Swedish government agrees to help the scrap firm ramp up a battery recycling plant in that nation.

The Swedish Energy Agency will be providing Sweden-based Stena Recycling $7.76 million in support of its investment in a new battery recycling plant in Halmstad, Sweden. Stena Recycling says its target “is to become one of Europe’s leading players in the recycling of lithium-ion batteries.”

The company says it is now “intensifying” its work on the construction of the new recycling plant in Halmstad. The facility is expected to initially handle around 10,000 metric tons of batteries per year. That will include lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles (EVs) as well as industrial and consumer products. In addition, battery centers are being established around Europe to ensure infrastructure for collecting the batteries.

“We are very pleased that the Swedish Energy Agency has granted our application and see it as important and natural to contribute to closing the loop of valuable materials contained in batteries,” says Fredrik Pettersson, CEO of Stena Recycling Sweden. “We are introducing an advanced technology, and it is exciting that we are now breaking new ground and setting the standard in battery recycling. Our goal is to have the plant operational in the first quarter of 2023.”

Robert Andrén, director general of the Swedish Energy Agency, says, “Electrification is a crucial piece of the puzzle in the work for a fossil-free society where batteries will be a central part of the future energy system. This important project means that we can create a battery value chain that is sustainable and circular from environmentally and climate-smart production to recycling, so we are not just shifting emissions from one activity to another.”

Stena Recycling says its investment in battery recycling is intended to meet the substantial increase of batteries predicted in society and to stay ahead of an EU directive that is scheduled to come into force starting in 2025. The directive will impose stricter requirements on battery recycling and the recovery of a roster of materials including cobalt, lithium and nickel. That, in turn, says Stena, will reduce the need for the extraction of virgin minerals and metals.

“The recycling of lithium-ion batteries is a fast-growing challenge for society and must be improved through increased capacity and other more climate-smart technologies,” says Pettersson. “With our size, infrastructure, customer base and expertise, we can create circular solutions that reduce the overall climate footprint by ensuring that more batteries are collected and recycled in an appropriate way.”

Stena says there are currently “only a few” recycling facilities for lithium-ion batteries from hybrid and EVs in Europe, and these use melting furnaces in the final stages of the recycling process, which produce CO2 emissions.

The company says it has selected an alternative technology that is expected to provide a higher recycling rate and a lower climate impact than existing melting furnace technology.

This process is based on grinding batteries in an inert environment, followed by “an advanced process to separate the different fractions in order to recover valuable metals.” From the black mass fraction, nickel, cobalt and lithium will be among the materials extracted in the next step.

Connecticut hauling franchisor markets recycling aspects of its hauling and appliance pickup business.

The Junkluggers, a discarded materials and obsolete appliance removal brand based in Seymour, Connecticut, says it is moving into 2022 with large goals after “a successful and productive year” behind it.

The brand, founded in 2004, says it grew throughout the pandemic, opening more than 40 locations in 2021, helping The Junkluggers to more than double its revenue from 2020. The Junkluggers says it is “more determined than ever to continue progressing the industry by focusing on environmental solutions.”

Josh Cohen, founder and CEO of the company, comments, “At The Junkluggers we are no ordinary junk removal company. We are passionate about our sustainable approach and helping our customers declutter while doing everything we can to donate, recycle and keep items out of the landfill.”

The Junkluggers says it partners with “countless” local charities and organizations to get items into the hands of those who need them, and that its top priority is to keep 100 percent of reusable items out of landfills by 2025.

Included in the Franchise Business Review Top 2022 Franchises, The Junkluggers made the list at number 32 while also being recognized by Entrepreneur magazine on its Franchise 500 list. A Franchise Business Review survey found more than 94 percent of franchisees enjoy being a part of the business and believe leadership promotes a strong culture, according to The Junkluggers. The company also conducted an internal survey and says it found that 97 percent of the home office team “enjoy the company’s culture and were happy at work.”

“We resonate with prospective franchisees as they learn that we are so much more than just a junk removal company,” says Cohen. “Making a positive impact on the environment and having deep roots in the communities we serve by partnering with local charities and making donations is what we do every day, and our franchisees want to be a part of that.”

The Junkluggers describes itself as focusing on green, community-oriented practices, striving to enhance lives, the community and the environment by donating, recycling “upcycling” and supporting local charities. It now has 88 franchise locations in the United States, with 76 currently operating and 12 in the planning stage.

Equipment and technology company’s white paper directed to metals shredding plant operators.

Erie, Pennsylvania-based global equipment provider Eriez has issued a white paper on shredded metals separation titled “Processing Zurik to Zorba.” The document “highlights separation equipment that efficiently upgrades zurik to a more desirable and profitable zorba fraction while also reducing scrap yard fire hazards,” states the company.

The white paper, written by Eriez Recycling Market Manager Mike Shattuck, posits that stockpiles of zurik generate “a significant fire risk due to the hot metals surrounded by flammable debris.” It then outlines a procedure for “transforming relatively low-value zurik material into a copper-rich, high-value zorba product that is easier to market and sell,” says Eriez.

Shattuck says size reduction and liberation of zurik is key to ensuring the process improves profitability. “This copper-rich Zorba also commands a higher price than standard zorba and also is easier to market and sell. Additionally, this system creates a fine saleable stainless steel product.”

According to the white paper, equipment used within the zurik-to-zorba process consists of a ring mill, a small drum-type magnetic separator, an ultra-high-frequency (UHF) eddy current separator and a stainless steel magnetic separator.

Achieving maximum recovery and grade of the Zorba (more than 95 percent aluminum) requires the technology of a UHF eddy current separator, according to the firm. “Standard eddy current separators are only capable of recovering material coarser in size due to less frequency changes found in this type of magnetic circuit design and the larger size distribution,” states Eriez.

The white paper can be downloaded from this web page.

Robin Morris Collin will advise Administrator Michael S. Regan as the agency works to advance environmental justice and civil rights in communities that suffer from disproportionately high pollution levels.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the appointment of Robin Morris Collin to be EPA’s senior advisor to the administrator for Environmental Justice. Collin will advise Administrator Michael S. Regan as the agency works to advance environmental justice and civil rights in communities that continue to suffer from disproportionately high pollution levels, including low-income communities and communities of color.

Collin is nationally recognized for her leadership and scholarship in the areas of sustainability, energy and environmental justice and joins the EPA after serving as the Norma Paulus Professor of Law at Willamette University in Oregon. Collin was one of the first U.S. law professors to teach sustainability courses in a U.S. law school and served as founding chair of the State of Oregon’s Environmental Justice Task Force, among other positions on local, state and federal environmental justice organizations.

“From my first day at EPA, I have committed to embedding equity, environmental justice and civil rights into the DNA of the Agency’s programs, policies and processes and to [deliver] tangible results to underserved communities. That’s why I am so pleased to welcome Robin, one of the nation’s foremost experts and a lifelong advocate for overburdened communities, as my senior advisor for environmental justice,” says Regan. “Robin brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the agency and is the ideal person to ensure our most vulnerable populations have a seat at the table as we work to deliver environmental justice.”

“Climate change is the single greatest environmental challenge of our time. Environmental justice is the way a multiracial, multi-ethnic society engages that challenge.  I am honored to serve in this role to protect our land, air and water and, as part of that work, lift up underserved communities so that we may all thrive together,” says Collin. “I look forward to the privilege of working with Administrator Regan and the experienced, thoughtful and collaborative leadership team at EPA.”

Prior to her time at Willamette University, Collin held professorships at Tulane Law School, McGeorge School of Law and the University of Oregon and visitorships at Washington & Lee Law School and Pepperdine Law School. Her work on environmental justice has also been published in numerous academic journals.

Throughout her career, Collin has been recognized for creative and entrepreneurial leadership and her ability to develop equitable solutions, receiving the EPA Environmental Justice Achievement Award, the Leadership Award by Oregon State Bar as founder of the Sustainable Futures section of the Bar, the Judith Ramaley Award for Civic Engagement and the David Brower Lifetime Achievement Award.

Collin comes from a family of academic and entrepreneurial achievers. Her great grandfather, an enslaved person, became a professor of math and Greek at Bennet College in North Carolina, and her father, John Payton Morris, founded an ocean-going vessel line in Maryland. Collin holds a Bachelor of Arts from Colorado College and a Juris Doctor degree from Arizona State University.

“Professor Collin is an excellent choice to lead the EJ efforts at the EPA,” says Beverly Wright, founding executive director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ). “We look forward to working with her and Administrator Regan to continue this important work on behalf of the Biden-Harris administration to address the urgent needs of underserved communities that have been left behind for way too long.”

“I am thrilled that Professor Collin has been appointed by the Biden-Harris Administration to serve in this critical role at the EPA,” says Robert Bullard, professor of urban planning and environmental policy at Texas Southern University. “Professor Collin has dedicated her entire life’s work to uplifting communities in need and I know that together we will work towards delivering meaningful results to those that need it most.” 

The facility will be dedicated to recycled polystyrene and will process 15 kilotons annually.

Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics based in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, has announced that plans for a chemical recycling plant in Belgium are progressing rapidly. The facility is in the design phase and construction is expected to begin by the end of 2022.

Synova, a technology provider based in Maassluis, The Netherlands, and global engineering services company Worley out of Sydney, Australia, currently are working on an engineering package and preparing Trinseo’s material handling facility in Tessenderlo, Belgium, for recycling operations.

The plant will be dedicated to recycled polystyrene (rPS), meeting increased demand for the material as brand owners seek sustainable options. It will process 15 kilotons of rPS flakes annually that will be converted into recycled styrene to enable further production of polystyrene (PS) or a styrene derivative including acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and styrene acrylonitrile (SAN).

PS is one of the most widely used plastics and can be fully circular. Due to its simple chemistry, it can be converted to its monomer yielding a material with identical properties as its fossil equivalent.

“Trinseo chose Synova and Worley to move forward with because of their leadership in their respective areas, the efficiency and maturity of their technologies and approaches, and high-quality output,” says Francesca Reverberi, senior vice president and chief sustainability officer. “Both also have a strong commitment to sustainability, and this alignment was critical for us as we continue our journey and goal of delivering sustainable material solutions while maintaining high quality and performance.”

Synova is a provider of technology for the recycling of mixed plastic scrap. The technology was invented by TNO, an independent Dutch research organization, and features a highly efficient process to convert waste into high-value products while improving the CO2 footprint.

Worley says it delivers project and asset services for the energy, chemicals and resources globally. The company provides expertise in engineering, procurement and construction and consulting services. 

Trinseo recently announced an offtake agreement for recycled styrene with recycler Indaver, the acquisition of recycler Heathland B.V. and the introduction of bio-attributed PS, ABS and SAN.