Lobbying efforts included extended producer responsibility, the Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act and the PFAS Action Act of 2021.

The National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA), Arlington, Virginia, has released its 2022 second-quarter LD-2 lobbying disclosure report per the organization’s transparency initiative. The association also filed its contribution disclosure form and its report to the Federal Election Commission.  

“It’s through our lobbying that we can be an effective advocate for the waste and recycling industry,” says NWRA President and CEO Darrell Smith. “It is important to us that we are transparent about our advocacy efforts. While we file our lobbying reports with the clerk of the House of Representatives and these are publicly available, NWRA goes a step further by posting these reports to our website.”  

Lobbying items for this quarter included:  

Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act of 2022 -- improve domestic recycling collection in underserved and rural areas;  

Recycling and Composting Accountability Act -- improve recycling and composting data collection;  

extended producer responsibility -- focus on increasing demand for recyclable materials to allow market forces to incentivize recycling;  

RECOVER Act -- tax credits for increasing domestic recycling infrastructure;  

Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act -- national container deposit;  

Cultivating Organic Matter through Promotion of Sustainable Techniques Act -- creating new United States Department of Agriculture grant and loan programs as well as composting infrastructure projects; and,

PFAS Action Act of 2021 -- offers a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) liability shield to airports that release per-and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) substances into their environment through their use of fire fighting foam. As receivers of PFAS, Congress should extend the same CERCLA liability protection to municipal solid waste landfills.  

NWRA says it continues to engage Congress on issues important to the industry. Read the full expense report here. 

Based in Hamm, Germany, Wendt Corp. GmbH will leverage the complementary resources of various European partners, including recycling solution providers MTB and Moros.

Wendt Corp., a shredding and separation recycling solutions company based in Buffalo, New York, has announced the formation of Wendt Corp. GmbH, which will be based in Hamm, Germany. The company says the formation represents a continued growth strategy to expand its international presence and better serve customers globally.   

According to a news release from Wendt, the development of Wendt Corp. GmbH establishes an operational footprint and simpler customer access to Wendt’s products in the European market. The company says it has seen an influx in overseas market demand in the past few years, especially with its shredder technology. Wendt will leverage the complementary resources of various European partners. This includes long-standing partnerships with recycling solution providers like France-based MTB and Spain-based Moros to support manufacturing in central Europe.   

The company says the exclusive partnerships will aid in accelerating the delivery of its scrap processing plants throughout Europe and Asia. It will also provide sales, service and support directly from Europe.  

The announcement of the formation of Wendt Corp. GmbH comes after the company released international expansion plans. Ethan Willard was promoted to global director of business development. Willard will be leading a team of business development managers. He will provide strategic leadership and structure and oversee our entry into new markets. 

The company also hired industry veteran Dennis Law in July.  Based in Germany, Law’s efforts will focus on direct sales in the area, customer engagement and after sales, service and support. He will also be responsible for coordinating Wendt’s partners for projects and international sales and strategic agreements. 

“As we can proudly call ourselves the market leader in North America, Wendt Corp. now shows our commitment to support global market demands for our shredder technology,” Law says. “Our in-house manufacturing capabilities and long-term partnerships position Wendt to offer our full portfolio of customized solutions, premium quality products, competitive pricing and 24/7 support to the European market.”  

In 2019, Wendt outlined a strategic plan that more closely aligned with the company’s priorities for future growth. The company says these transformation initiatives have aided the company to enterprise growth and established a global framework to serve customers worldwide. During that time, Wendt restructured its sales organization by adding regional sales representatives while expanding its project management and engineering teams and doubling staff on the service team.  

The company also invested in global supply chain capabilities to meet the customer's needs. Wendt says it established partnerships with specialized companies, strengthening its ability to deliver more products on time and with better quality.   

“We have taken a conservative approach to our growth strategy but have continued to position ourselves for future growth as a global enterprise,” says Tom Wendt, president of Wendt Corp. “The organic growth we have experienced over the last 10 years and the strategic initiatives we’ve established have paved the way to the formation of Wendt GmbH. Our streamlined processes, growing strategic partnerships, investments in best-in-class technology and our European manufacturing capabilities all contribute to the strong foundation that will make us successful as we enter new global markets.” 

The metals recycling company recently was listed on Nasdaq.

Greenwave Technology Solutions Inc., headquartered in Chesapeake, Virginia, has announced that it will be opening two new metal recycling facilities over the next eight weeks. The company operates 11 metal recycling facilities in Virginia and North Carolina.

Additionally, Greenwave reported its second-quarter earnings, noting that its strengthened balance sheet resulting from its Nasdaq listing positions the company to rapidly grow its revenues and expand its footprint.

Greenwave generated $10.70 million in revenues during the quarter ending June 30, an increase of 56 percent from the $6.88 million in revenue Empire Services Inc., its wholly owned subsidiary, generated in the same period in 2021. Greenwave also generated positive cashflows from operating activities of $566,238 for the six months ending June 30.

The company is installing a second shredder at its Carrollton, Virginia, yard to process cars, household appliances and industrial products, along with a downstream system at its Kelford, North Carolina, yard to increase its recovery of copper, aluminum, brass, steel and other metals. The shredder and downstream system are on track to come online in September and October, respectively, and are expected to double the company’s processing capacity, significantly growing its revenues while increasing its profit margins, Greenwave says.

Danny Meeks, CEO of Greenwave, says, “We are at an inflection point in Greenwave’s growth trajectory. With these additional locations and new infrastructure set to come online over the next eight weeks, we believe Greenwave’s revenue growth will accelerate going into 2023, in addition to increasing profit margins. We are incredibly grateful for the trust and support of Greenwave’s shareholders. We look forward to creating significant shareholder value and reporting back on our progress.”

ZenRobotics will retain its name and become a Terex brand.

Terex Materials Processing (MP) has acquired the assets of ZenRobotics Ltd., a company based in Helsinki, Finland, that designs and creates robots that sort recyclables using proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) software. 

ZenRobotics will retain its name and become a Terex brand, with the unit reporting to Tony Devlin, who leads the Terex MP environmental businesses, according to a news release issued by Terex Corp., headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

ZenRobotics was started in 2007. With its technology, operators can upgrade their recycling infrastructure to meet modern requirements, Terex says.

In 2009, ZenRobotics began using AI-based robots to sort recyclables, which led to the introduction of the ZenRobotics Recycler in Helsinki. In 2015, ZenRobotics launched its Heavy Picker, which is designed to sort bulky construction and demolition (C&D) debris. The company expanded into China and the U.S. market in 2016.

ZenRobotics' Heavy Picker is a multipurpose sorting robot for bulky material. Equipped with sturdy arms, various sensors and AI, Terex says it provides “a simple, unstaffed sorting process and makes waste sorting more accurate, safe, and profitable.” Its other offerings include the Fast Picker, a high-speed sorting robot designed for maximizing material recovery. It is compactly designed for easy integration into existing processes and conveyors in material recovery facilities, and it increases profits by enabling fully automated sorting and higher output purity, Terex says. ZenBrain is the company’s AI for sorting robots that has advanced recognition ability and autonomous decision-making.

Terex is active within global waste markets through Terex Ecotec, Terex CBI, Terex Fuchs and Terex Recycling. Zen Robotics will add to the Terex portfolio in global waste, where it will continue to be operated as a stand-alone business while also benefiting from MP’s broader market presence and from efficiencies enabled by MP’s global scale, Terex says. This acquisition of a highly “green-focused” company further supports MP’s commitment to its environmental business and environment, social and governance (ESG) goals.

“ZenRobotics is an exciting, modern company that lends itself perfectly to our pre-existing environmental expertise, and their ethos of making a circular economy more possible aligns perfectly with our goals and targets for the future of Terex MP,” Devlin says. “We’re excited to see the many ways that we can apply this technology and what potential this acquisition can bring Terex MP with the application of this technology. The journey that we’re about to begin with ZenRobotics and Terex MP is one that we look forward to starting, and we extend a warm welcome our new colleagues into the Terex MP team.”

Jarmo Ruohonen, CEO of ZenRobotics, adds, “We at ZenRobotics are delighted to be welcomed into the Terex MP team and we look forward to sharing our knowledge. As a company, we have worked hard for the past 15 years creating technology that helps companies efficiently deal with different types of waste materials, helping to chase down targets that propel us towards a more circular economy. Terex MP is the perfect partner to help us achieve that, and being part of the Terex MP team will give ZenRobotics more global opportunities to grow.”

The report also clarifies data from the U.S. EPA.

The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), Washington, has issued a report on the progress of plastic recycling in the United States that compiles research and analysis from across the $236 billion recycling industry, including more than 9,000 community recycling programs and more than 100 postconsumer recyclers. The report, titled “Recommit, Reimagine, Rework Recycling,” finds that plastic recycling is responsible for more than 200,000 U.S. jobs and is a scalable solution for reducing plastic waste.

The APR says the report presents an important clarification on data provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the discussion on U.S. recycling rates, explaining that 80 percent of rigid plastic packaging is made from either polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high-density polyethylene (HDPE) or polypropylene (PP). According to the APR report, 21 percent of these types of plastic are recycled based on EPA data. However, according to the EPA’s 2018 figures, the latest available, the overall plastic recycling rate was onlu 9 percent. The APR notes that the EPA’s statistics “include containers, packaging and durable goods meant to last many years as well as nondurable goods not intended for recycling like garbage bags.”

Misleading data such as the EPA figure discourage Americans who overwhelmingly support recycling, the APR says.  

The report also includes the latest data for PET and HDPE bottles, which had recycling rate of 28 percent in 2020. With more supply of recyclable plastic material from consumers, the APR says U.S. plastic recyclers could boost PET and HDPE bottle recycling rate to more than 40 percent with minimal additional investment and using existing processing infrastructure in the U.S.

Growing the recycling rate for the plastics commonly used in packaging is necessary as demand for recycled material “is stronger than ever,” according to the report. “This higher demand is driven by a variety of factors, including brand sustainability commitments and legislative activity. Postconsumer resin (PCR) is increasingly seen as an essential packaging component for brands hoping to position themselves as leaders in sustainability.”

According to the report, “Plastic recycling is a chain of interconnected processes, and achieving a circular economy for plastic depends on every link of the chain working well together.” Therefore, the report concludes that meeting that high demand and continuing to sustain and grow recycling will require companies to manufacture plastic products and packaging that are compatible with recycling, consumers to put recyclables in the recycling bin and a robust recycling infrastructure to collect, sort and process that material.

To achieve these ends, the report provides policy recommendations such as ensuring that all new products and packaging are made to be compatible with recycling; increasing and strengthening community recycling programs and creating harmonization among the types of plastic that are collected in those programs; and encouraging the consideration of the true cost of disposal and the low costs to landfill.

The report also notes that furthering the circular economy for plastic will reduce plastic waste as well as aid decarbonization efforts as using PCR to manufacture new products is linked to significant reductions in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

“APR’s state-of-the-industry report tells the true story of plastic recycling in the United States,” says Steve Alexander, APR president and CEO. “This is an industry that processed almost 5 billion pounds of postconsumer plastic material in 2020 despite a pandemic and related lockdown, and we have every expectation that number will continue to grow.” 

He adds, “Increasing the recycling rate is important because demand for recycled material, a key driver of the recycling chain, is stronger than ever, spurred by a variety of factors including brand sustainability commitments and legislative activity.”