which are then sold back to battery manufacturers.

“As the electric vehicle industry continues its rapid growth, battery recycling has become a vital part of the supply chain, and cutting reliance on unstable areas of the globe has never been more critical for the future,” says Pat Wilson, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

Battery Resourcers was founded in 2015 with a mission of returning 100 percent of battery active materials back into new batteries, and the company today makes EV-grade cathode active materials.

Its long-term plans include opening additional facilities in North America, Europe and Asia to process up to 150,000 metric tons of lithium-ion material globally per year.