Improve workplace safety and utilization with automated material handling solutions.

Amid times of workforce challenges, it is imperative for companies to adopt automated scrap recycling solutions that reduce manual labor and prioritize worker safety. As labor shortages persist, preventing injuries, maximizing operator utilization and promoting uptime will be essential to efficient and profitable processing. Adding or upgrading material handling equipment is an apt place to start. With that in mind, here are three ways automated material handling solutions help reduce workforce challenges.

Any recycling process that is completed more efficiently allows for valuable resources to be used in other areas of the operation. Conveyors, for example, are proven to raise productivity by up to 60 percent, according to data from Prab. Compared with manual transfer processes, they move metal scrap more quickly and consistently to help support continuous processing. Additionally, systems that automate load-out processes not only save time and labor, but they also optimize container fill. These systems can include automatic level sensors that provide visual alerts when the container is full, integral scales that verify containers are not exceeding road weight limits and automatic notifications sent directly to the scrap haulers when a pickup is necessary.

With approximately 250,000 people injured per year due to a fall in the workplace, it’s no surprise that Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations require employers to have clean, dry floors. Large piles of metal scrap coated in cutting fluids put operators at risk for trips, slips and falls. Lifting heavy items and forklift accidents are other leading causes of workplace injuries.

Dumpers, conveyors and load-out systems that automate the transfer of metal scrap are shown to improve workplace safety up to 25 percent, according to Prab data. They promote ergonomic processing, reduce forklift traffic and help keep operators a safe distance away from shredding, crushing and melting equipment.

Preconditioning metal scrap to ensure downstream equipment can process the material can also prevent hazardous working conditions. For example, augers and steel belts sometimes fail to consistently move bushy bundles of metal scrap because they are unable to grab hold of stringy wads of material. Instead, the bundles bounce around the in-feed hopper—usually until an operator manually breaks them up or forces them up the conveyor. This practice is incredibly unsafe.

Additionally, when equipment isn’t performing optimally, employees may become frustrated and dissatisfied with their job. Adding equipment that tears stringy wads of chips, turnings and bundles apart prior to the auger or steel belt conveyor will help minimize the need for operator intervention altogether.

Labor shortages don’t only affect in-house staffing capabilities—they also impact third-party contractors, such as equipment technicians. Whether your operation enlists the services of a technician to perform preventive maintenance or mission-critical repairs, service may be delayed due to a lack of available resources. Fortunately, certain design features of material handling equipment can help prevent downtime related to maintenance, including:

Build quality: Heavy-duty, abrasion-resistant construction materials and high-quality welds are critical to meeting the high-volume demand typical of metal scrap recycling operations. Design features that provide reinforcement and/or reduce impact, such as special supports and belt-reinforcing impact plates, help extend a conveyor’s service life and maximize uptime.

Simplified maintenance: Belt maintenance and bearing lubrication are aspects of routine conveyor maintenance that can be minimized through automated solutions. Auto lube systems that automatically grease bearings improve bearing performance and eliminate maintenance required for manual greasing. To eliminate manual belt adjustments and the issues associated with stretched belts, an auto-take up system can be designed into the conveyor. This feature automatically monitors tension using load cells on chain conveyors and tightens the belt to eliminate manual adjustments and downtime. These systems can be added to new conveyors or retrofitted onto existing models. Automatic adjustments can be scheduled to be completed during low production times or shift changes.

Carryover prevention: Above all, avoid carryover that may damage conveyor equipment by utilizing a conveyor designed to provide a positive discharge of material. For instance, some scrap conveyors eliminate carryover by using a drag flight to pull material toward the discharge point. When the flights pivot out of the way, stuck materials dislodge from the machine.

It is projected that industrial operations will continue to face labor shortages as the workforce ages. Managing turnover is also a challenge. According to a report from Tooling U-SME, 43 percent of companies report an average of at least 20 percent annual turnover that costs them hundreds of thousands—if not millions—of dollars annually.

Compensation and safe working conditions are table stakes. Today’s employees have higher aspirations for their work experiences. In a poll conducted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 41 percent of respondents indicated that prospective employees are looking for a positive work environment. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration reports that good housekeeping in the workplace not only creates a cleaner, safer workplace, but also promotes positive behaviors, habits and attitudes. In this way, conveyors and other material handling solutions also can impact employees’ perceptions about their jobs. Improved housekeeping achieved through effective management of metal scrap helps make the working environment feel tidy and orderly, which can contribute to a more favorable view of work overall.

Mike Hook is the sales and marketing director for Prab and has more than 20 years of mechanical design and application experience. Prab is a leading supplier of engineered conveyors, equipment for processing stamping scrap, turnings, chips and spent metalworking fluids, as well as wastewater treatment solutions.

Company intends to convert recycled-content copper into foil at Nevada plant later this year.

Carson City, Nevada-based Redwood Materials says “in a matter of months” its copper anode foil facility at the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center in Nevada will begin producing and delivering product to customers.

The company, in a Jan. 19 website post, says the plant will be complete and “supplying battery cell manufacturing partners with anode copper foil and cathode active materials” later in the first half of this year.

Last year, Redwood announced it would produce battery materials in the U.S. after receiving a $700 investment. “Over the next few years, Redwood will ramp copper foil production to 100 gigawatt hours (GWh) of battery demand, or 250,000 kilometers (155,000 miles) of product annually,” states the firm. Redwood calls that “enough copper foil to build more than 1 million electric vehicles (EVs) per year or wrap copper foil around the entire world six times.”

The same site in Nevada will house hydrometallurgy recycling operations planned by Redwood, “which will allow us to feed copper from recycled lithium-ion batteries directly into copper foil production in a closed-loop,” states the company.

Redwood says initially its production of copper foil will outweigh its supply of copper recovered from battery recycling operations, so it also will source other domestic recycled copper. States the company, “Today, the U.S. exports several hundred thousand tons of copper [scrap] per year to Asia, so Redwood’s utilization of this secondary supply will ensure this critical metal stays in the U.S.”

In the first seven months of 2021, U.S. Census Bureau figures for the export of alloyed copper-bearing scrap show Malaysia brought in 58,800 metric tons of alloyed red metal scrap, followed by China, which brought in 26,900 metric tons of the material from the U.S. during those seven months.

In those same seven months, China brought in some 97,000 metric tons of unalloyed copper scrap from the U.S., followed by Malaysia which brought in about 54,000 metric tons of such material.

Overall, the Census Bureau says the U.S. exported some 520,000 metric tons of red metal scrap to Asia and buyers in other nations.

In the meantime, says Redwood Materials, “nearly all anode copper foil (and cathode) production globally happens in Asia.” That, says the firm, contributes “significantly to the environmental impact and cost of battery production.”

Panasonic will be the first company that expects to source Redwood’s copper foil, says the firm. “Our partnership with Panasonic began in 2019 and since, we’ve been recycling all Panasonic’s manufacturing scrap from the Tesla Gigafactory. That very same material will now be recycled, and the copper contained will be remanufactured into anode foil and returned to Panasonic at the Gigafactory, just a few miles down the road. This will mark the first time batteries will be recycled, remanufactured and then returned to the same factory in a fully closed loop.”

Redwood Materials says it expects to invest some $1 billion into its copper foil facility and expanded recycling operations. The company also says it is “still actively searching for another battery materials campus, focused on cathode production, which we plan to announce this year. At that site, we will spend upwards of $2 billion and scale cathode production to 500 GWh or [enough for] 5 million EVs by 2030.”

Nation’s foreign trade office exempts five nations and the EU from scrap metal preinspection process in two more port districts.

India’s Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) will allow imports of scrap metal from six nations to 10 designated Indian ports without a Pre-shipment Inspection Certificate (PSIC). The PSIC-free procedure for shredded and unshredded ferrous and nonferrous scrap now applies to the Kazira and Kamarajar ports.

In a notice posted to the DGFT website Jan. 14, the agency adds those two ports to eight previous ones that have attained the non-PSIC status for scrap shipped from the United States, Australia, Canada, the European Union, New Zealand and the United Kingdom

Scrap from those six nations and regions will continue to be subject to radiation detection checks and scans for explosives, the DGFT says.

The exemptions will not apply to trans-shipments that involved other nations before or after the cargo arrives in India.

Esterform Packaging will use about 6,000 metric tons of PET per year from the U.K. waste management firm.

Biffa, a large integrated waste management business based in the United Kingdom, has entered into a partnership with Esterform Packaging, a U.K.-based independent producer of plastic bottles for carbonated drinks and alcohol, to supply the bottle producer with recycled plastic.

According to a news release from Biffa, Esterform will use about 6,000 metric tons of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) from Biffa at its factories in Leeds and Worcestershire every year. Biffa processes that PET at its Seaham facility, which the company says is capable of recycling more than 2 billion plastic bottles per year.

“We’re delighted to be working alongside Esterform who share our passion for creating a circular economy—a system where materials are recycled for as long as possible,” says Chris Hanlon, Biffa’s commercial director of polymers. “We look forward to a long and successful partnership as we continue to work with them to grow the recycled content of their PET bottles.”

Biffa reports that packaging producers in the U.K. are now required to use at least 30 percent recycled plastic in their products in order to avoid the nation’s new plastic packaging tax. The deal with Esterform was signed after the plastic recycled at Biffa’s plant in Seaham was awarded food-grade status by the European Food Safety Authority.

CEO Jason Gates highlighted the benefits of waste metering, including environmental impacts and cost savings.

CEO and co-founder of Compology Jason Gates recently appeared before the Congressional Recycling Caucus to brief its members on the environmental and cost savings benefits of waste metering. His brief included how metering can be scaled to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) goal to increase the recycling rate to 50 percent by 2030. 

During his brief, Gates gave an overview of how Compology’s waste metering technology mitigates this problem and ensures contaminants are identified and removed before waste collection. 

Gates also shared results from Compology’s recent meter launch with Miami. The city implemented waste metering across its municipal dumpsters to reduce CO2 emissions, traffic congestion, noise pollution and illegal dumping while improving code compliance and enhancing urban beautification efforts. Gates shared that initial results from the pilot predicted a 50 percent increase in recycling rates at dozens of municipal buildings and thousands of tons of C02 reduced. 

The Congressional Recycling Caucus, co-chaired in the House by Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ-06), Rep. David Joyce (R-OH-14), Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI-11) and Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL-13) and in the Senate by Sen. Tom Carper (D-D.E.) and Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), is a bipartisan caucus. The group is focused on educating members of Congress and congressional staff on the need for recycling and its environmental and economic benefits. It also supports public policies aimed at increasing recycling across the United States.

Gates highlighted how 1,300 brands, including McDonald’s, Apple and Google, have implemented waste metering technology to report on waste and recycling. Gates highlighted how the environmental and cost-saving results experienced by the private sector can be replicated in the public sector.  

As a result of outdated infrastructure, much of the country’s waste ends up in landfills, responsible for 15 percent of the United States’ total methane emissions. Compology says disinvestment in green technology and poor recycling education leaves recycling facilities unable to properly sort highly contaminated materials. This diverts 30 percent of recyclable materials directly into landfills.