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THE
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Newsletter of the Canadian Association of Recycling Industries
Volume 17, No. 10, October 2012
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE | CARI MEMBERS | BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY | SWITCH OUT | FAST FACTS
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
 What does it mean for CARI to be “The Voice of the Canadian Recycling Industry”? We are more than simply cheerleaders; being the voice of our industry is an active role, not a spectator’s. We use our voice as educators and ambassadors, and to fight for the rights of the recycling industry on a local, provincial, national and international stage.
In a perfect world, those who are proposing and enforcing regulations that will affect our industry would know enough about how we operate to understand how such regulations could harm our businesses. In a perfect world they would know enough about the material they are regulating to understand whether it needs regulation.
That simply is not that case. CARI is currently arguing our industry’s case over proposed EPR programs for halocarbons, white goods, and PBDEs, among others. We are also fighting to minimize the administrative impact and cost to industry in various regions where metal theft legislation has been proposed and have already successfully stopped several regions from imposing tag and hold regulations. As part of the Coalition of Rail Shippers, CARI and 16 other associations have been fighting for better service from our national railways. On the international front, CARI continues to fight trade restrictions and issues such as requests for mill specs at the U.S. border. We previously successfully argued through the World Trade Association for the establishment of CCIC Canada, facilitating shipment to China.
While CARI often has to use its voice in reaction to regulations, restrictions or other actions that could be to our industry’s detriment, our voice is strongest when we are part of the discussion from the beginning. Such is the case in B.C., where we have been working with the administrators of a rapidly expanding provincial EPR program. Because CARI was in on the ground floor of these discussions, we were able to explain our industry’s point of view, speak against flow control models and for a model that will work to the advantage of recyclers.
The voice of the Canadian recycling industry can either be a foghorn attempting to prevent potential harm, or a blow horn sounding off against trouble and rallying aid. We believe the first voice is most effective, so let us know of potential issues before they affect your business. CARI is your voice amplified for all to hear. Help us make sure our industry’s voice is heard.
Dennis Cebula
President
CARI MEMBERS
CARI would like to congratulate ABC Recycling Ltd on the occasion of its 100th Anniversary. In 1912, Joseph Yochlowitz began a horse-and-wagon scrap peddling business in Vancouver. The business moved to Burnaby in the 1970s and shifted from salvage to recycling. While remaining a family enterprise, ABC has expanded to cities throughout B.C., including Campbell River, Surrey, Kelowna and Prince George.
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
A variety of metal is sought for bi-weekly shipment to India: cast iron/combo used engines of all kinds; aluminum scrap TELON; extrusions and profiles stainless steel all grades (200, 300 and 400 series); brass honey; HMS 1 and shredded. For further information please contact Ratnish Mittal at scrapmetal [at]tekneeds.net.
SWITCH OUT
The Switch Out program’s October collection sweep is underway. In mid-September, program participants should have received a new collection container from Switch Out. The program’s managers ask participants to return their collection container with the pre-paid waybill by October 19th, even if they have just one switch. By returning the collection container early, participants will ensure their switches are counted this month. Participants who return switches at least once every 6 months are included on Switch Out’s list of active recyclers and dismantlers http://www.switchout.ca/participating-recyclers/list-of-recyclers/index.aspx , which is used by steel buyers to ensure a company is complying with the CSPA’s “Zero Mercury” scrap purchasing policy. Please remember to keep a copy of your waybill or record the Bill of Lading number as proof of shipment.
For further information about the collection sweep or the Switch Out program, please contact Caroline Sturk at switchout [at] summerhillgroup.ca or (416) 922-2448 x286.
FAST FACTS
- On October 1, the province of Quebec saw new eco-fees for electronic devices like smartphones, computers and portable audio devices. Fees are built into the price tag on these electronic items. The fees are the result of the Environment Quality Act’s Recovery and Reclamation of Products by Enterprises Regulation, which mandates industry-led collection and recycling of electronic devices. Quebec residents will be paying the highest fees in Canada.
 Residents of British Columbia are now able to recycle light bulbs, light fixtures, table lamps and flashlights as an extension of the province’s stewardship programs. Currently, more than 200 collections sights around the province accept burnt-out lights and soon 80 of these will be accepting fixtures.
- The State of California has temporarily allowed recycling firms to send some of their CRT glass to landfills as long as testing shows minimal risk of lead leaching into the environment. The state’s Department of Toxic Substances issued an emergency regulation as a direct response to the collapse of market demand for CRT glass and a growing stockpile of the material. The new regulation will expire after two years.
- Toyota is establishing an online service that will allow car owners in the UK to arrange for the recycling of their own vehicles. The Rewarding Recycling program is free and will pay consumers “a fair price” for their ELV. Consumers will input their VIN number and postcode on Toyota’s website, and receive a valuation for their car. When they drop off the car at a preferred recycling centre, they will be given a PIN code that, once entered online, issues an electronic payment for the vehicle along with a Certificate of Destruction. The service will be performed by Toyota’s partner, Augtogreen.
- The U.S. Maritime Administration has established a new policy to recycle vessels built before 1985, rather than sink them as artificial reefs. The decision was taken in part because these older vessels were often built using PCBs and other toxic substances, and in part because of the value of the scrap metal. Only one of the 125 vessels owned by the agency was built after 1985, and currently 38 ships have been designated for disposal.
- Researchers at Yale University have come out in support of an international organized recycling policy for specialty metals. They said attempts to recycle these materials were ‘essentially non-existent’ because these rare earth metals are used in such small amounts, and because of factors such as product design, limitations of existing recycling technologies and the thermodynamics of separation. “The situation clearly calls for international policy initiatives to minimise the seemingly bizarre situation of spending large amounts of technology, time, energy, and money to acquire scarce metals from the mines and then throwing them away after a single use,” researchers said. They found that highly intricate technological products made of diverse materials may perform better but are more difficult to recycle.
- China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection is drafting a new policy restricting imports of unwashed post-consumer plastics, requiring recyclers to granulate materials before they are sold. Polyester fibre manufacturers, processors and manufacturers that use waste plastics in raw materials, companies that make granulated materials from waste plastics could apply for a license to import and process waste plastic. Some companies that make recycled PET flake will be able to apply to import recycled PET grinds and industrial scrap. Those businesses that make ultrathin shopping bags, food-contact products, medical products and construction supplies will be ineligible to import under the new restrictions. The China Plastics Processing Industry Association’s Plastics Recycling Committee sent an official response to the ministry opposing the new regulations.
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