The company is working to offer EVR-Green carts with fully recycled lids and wheels as well.

Toter, a provider of waste and recycling containers based in Charlotte, North Carolina, has introduced the EVR-Green 100 percent recycled cart body. The lids and wheels also contain some recycled content; however, Toter has not specified the percentage of recycled content used in those parts. The company says it is working to offer EVR-Green carts that also feature fully recycled lids and wheels in the future.

Manufactured with a variety of recycled materials, the company says the two-wheeled cart is the “first and only fully recycled cart body and fully recyclable cart on the market.” According to Toter, the company made a commitment to reduce its overall virgin resin use by 25 percent starting this year in an effort to drive down its carbon emissions based on a 2020 life cycle assessment the company performed.

The company says it is securing a combination of postindustrial and postconsumer resin for the EVR-Green carts. The carts come in 32-, 48-, 64- and 96-gallon models.

According to a news release from Toter, the EVR-Green features Toter’s Advanced Rotational Molding process, ensuring a stronger and more durable performance than receptacles that feature an injection-molded design. The carts are being manufactured at two of the company's facilities in Statesville, North Carolina, and Acuña, Mexico.

Toter says the EVR-Green also features a UV-stable, stress-free and zero-pressure single-piece design. The container walls have a consistent thickness and are resistant against corrosion and chemicals. It also comes with Toter’s Rugged Rim, sealed stop bar journals and a granite finish.

The cart will initially be available in black. Toter says the EVR-Green is an ideal selection for a variety of end users, including municipalities, residential users, commercial facilities, industrial facilities and waste haulers.

“Toter’s 100 percent recycled EVR-Green cart body is a sustainability game-changer for the waste collection industry,” says Nick Daddabbo, Toter’s director of product management. “We have been hard at work to develop a cart that will uphold the quality buyers rely on from our brand while providing a product they can feel good about using.”

The company says the Cat MH3026 material handler offers high performance with lower operating costs.

Construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar, Deerfield, Illinois, has launched the Cat MH3026 material handler. The company says the loader is designed to provide superior performance, low operating costs and improved operator efficiency. 

According to a news release from Caterpillar, the material handler is powered by the Cat C7.1 engine, capable of operating on up to B20 biodiesel and meets the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s final Tier 4 emission standards. The company says the engine’s maintenance-free aftertreatment system lowers operating costs and maximizes machine uptime. It also offers the choice between power and economy modes, offering up to 10 percent lower fuel usage than previous models without sacrificing machine performance.

The company says the loader has Standard Product Link, which captures operating data such as location, hours, fuel usage, productivity, idle time, maintenance alerts and fault codes, which can be remotely accessed and tracked to boost fleet management efficiency.

The loader also features an electrohydraulic system the company says optimizes the balance of power and efficiency, improving cycle times to handle more material in the same amount of time. The new hydraulic oil filter improves filtration and increases change intervals to 3,000 operating hours and lasts 50 percent longer than previous designs. New anti-drain valves keep the hydraulic oil clean during filter replacement. 

All engine filters feature a coordinated 1,000-operating-hour change interval. The air intake filter with precleaner lasts up to 1,000 hours to reduce maintenance requirements, according to Caterpillar.

The vehicle’s cooling fan features a standard automatic reverse function to keep the cores clean, maximizing machine uptime. An optional vibrating cooling screen activates during reverse fan operation to further improve dust and debris removal.

For more information about the new Cat MH3026 material handler, click here.

The company has introduced its VS model, available in stationary, transportable and mobile platforms.

Vezzani, a scrap metal equipment manufacturer based in Ovada, Italy, has introduced its VS model scrap shears, which the company says were designed to meet the needs of an evolving scrap industry.

According to a news release from Vezzani, the VS system is a precompression gravity feed scrap shear that delivers fast, powerful and productive performance. The VS is available in stationary, transportable, and mobile platforms.

The company says customization is available to meet specific client requirements. These options include lifting, self-loading legs, base structure with processed scrap pusher, tracks allowing full mobility, feeding box extension, protective covers and an inclined conveyor belt. Power also can be supplied with onboard diesel engines or for more permanent installations electricity.

The plant will provide 50 jobs and is expected to sort 120,000 tons of lightweight packaging.

PreZero, a recycling company based in Neckarsulm, Germany, has launched a sorting plant for lightweight packaging in Eitting, Bavaria. The company says up to 120,000 tons of lightweight packaging will be processed for recycling annually.

The plant, with a capital expenditure of about 40 million euros ($45,360,000), will provide 50 jobs. In the future, the plant can be in operation around the clock, 365 days a year.

The company says the technology being used in the sorting process can identify black plastics that are difficult to sort using conventional optical technology. Based on artificial intelligence, the fully automatic sorting plant will surpass the sorting quotas prescribed by law under the Packaging Act adopted in 2019. The Packaging Act expands packaging definitions, extends mandatory deposit for one-way drinks packaging and how companies identify single-use or multiple-use properties for final distributors of beverage containers.

The collected packaging material is sorted into a total of 18 different categories. This includes polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene and polystyrene. The categories also can be sorted by color. 

“With the commissioning of the plant in Eitting, we’re expanding our existing network of high-performance lightweight packaging sorting systems, not just in terms of space, but also in terms of quantity,” says Carsten Dülfer, CEO of PreZero. ”With a total annual capacity of all our plants in Germany of around 600,000 tons, we’re establishing ourselves as part of the absolute frontrunners in this market segment.”

Overseas nonferrous scrap shipments have been delayed as bookings get rolled.

Domestic demand for red metal scrap remains healthy, and high prices and container shipping issues are making it difficult for export buyers to compete for material, some sources say.

An insulated copper and aluminum wire processor based in the Midwest says scrap generation remains steady as the economy continues to rebound from the pandemic-related recession in 2020. He says high scrap prices and consumer demand are factors contributing affecting scrap generation.

“There is a very high demand for copper and brass scrap,” he says. “With this high demand domestically, I do not see any problems selling or delivering material into foundries.”

The processor says he’s noticed demand for bare bright copper decline as its price has risen. “I think a lot of manufacturers are finding ways to avoid using this material because of its expensive price and the fact that the specifications are too difficult to adhere to,” he says. “It appears people would rather buy No. 2 copper scrap, and [they] appear to be able to be flexible with how they use their raw material to make their finished goods.”

Trucking remains a concern for scrap processors and consumers, the contact in the Midwest says. “Transportation availability is still extremely tight, and the prices are up about 30 percent to 70 percent on any given run.”

He adds that truck drivers are being “strangled” by the demand for goods. “I do not see this phenomenon ending for at least another six to nine months.”

While export demand is subdued, the processor says, export opportunities are available. Pricing is less of a consideration for overseas consumers than the ability to get a booking on a shipping line.

Scott Greenberg of Atlanta-area brokerage firm Greenland (America) Inc. says containership lines are “randomly rolling bookings without notifying folks oftentimes.” This leaves suppliers “between a rock and a hard place” as their containers incur detention fees at ports while they await the next booking, he says.

The degree to which shipments are delayed varies by route and commodity, Greenberg says. He notes shipments to Pakistan seem to experience significant delays compared with those to India.

“There is plenty of scrap in the marketplace,” Greenberg says, but its movement is being obstructed by logistics issues.

He says some U.S. processors are looking more intently at domestic markets because while trucking companies might “charge you an arm and a leg” to transport the material, a truck typically can be found to cover a lane. Finding a booking on a ship can be another story, however.

In the case of repeatedly rolled bookings, Greenberg says it creates a dynamic where the contract between the buyer and seller starts to get old, raising uncertainty about whether it will be honored. “The industry standard is 30 days. Is the contract still valid if it goes to 60 days?” he asks. “Everyone is going to do what is in their best interest if the market is heading down.

“The nonferrous scrap situation is driven by logistics challenges we are all facing; it’s less about supply and demand,” Greenberg adds.

Regulatory issues also are affecting the movement of material globally. Greenberg mentions that as of the third week of January he’s heard that nonferrous scrap importers in Malaysia are indicating that customs agents at some ports are not releasing inbound loads.

Two Asia-based traders also have relayed stories of several such incidents to Recycling Today Senior Editor Brian Taylor.

The Malaysian government enacted new scrap inspection and purity standards on or about Jan. 10. It spent much of 2021 preparing to modify and adopt a regimen proposed by government-connected inspection agency SIRIM.

A trader tells Taylor the container clearance delays are a concern, but Malaysian buyers have not yet signaled panic regarding the situation. However, they also don’t portray a clear understanding of whether some grades could prove more problematic than others in the new system.