GFG business unit will make recycled-content aluminum ingots at facility formerly proposed for wheel production.

The Alvance Aluminium business unit of United Kingdom-based GFG Alliance reportedly has been given a regulatory green light to add recycled-content aluminum casting capacity at a site in Scotland.

An online report from the BBC indicates a government body in Scotland has approved plans for the casting plant to be situated next to the primary aluminum Lochaber smelter near Fort William, Scotland. “Alvance Aluminium will use recycled materials, along with metal from the smelter, in a new casting factory,” writes the BBC.

Alvance plans to produce up to 100,000 metric tons of cast aluminum billets at the new plant that will find eventual homes in the construction industry, according to the media organization.

The casting plant was proposed in late 2020 for the site. Previously, GFG indicated it planned to build an aluminum wheel factory there instead, but the company backed away from that plan after ripple effects (possibly tied to Brexit) reduced auto assembly prospects in the U.K.

Turkey-based owner of former UPM mill submits proposal to convert newsprint capacity to containerboard and tissue.

The Turkish owner of a former UPM newsprint mill in the United Kingdom reportedly has submitted a proposal to a local council to initiate a project to convert the mill’s capacity to containerboard and tissue production.

An online report on the Liverpool, U.K.-based Business Live website says Turkey-based Eren Paper Ltd., which this May bought the facility in Shotton, Wales, plans to convert the mill’s newsprint capacity to the production of containerboard and tissue products.

Operating paper machines to make those products may well allow Eren Paper to use several grades of recovered fiber. The Business Live website indicates the “scoping request” submitted to the Flintshire Council in Wales acknowledges that an analysis of the U.K. paper industry “shows that the U.K. is currently a net importer of both containerboard products and tissue products, while at the same time being a net exporter of recycled [scrap] paper.”

The request goes on to state, according to Business Live, “The proposed development is intended to close both these gaps by increasing production at the site, thereby allowing the use of more recycled paper, with the proposed new cardboard paper production facility using 100 percent recycled paper. At the same time, switching production from the declining newsprint market to the new production facility will allow the U.K. as a whole to be more self-supporting in these materials, reducing reliance on external supply.”

The documents were submitted in part to receive permission to engage in some demolition work at the site. In addition to adding or converting one or more new paper machines, Eren Paper also mentions installing a new combined heat and power (CHP) plant in Shotton.

The Place North West website, based in Manchester U.K., says the mill sits on some 148 acres of land, and that Eren Paper plans to construct 900,000 square feet of manufacturing space for the tissue operations. That report also indicates an existing materials recovery facility (MRF), operated by UPM, will remain on-site.

Government labels move an incentive for steelmakers.

The government of Pakistan has lowered the sale tax rate on ferrous scrap among recent revisions to its tax code.

In a list of tax code amendments posted Sept. 22 by the Karachi, Pakistan-based Business Recorder website, importers will now pay a 14 percent tax on “re-meltable scrap if imported by steel melters.”

The previous tax rate was 17 percent, and media reports indicate some steelmakers and users had been asking the government to lower it to 5 percent.

The move to 14 percent is listed as an incentive to the steel sector, along with a reduced sales tax on steel products of 0.25 percent “for distributors, retailers etc.” in the steel sector.

In the first half of 2021, the United States shipped 311,000 metric tons of ferrous scrap to Pakistan, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures published by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). That placed Pakistan behind its neighbor India (332,000 metric tons) and Bangladesh (622,000 metric tons), which also is on the Indian subcontinent.

China’s slowing steel industry points to increased shipbreaking activity on the Indian subcontinent.

Retired liquid bulk tanker vessels are keeping ship dismantlers busy, according to an analysis by a shipping industry trade publication. With China’s steel industry slowing after years of growth, most of those tankers are finding a home on the Indian subcontinent.

“The lackluster tanker market is motivating ship owners to sell some of their vintage tonnage for scrap,” writes Hellenic Shipping News in a Sept. 22 article. The publication quotes a brokerage of retired ships as saying China’s slowing steel sector has made Pakistan the winning bidder more often than not for ship dismantling and scrappage services.

“For the time being, Pakistan is now at the forefront of their competitors and certainly appear willing to outbid their counterparts for any available larger tanker unit. India looks set to seek tonnage,” London-based ship brokerage Clarkson Platou Hellas tells Hellenic Shipping News.

The publication and brokerage list recent winning bids for two large tankers, with one going to Pakistan and another to Bangladesh. Adds Hellenic Shipping News, “Bangladesh seems to have been able to attract once again several candidates, despite the presumed pressure that domestic players are facing over the current offered prices and the already amassed stockpile [of vessels].”

The global restaurant chain seeks to reduce virgin fossil-fuel-based plastics by 90 percent by the end of 2025.

On Sept. 21, McDonald’s announced its ambition to reduce the virgin fossil fuel-based plastics used in the construction of its Happy Meal toys by 90 percent by the end of 2025.

This transition to more renewable, recycled or certified materials for toys is underway, the Chicago-based company says, and will result in an approximately 90 percent reduction in virgin fossil fuel-based plastic use against a 2018 baseline for the toys the company produces for its restaurants around the globe. Since 2018, Happy Meal toy innovations already underway in markets around the world such as the UK, Ireland and France have already resulted in a 30 percent reduction in virgin fossil fuel-based plastic use.  

“Our next generation of customers care deeply about protecting the planet and what we can do to help make our business more sustainable. We’re always exploring where we can drive greater impact, including the transformation of beloved icons like the Happy Meal,” Jenny McColloch, McDonald’s chief sustainability officer, says. “With this transition for our toys, we’re working closely with suppliers, families and play experts and engineers to introduce more sustainable, innovative designs and help drive demand for recycled materials, to keep McDonald’s communities and beyond smiling for generations to come.”

In some cases, McDonald’s says virgin fossil fuel-based plastic game pieces can be swapped out in favor of accessories made from certified plant-derived or recycled materials. Beyond the composition of the toys, the business also has explored recycling old toys into new restaurant trays and replacing plastic wrappers on the toys with new plant-based and premium-certified fiber packaging.

"Sustainable material sourcing is a necessary strategy for mitigating the impact of supply chains on our ecosystems and climate, including the plastic waste crisis,” Sheila Bonini, senior vice president, private sector engagement at World Wildlife Fund, says. “By reducing conventional virgin plastic inputs by a projected 90 percent, the reimagined toys will reduce the demand on fossil fuel plastic production to instead create new markets for responsibly sourced renewable and recycled content. And through its immense reach of these toys, McDonald's can engage its millions of daily customers around the world in the transition to a more sustainable, circular future."

The shift toward more sustainable Happy Meal toys is the latest step McDonald’s is taking to help reduce waste, conserve forests and ecosystems, and drive climate action. Notably, McDonald’s was the first global restaurant company to set a science-based target to significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Today, McDonald’s is on track to meet its 2030 targets, achieving an 8.5 percent reduction in the absolute emissions of its restaurants and offices (toward its 36 percent reduction goal) and a nearly 6 percent reduction in supply chain emissions intensity (toward its 31 percent reduction goal) from 2015 baselines. Additionally, by the end of 2020, McDonald’s was approximately 80 percent of the way to its goal to source all guest packaging from renewable, recyclable or certified sources by 2025. Progress has been propelled by investments in renewable energy and the company's achievement of its 2020 Responsible Sourcing Goals regarding beef, soy, coffee, fish, palm oil, packaging fiber and forests.