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THE PULSE
Newsletter of the Canadian Association of Recycling Industries
Volume 15, No. 4, April 2010

President's Message | CARI Members | CARI Activities | Fast Facts

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

We often hear about the value of other industry sectors. The automotive, mining, forestry, aerospace and the oil and gas sectors are often highlighted. Their importance to the Canadian economy is well publicized through newspaper articles and internet sources regarding their contribution to the gross domestic product. All Canadians understand the importance of these sectors to the financial stability of our country.

However, most Canadians, including our elected representatives, seem to know little about our industry. When the Department of Natural Resources, the one federal agency attuned to the recycling industry, asked CARI to complete a small contract to help profile our sector, CARI jumped at the opportunity. As the voice of Canadian recycling, this was our opportunity to market our sector.

CARI developed a simple survey and sent it to all active Canadian members. The response rate was low and several companies expressed concerns with sensitive proprietary information even though data was to be kept in complete confidence. In addition, collecting production data from all scrap processors and dealers would lead to a greatly inflated production number because of double counting given the basic pyramid feeding nature of the sector. Therefore it was decided that a better approach to determine the tonnage of metal scrap processed was to add the total scrap exported and the scrap purchased by all Canadian consuming companies (primary steel, mini-mills, primary smelters and refineries, secondary smelters and foundries). Employment numbers for all companies involved in the scrap metal sector will still be sought over time to establish that industry statistic.

Our first efforts indicate a total estimated employment for the Canadian recycling sector for 2008 to be at least 34,000 people. Since no estimate was made for non-CARI scrap dealers, this employment estimate is understated. From a processing perspective, some 12 million tons of scrap were managed in 2008. Again, this number is substantially understated because of the lack of data from foundries.

An accurate profile of any sector is dynamic and to remain relevant it must be continually updated. CARI will attempt to continue the project as an ongoing study and anticipates putting the sector on Google Map to visually profile our industry. I encourage you to participate in this project so that we may accurately promote the importance of the Canadian scrap metal industry.

Thank You.

Sheldon Jarcaig
CARI President

Visit www.agroinsuranceinc-crhb.ca for info.

CARI MEMBERS

Recy Systems Inc., a CARI member announces the opening of their new office in Collegeville, PA. The office is the North American location for marketing and support of Recy© Software, a package of products for management of the recycling process. The office is located at 334 East Main Street, Collegeville, PA and will be managed by Frank Bosco, CEO and Larry Galbraith, CFO.

CARI ACTIVITIES

CARI Chapter Meetings

On March 15, about 20 members met in Winnipeg. Mr. Jack Cohen, President, IYB Consulting, informed attendees about the growing use of cash dispensing machines, commonly called ATMs, in the scarp sector. Apart from the obvious safety to employees, many other benefits were highlighted. Len Shaw, CARI Executive Director, reported on several current CARI activities. He focused on industry safety and trade. He noted that CARI is working closely with ISRI on industry safety, the recent safety seminar, the opportunity to purchase ISRI safety material at a preferred price and the new safety manual that will be available in English this summer. He then pointed out the work that CARI had undertaken to stop an unworkable requirement of providing mill specifications for loads of scrap shipped to the U.S. This new requirement from the U.S. Customs and Border Agency has been raised in a coordinated manner with ISRI with both Canadian and U.S. government departments. Although the requirement seems to be relaxed at the moment both ISRI and CARI are continuing to find a resolution to such an impossible demand.

On March 16, a smaller number met in Calgary where in addition to talks by Jack Cohen and Len Shaw the group was joined by two local police officers to discuss the every present issue of metal theft and actions to deal with it.

On March 17, some 45 members met in Vancouver. Again Jack Cohen and Len Shaw made their presentations. The group also heard from ER PLUS, a risk management group, who had worked with Richmond Steel on a classroom and site visit education program called P.E.T.E.Y (Protecting the Environment Through Educating Youth).

Finally on April 12 about 35 members attended a meeting in Toronto. CARI President, Sheldon Jarcaig, opened the meeting and reminded attendees of the upcoming convention in PEI, the golf tournament in Niagara, and the fall Consumers’ Night in Toronto. In addition to the talk on ATMs and CARI activities, Mr. James Ebidia, President, Protective Health and Safety Solutions Inc, spoke to the gathering. He gave an overview of recent changes to the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act with respect to workplace harassment and violence and what has to be done to become compliant by the June 15 implementation date.

Mercury Switches

Again, the mercury switch removal program – Switch Out is having a collection sweep throughout April; so, mail in those buckets of switches.

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

FAST FACTS

• Sims Recycling Solutions recently introduced an advanced metals separator to their line-up of equipment used to responsibly recycle end-of-life electronics at its Nashville plant. The metal separator is designed to remove copper, circuit boards and other metallic alloys from an already sorted material fraction containing large amounts of plastic.
• India plans to spend $60.5 billion in capital expenditures in the 2010-2011 financial year; much of that will likely be for metals-intensive projects. The road and rail transportation and telecom sectors also rank high according to the local office of US-based Industrial Info Resources (IIR). Other expenditures include the shipping, urban development and steel sectors. The Steel Authority of India Ltd., New Delhi, has proposed an investment of between $2.6 billion and $2.8 billion for the time period. Meanwhile, industrial production in India has been rising since the fourth quarter of 2009, recording growths of 11.7 percent and 16.8 percent, respectively, in November and December, according to IIR.
• India has removed ferrous and nonferrous scrap off its hazardous classification. Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) made the declaration back in July 2009, Traders of other materials must still register with the State Pollution Control Board or Pollution Control Committees. They will be required to submit details of imported materials along with quantities on a quarterly basis." Metal Recycling Association of India continues to urge authorities to further simplify the procedures.
• China recently implemented new Tort Liability Laws that are more severe than any Western environmental laws and regulations. Accused polluters will have to prove their innocence in cases. Changes will apply to the direct polluters but it is not clear if they will apply to any third parties. In addition, the liability may potentially be placed on one polluter rather than divided among all defendants under the Chinese law. Where there is more than one defendant, the polluters will have to divide the cost of cleanup among themselves.
• Thirty-one AQSIQ applications have recently been temporarily suspended; six are Canadian Companies. All companies failed to pass AQSIQ onsite inspection and were not considered to be in compliance with China’s law and policy. They are eligible to resubmit or modify their applications within 60 days. More information is to be released.
• There are concerned with the new Chinese import rules on loose loads of scrap metal due to commence on June 1st Some believe that the law has many exemptions including for many grades of metal scrap that would be crippled if subjected to such requirements. Such grades as Zorba, electric motors, wire, shredded brass, aluminum shreds, electronics, crushed autos, shredded steel, magnesium and titanium are included. Nonetheless, the rules also specify that mixed nonferrous Zorba automotive shreds may not contain more than 2-percent copper, which could pose problems for shippers. It still remains unclear how Custom will identify the 2.5-percent copper within a 25-tonne load of Zorba.
• Ontarians can now recycle electronic items including MP3 players, cameras, telephones, and radios at more than 500 approved sites ranging from municipal, not-for-profit, retail and other types of depots as well as special event days. The goal of this second phase of the Ontario Electronic Stewardship (OES) program is to collect and divert waste electronics from landfill by making recycling easier for people. The year five goal is to collect nearly 85,000 tonnes of waste electronics. To find your nearest approved collection site visit www.dowhatyoucan.ca.
• Within the next five years, tires could be produced using rubber made from plants. The technology called BioIsoprene, developed by the Genencor division of Danisco produces a polymer by fermenting plants with microorganisms, eliminating the need for oil. The tires are expected to last as long as petroleum-based ones. Danisco and Goodyear announced a partnership in 2008 when Danisco committed $50 million to develop the technology. Since then, Goodyear has been turning the BioIsoprene into synthetic rubber making a prototype. A prototype was on display at the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December.