Pull-A-Part adds 11 locations in the U.S. with the purchase.
Atlanta-based Pull-A-Part, an industry-leading automotive recycler, says it has acquired U-Pull-&-Pay (UPAP), a wholly owned subsidiary of The David J. Joseph Co. (DJJ). Cincinnati-based DJJ is part of the Charlotte, North Carolina-based Nucor family of steel and steel products companies. The terms of the Pull-A-Part acquisition of UPAP have not been disclosed.
Pull-A-Part adds 11 of the former UPAP sites, including locations in Colorado, Florida, New Mexico and Pennsylvania, to its network of 25 do-it-yourself (DIY) used auto parts retail stores and salvage yards, expanding its reach to 36 stores in 16 states.
This is the largest acquisition in Pull-A-Part's history and an acknowledgment of its commitment to growth and expansion in the U.S., according to the company. Through this acquisition, Pull-A-Part will add 11 locations in the U.S., Pull-A-Part will now operate 36 locations in 16 states nationwide.
Derick Corbett, senior vice president of External Affairs at Pull-A-Part, tells Recycling Today, "We have wanted to do this for a long time, and initial discussions regarding the transaction started in early spring of this year. Nucor decided that it wanted to part with that segment of their business, and Pull-A-Part immediately threw our hat in the ring to compete for the opportunity."
Following the purchase, he says Pull-A-Part is the largest privately owned self-service used auto parts location and end-of-life vehicle recycler in the U.S.
"In key areas ranging from safety to environmental stewardship to the innovation in the way we operate and the products and services we deliver for our customers, our now expanded team will be able to better capitalize on market opportunities and we can really lead the way in our industry," Corbett adds.
"The acquisition of DJJ's U-Pull-&-Pay business unit is a significant milestone in the growth of our business," says Ross Kogon, CEO of Pull-A-Part. "U-Pull-&-Pay has operated their stores with the same commitment to safety, the environment, its customers and the communities it serves that have helped us succeed, and we are excited to add their team to the Pull-A-Part family."
Corbett adds. "Likewise, we’re excited to continue to do business with Nucor/DJJ and work together to keep our supply chains strong and our environment clean and healthy."
Pull-A-Part says it intends to continue to operate UPAP stores as a separate brand in the markets it serves.
"While it was a difficult decision to sell our U-Pull-&-Pay division, we believe the placement of the business with Pull-A-Part offers our teammates a great opportunity to continue growing their careers in the self-serve auto parts business with an industry leader," says Doug Jellison, Nucor executive vice president raw materials. "We want to thank our U-Pull &-Pay teammates for their dedication to building a successful and safe business, and we wish them much success as they continue their careers under Pull-A-Part's ownership."
Rockefeller Capital Management acted as exclusive financial advisor to Pull-A-Part on the transaction. Arnall Golden Gregory LLP served as legal advisor on the transaction.
Public input is requested into the new programs established under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to strengthen domestic battery recycling.
The Biden-Harris administration, through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), has issued a request for information (RFI) to help guide the implementation of $335 million in investments for lithium-ion battery recycling programs from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, otherwise known as the bipartisan infrastructure law. The DOE says batteries are critical to powering clean-energy technologies. Additionally, expanding options for domestic production of zero-emissions transportation will allow more Americans to benefit from clean transportation while adding jobs to the clean-energy workforce and supporting President Biden’s decarbonization goals.
DOE is requesting feedback on how federal investments can accelerate the collection, transportation, processing and recycling of batteries and scrap materials, enable second-life applications of lithium-ion batteries previously used to power electric vehicles and support high-quality jobs for American workers.
In alignment with President Biden’s Justice40 initiative, the department says it will address equity, environmental and energy justice in relation to battery recycling and manufacturing. DOE is seeking feedback from industry, recyclers, retailers, community organizations, tribes and state and local governments to ensure future funding opportunities address the energy and transportation needs of all Americans.
Responses to the RFI are due Oct. 14 by 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
“Battery recycling doesn’t just remove harmful waste from our environment, it also strengthens domestic manufacturing by placing used materials back into the supply chain,” says U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “The bipartisan infrastructure law is making big investments in our clean energy and transportation future and securing our supply chain here at home will allow more Americans to benefit from the many clean technologies powered by lithium batteries.”
While lithium-ion battery costs have fallen more than 90 percent since 2008, energy density and performance have rapidly increased, paving the way for an accelerated transition to clean transportation, DOE says. With the global lithium-ion battery market projected to experience continued growth over the next decade, DOE says it is working with industry to build a robust and sustainable U.S. battery supply chain that will support increased market demand.
This RFI builds and expands on DOE’s May 2022 announcement of $3.16 billion in funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law, including $3.1 billion for battery materials refining and production plants, battery cell and pack manufacturing facilities and recycling facilities and $60 million to support second-life applications for batteries once used to power electric vehicles and new processes for recycling materials back into the battery supply chain.
According to the “Building Resilient Supply Chains, Revitalizing American Manufacturing and Fostering Broad-Based Growth: 100-Day Reviews under Executive Order 14017” report, wide-scale collection of end-of-life batteries helps secure a reliable supply of inputs into recycling facilities, supporting high use that is critical to commercially viable recycling. However, beyond rates of collection, recyclers are encountering cost pressures that primarily stem from transporting batteries safely over long distances to a recycling center as well as from the number of sorting and evaluation steps end-of-life batteries must through prior to recycling and the costs of operating the recycling process itself.
According to the "National Blueprint for Lithium Batteries," developed by the Federal Consortium for Advanced Batteries, recyclers face a net end-of-life cost when recycling EV batteries, with costs to transport batteries, which are considered a Class 9 hazardous material, constituting more than half of the end-of-life recycling costs. Shipments of Class 9 materials must meet special packaging requirements and are charged higher transportation rates. Additionally, regulatory complexity causes confusion among stakeholders as to whether batteries should be treated as hazardous waste or as universal waste, the DOE says. Potential policy action and future innovations that could render batteries electrochemically inert would allow these end-of-life batteries to be reclassified as nonhazardous, helping to reduce transportation costs and making the overall recycling process more profitable, the department adds.
In the short term, the DOE says recycling and recovering critical minerals or materials from batteries contained in consumer electronics as opposed to end-of-life electric vehicles (EVs) could provide an initial resource that can help to buffer supply chain uncertainties and price instabilities related to critical battery materials.
Recycling of manufacturing scrap also could be an important step for U.S. industry, the DOE and analysts have noted. The scrap from the new and potentially large U.S. battery cell manufacturing activities would be available for immediate processing, while the cells from those factories being used in EV products would not enter the recycling stream for 10 years or more.
Given the long life of EV batteries and the scale of EV deployment to date, the impact of limited domestic recycling capacity is muted, the DOE says. In addition, when these batteries reach the end of their lives is variable and hard to predict. The issue of rechargeable battery recycling is further affected by ongoing R&D efforts to identify abundant substitutes for critical battery materials. Despite these uncertainties, a large supply of end-of-life EV batteries eventually could supply a significant share of critical battery material needs as part of a circular economy, the DOE adds.
Many companies in the U.S. and abroad are using pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy processing and other technologies to recycle critical battery materials. However, the DOE says cost-competitively recovering materials other than cobalt and nickel constituents remains challenging. While these metals could be used in meeting battery demand, they also could serve other material demand streams.
The DOE says its goal is to recover 90 percent of spent lithium batteries and reintroduce 90 percent of the key materials from these batteries into the materials supply chain, adding that a large supply of reclaimed battery materials eventually could supply a significant share of critical battery material needs as part of a circular economy.
Establishing a domestic supply chain for lithium-based batteries requires a national commitment to solving scientific challenges for new materials and developing a manufacturing base that meets the demands of the growing EV and stationary grid storage markets, according to the DOE.
Resilient supply chains will require new programs for the recycling and recovery of critical materials from products at the end of their lives, as well as from 0ther unconventional sources, such as minerals extracted from coal and other mine waste, that can minimize the need for new mining operations.
Principally, policy support should bolster the domestic supply chain by advancing demand for U.S.-made batteries and spurring the development of a stronger manufacturing base and a resilient supply chain, including battery recycling, the department says. Policy tools also must bolster resilient supply chains for essential upstream critical minerals and materials through a broad set of strategies to increase the supply of sustainably produced minerals and metals and to build refining and processing capacity needed to support manufacturing.
The company is investing $29 million to expand low-carbon aluminum production in Quebec.
London-based metals and mining company Rio Tinto has announced that it will invest $29 million (CA$35 million) to construct an aluminum recycling facility at its Arvida plant in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec, allowing the company to expand its offering of low-carbon aluminum solutions for customers in the automotive, packaging and construction markets. The facility will add 30,000 metric tons of additional annual production capacity at the Arvida smelter.
The investment follows an investment of $188 million announced earlier this summer to increase production capacity for low-carbon-emissions aluminum billets at its Alma smelter by 202,000 metric tons. That investment does not include additional smelting capacity but instead focuses on transforming more of the metal already produced at the plant’s pot rooms into value-added products, according to the company.
Rio Tinto says aluminum scrap sourced locally from used vehicles and construction materials, such as windows and door frames, will be remelted to produce recycled content that will be used in aluminum billets at the Arvida smelter and in other products from Rio Tinto's facilities in Quebec.
"The new recycling center will allow for a percentage of recycled content to be included in the current production of aluminum billets at the Arvida plant but also in other products from our Quebec facilities (rolling ingots and casting alloys) destined for the automotive, packaging and construction markets," Malika Cherry, a media advisor for the U.S. and Canada with Rio Tinto, says. "Depending on the composition of the scrap, the remainder will be sent to other regional casting centers."
Cherry adds, "The aluminum used will come from clean postconsumer scrap, primarily from metal recyclers located in Quebec, which will reduce the environmental footprint even more. Discussions are still ongoing with potential recyclers."
“Investing in new recycling facilities in Arvida is another step in our strategy to expand our offering of low-carbon aluminum products and integrate the circular economy into our value chain,” says Rio Tinto Aluminum Managing Director of Atlantic Operations Sebastien Ross. “This will allow us to continue to meet our customers’ growing demand for responsible, traceable and responsible products.”
Rio Tino says it expects the recycling center to be operational in the second quarter of 2024. Construction will begin in the coming months, with a remelting furnace equipped with regenerative burners and an automated scrap loading system to be installed in an existing building at the Arvida plant.
The company says it expects the project to generate $23.05 million (CA$30 million) of economic benefits in Quebec and to create around 10 new permanent jobs at the Arvida plant.
In 2021, Rio Tinto commissioned a new remelting furnace at its Laterrière, Quebec, plant to recycle aluminum scrap from its internal operations and manufacturing customers to produce rolling ingots for the automotive and packaging industries. In 2020, the company partnered with Quebec-based Shawinigan Aluminium to offer its customers a closed-loop recycling solution to complement its low-carbon billet production.
In addition, Elysis, Rio Tinto's partnership with Alcoa supported by Apple and the governments of Canada and Quebec, is pursuing the development of a new smelting technology to produce aluminum without direct greenhouse gas emissions.
Paperboard producer issues profit warning for its recently completed fiscal year, citing inability to pass along higher raw materials costs.
Hong Kong-based recycled-content paperboard maker Nine Dragons Paper (Holdings) Ltd. has issued a profit warning for its fiscal year that ended June 30, citing finished board selling prices that did not rise as fast as raw materials prices.
“The board wishes to inform the shareholders of the company and potential investors that, based on the preliminary review of the management accounts of the group, if the exchange gains on operating and financing activities (net of tax) were excluded, the profit attributable to equity holders of the company for the year is expected to decrease not more than 60 percent as compared to the last year,” Nine Dragons board Chair Cheung Yan says.
In her letter dated Aug. 26, Yan adds, “The decrease [in profits] was mainly [because] the increase in the selling price of the products was much slower than the increase in the cost of raw materials with sales volume remain[ing] relatively stable amid the COVID-19 pandemic.”
She continues, “As the company is in the course of preparing its annual results for the Year, the information contained in this announcement is only a preliminary assessment by the board based on the information currently available.”
Yan adds, “Shareholders of the company and potential investors are advised to exercise caution when dealing in the shares of the company.”
In the 2000s and early 2010s, the Nine Dragons network of mills in China was one of the largest importers of old corrugated containers (OCC) and other recovered paper grades, bringing in millions of tons of material from the United States and Europe.
As China first tightened and then eliminated such imports, Nine Dragons has pivoted to domestic recovered paper supplies and has brought in semifinished pulp, including from facilities owned by its Illinois-based subsidiary ND Paper.
That strategy, along with siting new capacity in Malaysia, allowed Nine Dragons to record considerable profits earlier this decade. Earlier in 2022, however, the company was not able to take full advantage of lower global OCC pricing. As well, the late 2021 and first-half 2022 economy in China has been affected by intermittent COVID-19-related shutdowns and a slowdown in activity in the real estate construction sector.
Italy-based mill technology provider sells scrap-melting furnace equipment to five different Chinese steel companies.
Italy-based Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche S.p.A. says it has received orders for eight of its Danieli Zerobucket electric arc furnaces (EAFs), adding the orders have been placed by five different Chinese steelmakers over the last six months.
Danieli lists the Chinese-based steel producers as Qiananshi Jiujiang, Hebei Puyang, Tangshan Zhongshou, Changshu Longteng and Zhejiang Yuxin. Danieli says each of the firms “selected the original Danieli horizontal, continuous scrap-charge system, which ensures smooth, endless hot-scrap charging.”
As China ramped up its steel output in the previous four decades, it relied largely on blast furnace/basic oxygen furnace (BOF) technology. This has led steel producers in other nations to criticize the Chinese sector’s considerable carbon footprint.
Other industry analysts have looked at China’s growing ferrous scrap generation and predicted that if the nation did not start soon installing more EAF capacity, it could become a significant net exporter of ferrous scrap.
The Zerobucket technology purchased allows for a range of charge mixes, including hot metal, direct-reduced iron (DRI), hot briquetted iron (HBI) and scrap, according to Danieli. The furnace can work with up to 80 percent of hot metal charge, “replacing BOF converters and obtaining outstanding results in terms of short tap-to-tap time, boosting the overall steelmaking plant productivity,” the company says.
The ordered furnaces will have capacities from 210 to 330 tons per hour and are expected to start operating between the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023.
Four of the EAFs were ordered by Tangshan, China-based Qiananshi Jiujiang, while the one ordered by Zhejiang Yuxin will be installed with what Danieli calls the first Tornado scrap conveyor system.
The Tornado, patented by Danieli, is described by the firm as a continuous scrap charge design that features a “variable-geometry preheating zone to automatically adjust and adapt the free cross-section, to create the optimal conditions for fume speed, temperature and process control.” The variable cross-section feature is designed to allow “the best pre-heating results with different scrap types available from the market, thus giving maximum purchase flexibility,” according to Danieli.