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THE PULSE
Newsletter of the Canadian Association of Recycling Industries
Volume 13, No. 11, November 2008

This issue of THE PULSE is sponsored by

Click the image above or visit http://www.cowangroup.ca/cari-07 for information.

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

At CARI’s 11th Annual Consumers’ Night held in Toronto on November 10th CARI President, Sheldon Jarcaig, briefly addressed the 280 attendees. He noted that the current word financial crisis had inflicted serious negative impacts on the scrap industry. In fact in just a short three month period ferrous prices have been eroded by more than $700 per ton and all commodities have suffered diminishing sales. Sheldon pointed out that both consumers and dealers are dealing with falling prices, margin compression, limited sales, and cash flow issue and therefore, now more than ever, the need to work with each other to overcome these challenges.

Sheldon further indicated that CARI’s Consumers’ Night was a great place to start. He thanked the 50 or so representatives of the 19 consuming companies and all other attendees for their continued support of the annual event. He emphasized that, in today’s climate of trimmed budgets and economic cutbacks, such a large attendance indicated both the value and importance of the evening.

WORLD SCRAP METAL CONGRESS 2008

From Nov 3 to Nov 5, about 190 delegates from all over the world attended the 2008 World Scrap Metal Congress in Shanghai. The focus of the congress was trends and future forecasts of the global metal market and proposed regulations from China, the US and the EU.

Mr. Zhaobin Liu, Director of Legislation from AQSIQ gave an update on scrap metals and e-scrap imports. He reviewed some of the legislation governing China's metals recycling industry and the status of inspection and quarantine management of imported scrap and e-scrap. The session was concluded with a projection of AQSIQ's plans for the future. Antoine Seillan, Counsellor, Trade and Investment Section from the EU spoke of the EU’s revised legislation on the shipments of materials designated as non-hazardous waste. Principal Commercial Officer, Mr. David Gossack from the US Department of Commerce presented an update on the responsible recycler (R2) program and policy regulating the export of scrap lead acid batteries.

CARI MEMBERS

CARI member Gerdau Ameristeel Corp., Tampa, Fla. has added the Guelph-based Metro Recycling into its operation along with its 19 mini-mills, one joint venture and 22 scrap recycling facilities. The acquisition is reported to be in line with its strategy to retain a consistent supply of raw materials while providing opportunities for ferrous supply growth.

Trace Metal Testing

Trace metals are elements in extremely small quantities which are found in food, water, the soil, and air. They are essential to human health as they provide the necessary nutrients our bodies need. On the other hand, they can also be toxic if ingested or absorbed in excess quantities.

Exposure to these metals is high in industries such as recycling and waste management. Employees from these industries are more prone to over-exposure due to the nature of their work. To ensure the health and safety of these employees, they should be monitored regularly by measuring the levels of trace metals in their systems through trace metal testing.

Gamma-Dynacare Medical Laboratories is one company that offers trace metal testing on the following elements:

Testing can be performed as required, either in panels or individually. It requires blood or urine samples. A random urine sample is recommended for monitoring long-term exposure and a 24-hour urine sample is recommended for management and treatment of over-exposure.

The technology used and the analytical techniques enables Gamma-Dynacare to deliver:

• An large menu of trace metal elements
• High quality and accurate results
• Fast turn-around-time
• Customized reports according to specific needs

Interested members can contact Elaine Graham at (519) 280-5470 or grahame@gamma-dynacare.com. For more information, visit www.gamma-dynacare.com.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

Ningbo Swing Import & Export Co. Ltd a company from Ningbo, China is seeking silicon sheet, electronic motors, and transformer core; 1600 – 2000MT of each material per month. Interested members can contact Mike at Tel: 0574-56229875 or email: gjlsh1983@163.com.

Equipment for Sale

Double Wall - 4 X 4 Gaylord Boxes

$10.00 CDN Per Unit
Picked up @ Davis Trading
One full truckload available immediately
Approximately 700 Units
Contact: Brad @ Davis Trading.com
Tel. 604.255.3111

Fast Facts

Visit www.agroinsuranceinc-crhb.ca for info.

• China could produce an additional 50 million tonnes of ferrous scrap in the next five years CRU Research analyst, Calum Baker told delegates at the 49th Instituto Latinoamericano del Fierro y del Acero conference in Cancun. Despite the slowdown in the growth of Chinese steel output, Baker remained optimistic that China's scrap imports will likely climb again in 2009. “China will be producing more than 650 million tonnes of raw steel in 2012”, he said “although it was uncertain how much of China's domestically generated scrap would be consumed by Chinese mills, and how much would be exported to other Asian countries”.

• Toratec Recycling Solutions, founded in 2005 Hamburg, Germany has made its way into the recycling industry with its innovative material sorting systems. The company’s new EcoTowerSort adopts a stackable system to materials sorting. The material is fed only once into the compact sorting tower, allowing the material to spread from deck to deck. The machine can process up to 32 tonnes of material per hour. Toratec expects the alliance with Eriez will spark further innovative development. Plans are already underway to build a machine that incorporates various technologies for separating valuable metals.

• ReSteel, a new start-up spin-off company of Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands has patented the solution to reduce copper contamination in scrap to below 0.1%. Four years ago, Professor Peter Rem and his colleagues started a research project in the properties of steel and copper, which led them to develop their new technology. With a static magnet, the invention separates a mixture of scrap that is fed onto a continuous conveyor belt which goes around drums to create magnetic field lines in the separation zone. The technology has already been tested by two major scrap processing facilities in the Netherland.

CARI EVENTS

CARI's Quebec Chapter's
Will host its 2008 Ladies Night dinner and the show "Lord of the Dance"
Saturday, November 22
at Place des Arts
In Montreal
For information contact Sylvie Lafrance
at (418) 728-2150 or slafrance@gestionrlc.com
__________________________________

CARI’s 68th Annual CARI Convention
June 25 - 27
at Taboo Resort Golf and Spain Gravenhurst

For information on CARI events contact Donna Turner at (905) 426-9313

OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS

2008

Nov. 24 - 26 Marseille, France
International Conference on the Environmentally Sound Management of Wastes generated at Sea
WE 2C
www.we2c.org
Contact: Sonia d’Hamonville
Sonia.dhamonville@we2c.org

2009

Jan. 18 - 20 Phoenix, USA
Aluminum Symposium 2009
Platts
www.aluminum.platts.com
Contact: Kevin LaPierre
kevin_lapierre@platts.com
Phone: 1 212 904 4358
Early Registration ends Dec 5, 2008

Jan. 21 - 23 Salzburg, Austria
8th International Electronics Recycling Congress
ICM
www.icm.ch/index_electronic_09.thm
info@icm.ch
Phone: 4162 785 1005

Feb. 24 - 25 Orlando, USA
4th annual Plastics Recycling Conference 2009
Resource Recycling
www.plasticsrecycling.com
Phone: 1 503 233 1305

Mar. 11 – 13 Munich, Germany
9th International Automobile Recycling Congress
ICM
www.icm.ch/index_auto09.htm
info@icm.ch
Phone: 41 62 785 1005

Jun. 24 – 26 Toronto, Canada
Electronics & Battery Recycling ’09 International Conference, Exhibition & Plant Tours
ICM
www.icm.ch/index_ebr_09.htm