A number of recycling-related bills have been passed and await Gov. Newsom's signature.

As California’s 2022 legislative session drew to a close at the end of August, a number of recycling-related bills had passed the House and Senate and are awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature.

S.B. 1013, sponsored by Sen. Toni Atkins, Sen. Bill Dodd, Rep. Jacqui Irwin and Rep. Philip Ting, all Democrats, expands California’s bottle bill to add a deposit to wine bottles and distilled spirit containers.

Atkins says, “S.B. 1013 is historic change that is 40 years in the making. I want to commend the wine industry, distilled spirits industry, environmental advocates and other groups who have come together to support this landmark proposal.”

S.B. 1013, if signed into law, would redefine “beverage” to include distilled spirits, wine or wine from which alcohol has been removed in whole or in part, including sparkling or carbonated versions. It would require distributors to pay a redemption payment for every beverage container sold or offered for sale in the state of 5 cents for those with a capacity of less than 24 fluid ounces and 10 cents for those with a capacity of 24 fluid ounces or more to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) and requires the department to deposit the funds into the California Beverage Container Recycling Fund. The act also requires those beverage containers to have a refund value of 5 cents and 10 cents, respectively, and to contain specified amounts of postconsumer recycled plastic content per year. The bill would require wine or distilled spirits that are packaged in a box, bladder, pouch or similar container to have a redemption payment and refund value of 25 cents and would grant an additional two years to comply with the act’s postconsumer recycled plastic content requirements.

The bill also would establish a Recycled Glass Processing Incentive Grant Program for applicants who demonstrate the ability to expand glass cullet processing in the state and can match or exceed the amount of the grant awarded.

A.B. 2784, which was introduced by Assemblymembers Ting and Irwin, would establish thermoform plastic minimum recycled content standards that start at 10 percent postconsumer thermoform recycled plastic by Jan. 1, 2025, and increase to no less than 20 percent or 30 percent postconsumer recycled content per year on or after July 1, 2030, depending on the recycling rate for the resin used to make the container.

S.B. 1046, introduced by Sens. Susan Talamantes Eggman and Lena Gonzalez, would ban plastic produce bags starting in 2025 and make it easier for consumers to tell the difference between compostable and noncompostable bags by no longer allowing green/brown tinting for noncompostable bags. This extends an earlier ban on plastic carryout bags that was enacted in late 2016.

S.B. 1215, introduced by Sen. Josh Newman, would add battery-embedded products to the Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003, expanding that program to cover new and refurbished products with nonremovable batteries and establishing an advanced disposal fee that consumers would pay beginning Jan. 1, 2026. Beginning Aug. 1, 2028, CalRecycle, in collaboration with the Department of Toxic Substances Control, could establish more than one covered electronic waste recycling fee for covered battery-embedded products based on categories of those products. The charge would be adjusted annually based on the California Consumer Price Index.

A.B. 2440, the Responsible Battery Recycling Act of 2022, introduced by Assemblymember Irwin, would establish a manufacturer-run stewardship program for alkaline and rechargeable batteries and require all retail chains that sell batteries to provide free collection for consumers.

Several industry associations have submitted comments to the GSA in opposition to the proposed rulemaking.

The Washington-based General Services Administration (GSA), which manages federal property and serves as the government’s purchasing authority, has proposed to update policies related to single-use plastics in purchased products and in packaging materials.

According to the proposed rulemaking, GSA wants to determine “how to best reduce single-use plastics from packaging while limiting burden and liability” on its industry and logistics partners. The administration intends to use public comments in order to craft requirements and reporting mechanisms to reduce the use of single-use plastics.

GSA initially published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking July 7, seeking public comment on revising its policies by Sept. 6; however, the administration is extending the public comment period to Sept. 27 to provide additional time for interested parties to provide input.

Several industry associations have expressed concerns regarding GSA’s proposal to reduce the use of single-use plastics from packaging.

The Washington-based Plastics Industry Association (Plastics) filed comments to the GSA, expressing concerns that this proposed rulemaking could ban the purchase of single-use plastics by federal government agencies.

“If this proposal moves forward, it will run directly counter to the administration’s environmental goals to reduce emissions,” says Matt Seaholm, president and CEO of Plastics. “This proposal would not only cost taxpayers millions and millions of dollars, it would enforce the use of products and materials that will have a much larger environmental footprint than the plastic products the administration would be looking to phase out.”

Seaholm says Plastics compiled examples for the GSA of how plastics can perform better from an economic and environmental perspective than other available materials.

He adds, “Our industry is investing billions of dollars to recycle more plastic waste in the U.S. We would welcome the opportunity to collaborate with the administration to develop effective recycling solutions that reduce plastic waste through smart investments in infrastructure, technology and education.”

The Washington-based American Chemistry Council (ACC) also has expressed concerns related to the GSA’s proposed rulemaking on products containing single-use plastics purchased by the federal government.

ACC’s comments to the GSA state that reducing or banning the purchase of products containing single-use plastics could increase the government’s greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint because lifecycle analysis studies have shown that plastics can lower GHG when compared with alternative packaging materials. Additionally, ACC says this rulemaking could increase waste sent to landfill as alternative materials typically result in items that weigh more than those made with plastics.

The association says it is encouraging the GSA “to follow the science when it comes to product procurement. According to multiple studies, including most recently a report by McKinsey & Co., plastics have a lower GHG impact than alternative materials in 13 out of 14 applications studied. A single-use plastics ban would run contrary to the administration’s important goal of reducing GHG emissions.”

German organization calls research into upgrading scrap “an essential factor” in moving toward low-carbon steel.

The Federal Association of German Steel Recycling and Disposal Cos. (BDSV) took part in a discussion with an elected official in Germany in which it advocated for additional attention and funding into research to better use ferrous scrap in steelmaking.

According to BDSV, topics of the discussion included boosting scrap quality, global free trade for steel scrap, effects of the energy supply crisis on the steel recycling industry and an overall reduction of bureaucracy.

Meeting participants included BDSV association leadership, representatives of Germany-based scrap firm TSR Recycling GmbH & Co. KG and Bundestag (German parliament) member Thomas Jarzombek.

BDSV says the various topics tied into a central question: How can the steel recycling industry successfully accompany the transformation of the steel industry toward “real green steel” and how must it help shape this process through its own further development?

BDSV President Andreas Schwenter says an essential factor is a boost in scrap quality, which would involve “the further optimization of process technology in steel mills and the close cooperation of the steel recycling industry with the steel industry.”

BDSV Managing Director Thomas Junker said the necessary, high investments of the steel recycling industry, as well as for hydrogen-based steel production, must be promoted accordingly.

Jarzombek said numerous funding programs are available from the federal and state governments. Junker said these already are being used in part, but “here, too, the bureaucratic hurdles are very high and the programs are time-consuming to apply [to].”

Regarding the preservation of free world trade for steel scrap, which is poised to be restricted by the current revision of the EU Waste Shipment Regulation, Schwenter called it restricting the export of steel scrap an “existential” problem for BDSV member companies.

Because not all steel scrap in Germany and Europe currently is used by its steel mills and foundries, the recycling companies are dependent on exporting a portion. He said steel scrap is an international commodity in which the quality of the traded steel scrap also plays an important role.

Junker called steel scrap a valuable recycling raw material that is not disposed of anywhere in the world. Nor does climate protection stop at the EU’s external borders, said BDSV. The aim of the industry is to position itself worldwide as a pioneer for innovative steel recycling technology. Junker said research and the further development of innovative processing techniques also play a decisive role here.

The impact of the current energy supply crisis on the steel recycling industry also was discussed. If the upstream and downstream suppliers or customers of steel scrap reduce their processes arising from a lack of natural gas and spiking electricity prices, this has “a massive impact on BDSV member companies,” the association says.

The energy-intensive steel recycling processes at some companies are increasingly no longer cost-effective, Schwenter said. In addition, the priority for energy transport by rail and low water levels in rivers further complicate an ”already tense logistics situation,” the group says.

Finally, Junker addressed what he called a sluggish approval situation from which numerous BDSV member companies nationwide are suffering. Recycling companies, which make a contribution to reducing CO2 emissions, need to be promoted more strongly and their facility approval procedures urgently accelerated, BDSV says.

Member companies are willing to invest, but authorities can be slow to respond, said Junker.

BDSV says Jarzombek “had an open ear for this and promised to support these demands in the Bundestag within the scope of his possibilities.”

A tour of the premises of a TSR Recycling facility in Düsseldorf also was a part of the political meeting.

Packaging firm’s recycling and recyclability decisions help it garner a 2022 Sustainability Leadership Award.

Graham Packaging has been named a Sustainability Leadership Award winner by the New Jersey-based Business Intelligence Group as part of its 2022 Sustainability Awards program.

The Sustainability Awards have been designed to honor “people, teams and organizations who have made sustainability an integral part of their business practice or overall mission,” according to the award organizer. Graham previously won the award in 2019.

Graham describes itself as an industry leader in innovative, sustainable and creative packaging. The firm says it is focused on in part on recycling efficiencies, with one of its strategic pillars being “We are Building a Sustainable Future.”

“Graham Packaging is deeply committed to sustainability,” says Bob Pyle, president and CEO of Graham Packaging. “Making choices that protect our people and their families, our communities and our planet continues to be an integral part of Graham Packaging. We are honored to be recognized as a company that is contributing to a more sustainable planet.”

The company, which is headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, has taken part in several different sustainability initiatives. These include being a founding member of the National Lubricant Container Recycling Coalition, which has a goal of improving the recyclability of oil containers, and becoming one of the first in its industry to have four locations receive their International Sustainability and Carbon Certificate (ISCC) Plus certifications, which allows these sites to process certified postconsumer resin (PCR) plastic.

“We are proud to reward and recognize Graham Packaging for their sustainability efforts,” says Maria Jimenez, chief nominations officer of Business Intelligence Group. “It was clear to our judges that their vision and strategy will continue to deliver results toward a cleaner, more sustainable world.”

Founded in 1970, Graham Packaging has what it calls its flagship manufacturing facility in York, Pennsylvania, and produces more than 16 billion containers annually at more than 65 plants in North America, Europe and South America.

Technology firm’s X-Tract purifies aluminum alloy scrap for Alutrade in the United Kingdom.

Alutrade Ltd. is recovering “99 percent pure aluminum” from an inbound scrap stream thanks to an X-Tract unit from Tomra Recycling Sorting, the United Kingdom-based technology provider says.

Alutrade, which Tomra describes as the U.K.’s largest independent aluminum recycling and extrusion company, is the first in the world to “reap the benefits of X-Tract,” Tomra says, calling its latest iteration of the X-ray sorting device a “sophisticated new sensor-based sorting solution.”

The new X-Tract unit was installed in March 2021 at Alutrade’s Oldbury recycling plant in Birmingham, England, which processes 42,000 tons of inbound material annually. The plant’s infeed scrap consists of metal extrusions from different types of postconsumer construction material, such as windows and doors, as well as aluminum cans.

When the infeed material arrives at Alutrade’s Oldbury plant, it is initially preshredded into smaller pieces of around 3.3 to 6.5 feet (1 to 2 meters) in length before being further shredded by a hammer mill. Magnets and eddy current separators are then used to separate the metals into ferrous and nonferrous metals, removing any contaminants in preparation for the next sorting stage. 

Following magnetic separation, a combination of Tomra sensor-based sorting units is used to process, sort and recover the target fraction of aluminum. Two earlier edition Tomra X-Tract units—which were installed in 2017 and 2018 respectively—are programmed to capture an aluminum fraction of greater than 1.2 inches (greater than 30 millimeters), and the new machine targets a smaller 0.4 to 1.2 inches (10 to 30 millimeter) aluminum fraction, removing heavy metal content from the aluminum.

Both the earlier and new edition X-Tract units sort metals based on the difference in atomic density, separating out any heavy metals.   

Alutrade’s customers are remelt furnaces based in several nations that demand the highest purity grade of aluminum product for their remelting process, since any heavy metal content affects the melt specifications, Tomra says.

“Over the past five years, we have worked closely with Tomra and our main customer and have undertaken a lot of research to achieve this milestone of recovering an aluminum end fraction that meets the exceptionally high purity levels required to go straight into the remelt process,” says Andrew Powell, director at Alutrade.

He continues, “The smaller 10 to 30 millimeter (0.4 to 1.2 inches) grain size captured by the new machine is 99 percent pure aluminum, which means we can sell it at a much higher price to our customers for use in the production of new aluminum products. What’s more, the new version of X-Tract has opened up new international market opportunities for Alutrade as we can now source different infeed material, as well as sell on the ejected heavy metal products.”

Tomra’s new X-Tract uses the same process of separating metals by atomic density as the earlier editions but offers what Tomra calls “far superior X-ray capabilities.”

New features offer faster sorting and an increased capacity per meter of width, says the technology provider. A new high-resolution X-ray sensor “ensures sharper detection and shorter integration times for higher throughput,” Tomra adds.

Alutrade’s X-Tract unit is connected to Tomra Insight, which Tomra describes as its “nearly real-time and on-demand cloud-based data monitoring platform.” Insight enables customers to turn their sorters into connected devices and to transform sorting from an operational process into a strategic management tool, according to Tomra.

Powell says, “Alutrade has been using X-Tract units for the past four years to guarantee the quality of our products that we supply to our customers. This has enabled us to build up the trust between ourselves and our customers. Right from day one of operation, Tomra has helped us improve the recovery rates of aluminum in a reliable way. By using X-Tract units we have been able to upgrade our material so that it could remain in the U.K. rather than be exported.”

He continues, “Investing in the new X-Tract has enabled us to close the loop on the recycling process as much as possible, converting aluminum back into aluminum for use in high-grade aluminum products so that in effect, a window frame can be recycled into a new window frame. With low operational costs, improved safety and superior sorting capabilities, the new X-Tract definitely stands out in terms of the aluminum recycling solutions available in the global metals recycling market.”

Tomra Segment Manager Terence Keyworth says, “Tomra and Alutrade have worked together for more than 10 years, so Alutrade’s Oldbury plant was an ideal plant for us to test and prove the capabilities of our new X-Tract. As the first prototype of this unit in an industrialized environment, it has been a very exciting project. We’re delighted that Alutrade has been so impressed with the sorting capabilities of this new technology and look forward to rolling out further installations over the coming months.”