The new Stadler PX acceleration conveyor integrates the best features of the BB and DB conveyors for optical sensor sorting.
Equipment manufacturer Stadler, Altshausen, Germany, has released the Stadler Px acceleration conveyor. The company says it launched the equipment to meet the demand for higher throughput in sensor-based automatic sorting, which can operate at higher working speeds.
The company says it has integrated features of its BB and DB conveyors and has taken the opportunity to introduce a host of improvements. They include a new air stabilizer, which ensures consistent sorting quality at faster speeds with light materials, resulting in purity of the output.
“At Stadler, we are always very alert to how our customers’ needs evolve,” says Corinna König, the team leader of product management of Stadler. “We found that we were increasingly combining our BB and DB conveyors in customers’ projects to achieve the desired result, so we developed the PX, which combines the best features of each into one conveyor. This means that our customers now have only one machine to operate and maintain, simplifying their operation and reducing their costs.”
König says they also significantly increased the belt speed, even with light materials, so they can increase their throughput with just one machine.
Italian company Irigom Srl has installed six PX conveyors at its secondary solid fuel (SSF) plant, designed to separate and recover all valuable material from the incoming plastic waste. The recovered polyethylene terephthalate (PET), low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polypropylene (PP) are sent to a recycling facility while the residue is used to produce high-quality SSF. The conveyors have been operating for three months, sorting PET, LDPE and PP materials for recovery, metals and polyvinyl chloride, which is removed from the process.
“The PX is performing very well. The fast speed up to 4.5 meters per second allows us to significantly increase the total material input while maintaining a high-quality output,” says Stefano Montanaro, CEO of Irigom.
The new PX conveyor carries over the solid frame construction and long service life of its predecessors, the BB and DB models. It features a slot to fit a sensor under the belt and is compatible with NIR and EM sensors from various manufacturers. It offers a belt speed ranging from 3.2 meters per second to 4.5 meters per second and can be specified with two motors to ensure the necessary torque at the required speed. The head drum is available in a choice of two diameters: 125mm and 220mm for the best detachment of the material.
The material on the conveyor is accelerated and straightened so that the sensors fitted in the slot can detect the material on the conveyor at all speeds. An optional stabilizer improves performance by optimizing the positioning of the material on the belt with an airflow. The result is a higher throughput with consistently high sorting quality and higher purity levels of the blown-out fraction, even at top speeds with light materials such as paper or film.
The PX benefits are compact in size and designed for easy transport. The frame, with the belt already mounted, can be separated into three or four sections, depending on the length of the conveyor. These can be stacked for transport and are simple to reassemble on-site. Even the model with the widest, 2900mm belt can be loaded on standard trucks or containers, also cutting down on transport costs.
Steel Dynamics, U.S. Steel join Nucor in second quarter guidance pointing to profits.
Two more United States-based steel producers have joined Nucor Corp. in offering second quarter 2022 earnings guidance that point to the likelihood of sizable profits.
Fort Wayne, Indiana-based electric arc furnace (EAF) mill operator Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) is referring to “record second quarter 2022 earnings guidance” it places in the range of $6.33 to $6.37 per diluted share.
Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel Corp. is likewise pointing to “a new all-time best second quarter performance” in the current timeframe. The operator of both blast furnace/basic oxygen furnace and EAF mills is predicting second quarter 2022 adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of approximately $1.6 billion, or in the range of $3.83 to $3.88 per diluted share.
EAF producer SDI says its profits exclude the impact from costs associated with the startup of the company’s Sinton, Texas, flat roll steel mill.
Second quarter 2022 earnings from the company’s metals recycling operations, which includes those of subsidiary OmniSource Corp., are expected to be “significantly higher than sequential first quarter results, based on strong demand supporting increased shipments and higher pricing,” says SDI.
SDI’s second quarter 2022 profitability from the company’s steel operations is expected to be historically strong, but lower than first quarter 2022 results, due to lower earnings from the company’s flat roll steel operations, as lower average flat roll steel pricing is expected to more than offset increased flat roll steel shipments.
Demand for SDI long steel products is strong, says SDI, “supporting increased average realized pricing and expected record shipments for the company’s Engineered Bar Products, Roanoke Bar, and Structural and Rail steel divisions.
David B. Burritt, president and CEO of U.S. Steel, comments, “We expect to continue delivering record performance in the second quarter, with each business segment meaningfully contributing to profitability. Our broad end market exposure keeps our business resilient with demand across a diverse customer base, including the resurging energy market. Our focus on strategic end markets and the continued realization of significantly increased fixed price contracts is again expected to generate another quarter of record performance.”
Commenting on the company’s capital allocation strategy, Burritt continues, “Our balance sheet remains strong with an overfunded pension plan and no significant debt maturities until 2029. Our strategic projects are pre-funded, with a current cash position approaching $3 billion, and we accelerated our stock buybacks in the second quarter. We continue to invest in the business with high confidence and are well-positioned to execute on our Best for All strategy and capital allocation framework.”
Scrap feedstock makes up 98 percent of metal producer’s Circle Green stainless steel.
Finland-based metals producer Outokumpu says it has set a “new standard for the world’s most sustainable stainless steel,” launching a product line called Circle Green it says has a 92 percent lower carbon footprint than the industry average.
Energy sources and consumption throughout the production change contribute to the low emissions footprint, but the company says using stainless steel and nickel scrap as raw material feedstock also is a critical factor.
“Recycled materials played an important role in producing the emission-minimized stainless steel [that] we call Circle Green,” Päivi Allenius, a vice president with Outokumpu, tells Recycling Today. “By using scrap we can avoid using primary raw materials, as their impact on the product's carbon footprint is the most important,” she adds.
According to Allenius, “Our recycled material content is normally at 90 percent and in this case it was clearly even more than that—98 percent.”
Circle Green, in addition to having a 92 percent lower carbon footprint than the global average, has a 64 percent smaller footprint compared with Outokumpu’s regular production, says the company.
“We are extremely proud to introduce a new product line, Outokumpu Circle Green, which is truly an innovation in the stainless steel industry and a result of our focused learning journey,” says Niklas Wass, an executive vice president with the company. “The first batch was produced in Tornio, Finland, and was delivered to one of our strategic customers, Fiskars Group, to use for cookware. I’m extremely proud that we have launched a product that has a true impact on our customers’ climate ambitions.”
Wass continues, “We see increasing global customer demand for low-carbon footprint stainless steels, from construction to heavy industry and consumer products. I’m very happy to say that Outokumpu is now ready to answer this demand. In this first phase, we will concentrate our efforts to serve a few strategic customers, but we are already looking at ways to scale up the production.”
In addition to using more scrap, Outokumpu says it achieved emission reductions with “meticulous production and quality optimization” that led to higher energy efficiency. Biogas, biodiesel, bio coke and low-carbon electricity are being used in production to eliminate 95 percent of all Scope 1 and 2 CO2 emissions, says the firm.
“Our emission-minimized product answers the global need for more sustainable and long-lasting products that help to build a more sustainable future,” says Wass. “The material was produced on an industrial scale with our existing production assets. This is a key step and an essential achievement towards meeting Outokumpu’s sustainability goals.”
The program aims to recycle plastic protective covers used for boats.
New Jersey-based Valhalla Boatworks has become the most recent addition to the list of boat manufacturers currently recycling plastic protective covers through the Yamaha Rightwaters plastics recycling program. To date, the program, which launched in August 2021, is responsible for returning 17,911 pounds of polyethylene and polypropylene sheet plastics back into base materials, reducing the amount of plastics in U.S. waterways.
Created, owned and operated by the Viking Yacht Company, Valhalla Boatworks offers four center consoles from 33 to 55 feet.
“Yamaha Rightwaters, through initiatives such as the plastic recycling program, continues to create opportunities for marine sustainability and conservation. Valhalla Boatworks is enthusiastic about being part of the journey,” says John Leek IV, general manager of Viking Mullica. “By participating in this program, it’s our hope that we can help significantly reduce plastic in the nation’s waters.”
The Yamaha Rightwaters plastics recycling program leverages a reverse logistics strategy to return the protective covers from select boat builders, retail dealers and its three boat production facilities. Additional contributing manufacturers include Contender Boats, Regulator Marine, Xpress Boats, Yamaha Jet Boat Manufacturing, Skeeter, and G3 Boats.
The materials ship from participating boat builders and dealers to Marietta, Georgia-based 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 Atlanta, Georgia-based end-to-end plastics recycling business Nexus for processing into raw materials, which range from gasses to waxes. Those materials are then used for other products.
The NextCycle program selects new and expanding businesses and organizations through a competitive application process and connects them to resources and expertise.
NextCycle Colorado, a program designed to boost manufacturing solutions for recycled or recovered content in Colorado, will host a pitch competition Wednesday, June 22, from 5 to 8 p.m. at eTown Hall in Boulder. During the competition, businesses seeking to connect with private investors will pitch ideas.
The competition is the culmination of NextCycle Colorado programming, which pursues creative ideas to improve recycling and composting end markets. This year’s event will showcase nine teams that spent the last four months receiving mentorship from industry leaders and subject matter experts as well as technical support from Resource Recycling Systems (RRS), a consultancy based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
“This is an exciting time for recycling in Colorado, as we’re putting progressive efforts in motion that have the potential to really move the needle and improve recycling rates statewide,” says Jill Hunsaker Ryan, executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE). “NextCycle has helped foster important innovations from local businesses, and I look forward to the creative solutions these latest teams bring to Colorado.”
“By investing time and resources into the teams, NextCycle Colorado creates stronger recycling businesses for the state,” says Kendra Appelman-Eastvedt, recycling grants supervisor at CDPHE. “These businesses will create new jobs, products and services and, most importantly, continue the momentum toward our goal of recycling more in Colorado.”
The NextCycle program selects new and expanding businesses and organizations through a competitive application process and connects them to resources and expertise. NextCycle teams have been awarded more than $1.5 million in Recycling Resources Economic Opportunity program grants from CDPHE since the program’s inception in 2018.
Nine teams will be showcased in the 2022 pitch competition:
“Colorado NextCycle supports businesses and organizations at every level,” says Juri Freeman, managing principal at RRS. “The state has immense entrepreneurial talent, and the Pitch Competition is the opportunity to elevate the teams and take their businesses to the next level.”
Bolstering NextCycle’s efforts is a new law approved earlier this month that will create Colorado’s first Circular Economy Development Center, which aims to empower Colorado businesses to create products using materials that Coloradans recycle. The center will help CDPHE achieve its commitment to increasing how much residents are recycling across the state.
The Colorado NextCycle pitch competition is free and open to the public. Investors, funders, business and community leaders, media and anyone interested are invited to attend.
Please visit Colorado NextCycle Pitch Competition for more information or to register to attend.
Funding for Colorado NextCycle is provided through the Recycling Resources Economic Opportunity program.