Taiwan-based company offers balers and shredders designed for plastic scrap preparation.
Polystar Machinery Co. Ltd. says both its cutter-compactor and shredder models are gaining popularity globally with recyclers and reprocessors of plastic scrap. Crushing Machine
Jack Lin, vice president of global sales with the Taiwan-based equipment company, says the Polystar Repro-Flex cutter-compactor “has a clear advantage, especially for larger-sized recycling extruders.” Through natural heat and friction generated from the machine’s rotation, “it can quickly compact and densify the light-weighted material into a more solid form to be fed into the extruder at a constant rate,” Lin says.
“As of today, 1,200 Repro-Flex recycling machines are in operation worldwide,” Lin says, adding that for recyclers who process washed and fully printed postconsumer scrap, Polystar offers an option of adding a second extruder to the Repro-Flex model.
“The two-stage model Repro-Flex Plus has a total of three degassing zones and two filtration steps throughout the entire recycling process,” Lin says. “This model is also ideal for processing post-industrial laminated or multi-layered [scrap].”
Also gaining popularity, Lin says, is Polystar Repro-One recycling technology, which “is a combination of shredder, extruder and pelletizer in one machine.”
Lin continues, “This one-step, powerful (shredder) yet gentle (low processing temperature) process produces the best possible pellet quality at the lowest operation cost, enabling producers to reuse all of the pellets back in polypropylene (PP) tape extrusion lines.”
He adds, “When processing post-consumer materials, the cutter-compactor reduces the ink and moisture level of the material coming from the washing lines, such as washed flakes (from film and woven bags) as well as regrind [scrap] from milk and shampoo bottles. At the same time, it stabilizes the material being fed into the extrusion pelletizing line to ensure consistent production output and better pellets quality.”
Lin says increased investments in automation in India has made that nation a growing market for Polystar, “especially for PP raffia [sacks], woven bags, and flexible intermediate bulk container (FIBC) producers.” More than 105 Repro-One recycling machines have been installed in India, and 350 more in other parts of the world, adds the sales executive.
Lin says Polystar has added a third production facility in Taiwan, making it “able to better serve our customers with faster machine delivery time and in-time spare parts support.”
“As the demand for recycling machines remains strong, Polystar continues to prepare in-stock recycling machines and spare parts to avoid long delivery times, providing our worldwide customers with simple solutions," Lin says.
EAF steelmaker nets nearly $1.7 billion in third quarter, down from $2.56 billion in the prior quarter.
Nucor Corp. has announced achieving a net earnings of $1.69 billion in the third quarter of this year. As substantial as that amount sounds, it is down 34 percent from the $2.56 billion of earnings the scrap-fed electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaker netted in the prior financial quarter.
The Nucor results announcement closely follows that of fellow EAF steelmaker Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI). That Indiana-based firm announced third quarter earnings per share that were about 22 percent lower compared with its second quarter 2022 earnings.
Year to date in 2022, Nucor, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, has reported consolidated net earnings of $6.35 billion, or $23.85 per diluted share. That represents a 38 percent rise compared with consolidated net earnings of $4.58 billion, or $15.34 per diluted share, in the first nine months of 2021.
“Nucor has already achieved a record-breaking year for earnings per share through the first nine months of 202, and we continue to believe that we will set a new record for full-year earnings in 2022,” Nucor President and CEO Leon Topalian says.
“While economic uncertainty and inflation continue to put pressure across a myriad of sectors in the United States, we believe the medium- and long-term outlook and fundamentals in our industry remain positive,” Topalian adds. “We believe our growth investments and acquisitions continue to position Nucor to meet and exceed our customers’ and shareholders’ expectations today and well into the future.”
Nucor says the average price its mills paid for ferrous scrap and scrap substitutes consumed in the third quarter of 2022 was $502, which it calls a 6 percent decrease compared with $534 per ton in the second quarter of 2022 and a 2 percent decrease compared to $511 in the third quarter of 2021.
Year to date, Nucor says its average price paid for scrap and scrap substitutes used in the first nine months was $511 per ton, a 12 percent increase compared to $457 per ton paid in the first nine months of 2021.
In the third quarter, Nucor says its scrap brokerage and processing operations experienced a tougher environment compared with the prior quarter, but its direct reduced iron (DIR) operations were more profitable.
Looking ahead to the year’s final quarter, the company sees another reduction in profits looming. “In the steel mills segment, we expect considerably lower earnings in the fourth quarter of 2022 as compared to the third quarter of 2022 due to lower average selling prices and lower volumes, with the largest decrease in profitability expected at our sheet mills,” Nucor writes in comments accompanying its results.
The company adds, “The raw materials segment is expected to have significantly decreased earnings in the fourth quarter of 2022 as compared to the third quarter of 2022 due to decreased selling prices for raw materials.”
Lithium-ion battery recycling facility funded in part by sizable U.S. Department of Energy grant.
Ascend Elements has broken ground on a facility in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, it says will be the largest electric vehicle (EV) battery recycling and engineered materials manufacturing facility in the United States.
Several regional and local government officials joined the company at its groundbreaking ceremony, including Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, as did representatives from EV battery manufacturing companies. Hopkinsville is in southwestern Kentucky, 12 miles from the Tennessee border.
Massachusets-based Ascend says the plant is being built to “help meet North America’s growing demand for lithium-ion battery materials, specifically engineered precursor (pCAM) and battery-ready cathode active materials (CAM).” When finished, Ascend says its Apex 1 facility in Kentucky will produce enough pCAM and CAM to equip 250,000 EVs per year.
Ascend describes the materials as consisting of nickel sulfate, lithium carbonate, cobalt sulfate and manganese sulfate.
The company is one of two battery recycling firms to have received funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), along with a facility in Ohio operated by North Carolina-based Cirba Solutions.
“Today, we’ve begun building something that doesn’t exist anywhere in the U.S.—a domestic source of sustainable lithium-ion cathode material for EV batteries,” Ascend Elements CEO Michael O’Kronley says. “We’re in the middle of a global energy transformation and it’s critical that we produce lithium-ion battery material in the U.S. Our future energy independence and national security depend on it.”
“Ascend Elements’ initial announcement made history as the largest development project in Christian County [Kentucky], but with recent announcements the investment has grown to nearly $1 billion and will create 400 full-time jobs, making it the single largest investment in Western Kentucky,” Beshear adds.
He continues, “Kentucky has quickly become a national leader in the EV space, and a substantial supplier network that consists of innovative companies like Ascend Elements is the reason for that success. I want to thank the leaders at the company for this commitment to the commonwealth, and I can’t wait to see Ascend Elements and the Hopkinsville community grow together.”
Ascend says it plans to invest close to $1 billion in the 140-acre Apex 1 campus and 500,000-square-foot manufacturing facility. Its recent DOE grants have a combined value of $480 million, according to the company.
The firm describes its Hydro-to-Cathode direct precursor synthesis process technology as “the most efficient and economically compelling way to return recycled battery materials to the battery supply chain.” The closed-loop system “generates minimal waste and carbon emissions compared to traditional cathode manufacturing,” Ascend says.
The companies signed a joint venture agreement to invest in a plastic recycling plant in Ulsan, South Korea.
South Korea-based SK Geo Centric has signed a joint venture agreement with Orlando, Florida-based PureCycle Technologies to operate a polypropylene (PP) recycling plant in Asia. SK Geo Centric plans to make a joint investment with PureCycle to build a plastic recycling plant in Ulsan, South Korea, with an annual capacity of up to 60,000 tons.
According to PureCycle, the plant will turn contaminated plastic feedstock into ultra-pure recycled resin that can be reused and recycled. Each company will have 50/50 ownership of the joint venture. PureCycle says SK Geo Centric will bring marketing capabilities related to market development, strategy and sales to the joint venture, while PureCycle will provide its patented purification recycling technology and contribute technical capabilities.
The agreement formalizes previous discussions the companies had on opening a PP recycling plant in Ulsan. SK Geo Centric also has made investments in PureCycle in the past.
With the joint venture agreement signed, the companies plan to move forward to open the facility by the second quarter of 2025. PureCycle says it also has agreed to provide SK Geo Centric with certain first rights to participate with PureCycle should the company pursue expansion in Asia.
“Asia’s first commercial production of ultra-pure recycled PP is in sight,” says Na Kyung-soo, CEO of SK Geo Centric. “We will continue to contribute to making Korea play a key role in the rapidly growing global recycling industry.”
PureCycle says it is close to completing its first purification plant in Ironton, Ohio. The company also broke ground on a second recycling facility in Augusta, Georgia.
“We are thrilled to be working with SK Geo Centric on this exciting project,” says Dustin Olson, CEO of PureCycle. “This new polypropylene purification plant—the first of its kind in Asia—will not only recycle plastic waste in South Korea, but also supply a new market with premium recycled plastic that can be utilized to develop a diverse array of consumer products. This announcement marks a critical milestone in the fight to tackle the plastic pollution problem on a global scale.”
The funding was awarded as part of President Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law.
Cirba Solutions will receive approximately $75 million in federal funds to expand critical mineral upgrading assets at its lithium-ion battery (LIB) processing facility in Lancaster, Ohio, as part of President Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law.
The funding, announced by the Department of Energy (DOE), is the first phase of more than $7 billion in total funding provided by the infrastructure law for the battery supply chain. The DOE’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) is responsible for strengthening and securing manufacturing and energy supply chains needed to modernize the nation’s energy infrastructure and support clean and equitable energy transition.
The MESC says it will manage the portfolio of projects with support from the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Office.
At full operation, Charlotte, North Carolina-based Cirba Solutions says its 150,000-square-foot Lancaster facility will produce enough battery-grade critical minerals used in cathode production to power more than 200,000 new electric vehicles (EVs) annually. In addition to creating an estimated 150 jobs in the greater Lancaster area, the company says the facility will become one of the largest commercial-scale battery recycling facilities in North America.
Prior to the federal funding award, Cirba announced a commitment to invest more than $200 million to expand the Lancaster facility, which will collect, disassemble, shred and upgrade the critical minerals from LIBs to be reused in the production of new LIBs.
“This is truly a remarkable time for manufacturing in America, as President Biden’s agenda and historic investments supercharge the private sector to ensure our clean energy future is American-made,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm says. “Producing advanced batteries and components here at home will accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels to meet the strong demand for electric vehicles, creating more good-paying jobs across the country.”
Back in September, Cirba announced its plan to construct a 75,000-square-foot facility in Eloy, Arizona, to recycle LIBs. The company says that facility is expected to process enough battery material to power 50,000 EVs per year. Cirba says it aims to increase its LIB processing capacity by around 600 percent over the next few years and open several new processing facilities throughout North America.
Currently, the company has six active facilities processing all battery chemistries.
Wood Molded Pallet Machine “The funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will help strengthen the United States domestic lithium-ion battery supply chain for the EV market and create a sustainable supply of the critical minerals used to make batteries,” Cirba President and CEO David Klanecky says. “The time and cost to mine and process new materials is significant, and the need for these battery materials is becoming increasingly urgent. Battery recycling is a viable solution to help meet the rising demand for EV batteries.”